The Manufacturers’ Association recently announced that is has relocated its headquarters within York County and is working to expand the new facility to create a Center of Excellence that the Association says will increase the level of manufacturing talent across southcentral Pennsylvania.
The regional trade organization serves several hundred member companies within its manufacturing, production and logistics purview. Its region covers 10 counties in Pennsylvania and three counties in Maryland.
“The ‘Manufacturing Center of Excellence for Apprenticeships and Training’ is a new building that will house the Association’s training activity, offices and youth education programs,” Manufacturers’ Association Executive Director Tom Palisin said in a statement announcing the initiative in November. “We are also expanding partnerships with organizations across southcentral PA to deliver more services in each county.”
The Association stated that the Manufacturing Economic Output in southcentral Pennsylvania increased $331 million and employment increased by almost 4,000 jobs in the last five years.
The proposed center will be an expansion of the Association’s machine shop, allowing more room for growth, and a new robotics cell to support its state certified four-year Automation and Robotics Apprenticeship. The center will also include new computer training and CNC programming lab as well as additional training rooms and an industry “showroom” to highlight state manufacturing, history, and innovation.
The space will also allow for co-working areas for members and partnerships.
The Association noted that it currently trains more than 2,000 employees each year and that its Apprenticeship Program has doubled in size in the past few years with the addition of high-tech apprenticeships, online training capabilities, and development of new curriculum.
“We intend to dramatically increase our ability to train and grow the region’s skilled manufacturing workforce at a time when skilled talent is becoming more scarce and higher tech,” Palisin said.
The Association is currently looking for financial investment partners as well as equipment and material donations and in-kind services.