Posts Tagged ‘manufacturing education’

Metal fabrication goes back to school

August 16th, 2011
By: Tim Heston

Last week I spoke with Harry Moser, chairman emeritus of GF AgieCharmilles LLC, the machine tool company. He will speak at the upcoming FABTECH expo in Chicago about his Reshoring Initiative. Moser has developed Total Cost of Ownership Estimator software that breaks down the costs and risks of outsourcing production overseas.

The idea has caught on. Moser was featured on the cover of IndustryWeek, and just before our conversation he was on the phone with a reporter from National Public Radio. The broader public, he said, is beginning to realize how valuable manufacturing is--and its comeback may help overcome the economy’s most obvious problem: high unemployment.

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For-profit education and manufacturing

December 13th, 2010
By: Tim Heston

Do you dream of raking in big bucks? Well then, I’ve got news for you: Try the education field. I’m serious. Of course I’m not talking about actually teaching. I’m talking about administration. And don’t even think about the public schools. I’m not talking about Harvard either. I’m talking about the University of Phoenix, Strayer University, and other for-profit educational organizations that have been sprouting up nationwide.

According to a recent BusinessWeek report, the top executives at these schools could live the investment banker lifestyle, with huge paychecks and generous stock option packages. Last year, for instance, Robert Silberman, CEO of Strayer, got $41.9 million. Peter Sperling, vice chairman of Apollo Group, which runs the University of Phoenix, got $573.4 million in stock options.

For the record, I have no problem with the idea of for-profit educational institutions. Working adults can’t quit their jobs and attend a traditional college or community college full-time, so they choose these for-profit colleges, which often offer convenient class times. Many can get entire degree programs online.  On top of this, some unsuccessful, nonprofit educational institutions have emerged from financial strife as for-profits. That’s a great thing.

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The thinking worker in manufacturing

July 8th, 2010
By: Tim Heston

The country continues to fret about unemployment. Millions want jobs, and millions of business owners want those people to have jobs so that they’ll buy products. Most business owners, though, don’t want to be the ones hiring.

That’s where the government has stepped in. Of course, government can’t do much immediately. Local and national politicians have said they want to push for improvements in education, but the money isn’t there for anything dramatic—like completely overhaul education to improve America’s skilled work force—and they certainly can’t raise taxes, or they’ll never get reelected. So the best the government could do immediately was to hire a bunch of temporary census workers. And for many, that stint of employment has ended, which led to June’s lackluster unemployment report.

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Posted in Training and Retention | 1 Comment »