On March 14, the Boulder Area Manufacturing Sector Partnership convened at Excelitas Technologies to hear from speakers familiar with K-12 programming and supply chain. The partnership has made it a goal to strengthen the talent pipeline at all levels — high school, higher education, and adult workers looking to upskill or reenter the workforce. Attendees are comprised of manufacturers and public partners from across the Boulder/Broomfield region.
Our Host
About Excelitas Technologies
Excelitas Technologies is a technology leader in delivering high-performance, market-driven photonic innovations to meet the illumination, optical, optronic, sensing, detection and imaging needs of customers worldwide. Serving a vast array of applications across automotive, consumer products, defense and aerospace, industrial, medical, safety and security, and sciences sectors, Excelitas Technologies stands committed to promoting our customers’ success — https://www.excelitas.com/company-profile
Meeting Topic(s)
Firstly, representatives from St. Vrain Valley Schools *(SVVSD) shared an array of programs that target career technical education (CTE). The district’s Innovation Center focuses on Aeronautics, Robotics, BioSciences, and IT/Cybersecurity skills, while the Career Elevation and Technology Center (CETC) concentrates instruction on Advanced Manufacturing, Welding, Electronics, Optics, and Machining.
For more information, visit each programs website: Innovation Center of St. Vrain | Career Elevation Technology Center
Next, to discuss supply chain and operation, Carole Mehl, Global Supply Chain Leader, of Veolia Water Technologies shared specific measures she and her company took to combat supply chain issues during COVID. Mehl also addressed the goals of Veolia’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee — boosting pay, recognizing employees’ efforts, and improving working conditions.
Finally, manufacturers and public partners broke into groups to identify ongoing goals for the partnership and plan specific engagements to help fulfil these goals. The work does not end here. Future working sessions will be needed to build new processes or programs.
If you are member of the Boulder Area Manufacturing Sector Partnership, you can visit the group’s LinkedIn page for all slides and presentation materials. If you are a manufacturer in the Boulder/Broomfield region and are interested in joining the partnership, complete the Boulder Chamber’s interest form.
Goals & Metrics Identified
The groups were asked to identify a measurable goal for the remainder of the year. How will we measure success?
Workforce
This group decided that career exploration and work-based learning were ideal ways to measure success.
- How many tours are we hosting within manufacturing facilities?
- How many engagements are we hosting; number of participants?
- How many students/workers are being impacted by programs?
Supply Chain/Operations
This group wants to identify best practices. Then create a metric to connect concepts to actions.
Next Meetings(s)
Plans to convene working groups in mid-April are underway. Topics include workforce development and supply chain/operation. Be sure to monitor the partnership’s events page for more details.