Senator Gillibrand Announces Legislation To Bolster Manufacturing Education At Universities And Train New York's Workforce For 21st Century Economy

Press Release

Standing at Binghamton University today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced new bipartisan legislation to bolster manufacturing education at universities and train the workforce to meet the growing demands of the 21st century manufacturing sector. Gillibrand introduced The Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill that would designate 25 universities as "Manufacturing Universities' and provide schools with incentives to better align their educational offerings with the needs of modern manufacturers. The legislation will provide qualifying universities grants of $5 million per year, for a four-year period, that will help universities enhance their engineering programs to emphasize manufacturing skills, incentivize partnerships with local manufacturers, increase internship and cooperative education opportunities for students, and help more recent graduates launch new manufacturing businesses.

Manufacturing contributes $1.8 trillion to the American economy annually and manufacturing jobs pay more, contribute more jobs to the local service economy, and the sector has a higher multiplier effect than any other. Yet many manufacturers are unable to fill open positions because prospective employees do not have the requisite training. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers predicts that the number of unfilled manufacturing jobs could increase to 3 million by 2015. According to a 2014 New York Federal Reserve report, more than 30 percent of New York manufacturers said it was difficult to retain skilled workers, which had increased from 24 percent the previous year and 22 percent two years prior. According to the State University of New York (SUNY) Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) careers, which include jobs in manufacturing, are growing 2.5 times faster than other fields in New York. These jobs demand higher skills, as is proof by the fact that over 70 percent of the STEM workforce in New York State have at least a bachelor's degree.

"If we want our local businesses to expand and grow the Southern Tier's economy, then we need to make sure our workforce has the skills and training to match," said Senator Gillibrand. "No job should go unfilled and no company's expansion should ever be inhibited because there aren't enough trained workers. This legislation will equip more students with the advanced manufacturing skills and experience necessary to meet growing demand and ensure New York's manufacturing sector remains innovative and globally competitive."

"We thank Senator Gillibrand for championing university-industry partnerships and for working to strengthen the education of engineers with the goal of bolstering America's advanced manufacturing efforts," said Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger. "Binghamton has a long history of collaborating with industry and we are honored she is announcing her Manufacturing Universities Act on our campus."

"We highly value the collaborations we have with industry," said Krishnaswami "Hari" Srihari, dean of The Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Our academic offerings combined with the real world experience that our graduate research associates receive is first rate. Senator Gillibrand is to be commended for recognizing the merits of these partnerships and for working to help academia and the private sector create even stronger ties to accelerate research initiatives that will lead to additional innovative manufacturing practices and more opportunities for our graduates."

"Innovation's close collaboration with this public university has directly benefited our firm, employees, customers, and ultimately the health of millions of patients served," said Thomas Boyer, Innovation Associate's chief operating officer. "We believe this successful relationship can act as a model for small business to access the resources and talents needed to compete and thrive in the global marketplace."

Gillibrand's legislation would help prepare more engineers for careers in innovation and advanced manufacturing by designating 25 universities as "Manufacturing Universities' that will focus on advanced manufacturing and engineering. The legislation would establish a program within the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) charged with designating the 25 schools as "Manufacturing Universities.' Designated schools would receive $5 million per year for four years to meet specific goals, including focusing engineering programs on manufacturing, building new partnerships with manufacturing firms, growing training opportunities, and fostering manufacturing entrepreneurship. The program would be run by the Director of the NIST, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense and Energy, and the Director of the National Science Foundation, among others.

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