This piece was originally published in the December 2018 issue of electroindustry.

John Hindman, Tooling U-SME’s director of learning and performance improvement, led a discussion of NEMA’s Youth Apprenticeship Program.

In a full-day workshop, NEMA launched its Workforce Development Workshop to address one of the most broadly faced threats to the electroindustry—the skills gap.

NEMA created two resources, the Industry Promotion Toolkit and Industrial Maintenance Pre-apprenticeship Program, to recruit and train the future workforce while helping our Members promote the electroindustry as a vibrant and dynamic industry.

Jeremy Bout, founder and host of Edge Factor, led the workshop with an introduction to NEMA’s Industry Promotion Toolkit and previews of videos that will be available to participating Member companies.

During a keynote lunch by a representative, Mike Meroney, who leads the Texas Workforce Coalition, and Robin Painovich, executive director of the Career & Technical Association of Texas, focused on best practices for businesses to approach and engage with education partners on workforce development.

The afternoon session, led by John Hindman, Tooling U-SME’s director of learning and performance improvement, included a discussion of NEMA’s Youth Apprenticeship Program in Industrial Maintenance, followed by a preview of materials by Jonathan Stewart, NEMA industry director of Utility Products and Systems Division.

The materials were developed for use by NEMA Member companies. To learn more, contact Mr. Stewart at jonathan.stewart@nema.org.