Arizona MEP: Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 27, 2004

For more information please contact:
John Little
Director of Operations
Tel: 480-874-9100

$3M Grant to Aid Arizona High-tech Companies, Workers

Scottsdale, AZ - More than 350 top-level engineers, scientists and managers throughout Arizona will receive high-tech innovation and technology training during the next three years thanks to a $3 million U.S. Department of Labor Grant, according to Edgar Allen, technical project director for the Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Arizona MEP).

“This is one of the most important grants ever to have been awarded in this area,” Allen said, “and the Arizona MEP is delighted to be working on behalf of the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG), serving as grantee for this grant, and several other partners to ensure this grant does everything for which it is intended.”

The Department of Labor’s H-1B grant – the first of its kind to be awarded in Arizona - is designed to immediately strengthen the technology skills of engineers and scientists to increase sustainable competitiveness of Arizona manufacturers in global markets.

“Arizona is falling behind in advanced manufacturing,” Allen pointed out. “In fact, only 25 percent of Arizona’s advanced manufacturing jobs now are in engineering, computing or other technical occupations.”

In addition, Allen said, a lack of skilled workers in the state has led to 600 H-1B visas being issued in Arizona during the last two years. “Under the H-1B process, any employer requiring skilled workers unavailable in his or her area is allowed to hire outside of the United States for a specific period of time until a specific project is completed,” Allen said.

“That means Arizona’s own workers have not received the high-tech training necessary to do the jobs required of them. We want to change that,” he added.

“The purpose of the grant is to allow Arizona employers to train their existing work force in the skills for which they must now hire experts from other countries,” said Teri Drew, Regional Director of NACOG.

“The fact is, this grant will allow us upgrade the skills of hundreds of workers in the high-technology jobs their employers require of them,” Drew said.

NACOG applied for and received the grant from DOL and has contracted with the Arizona MEP to administer the grant, recruit employers and employees and work with the other partners to ensure the training is carried out successfully.

In addition to NACOG and the MEP, other partners include Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Arizona. The Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Lab and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) are also important partners.

“We absolutely had to have the cooperation of the universities in order to make our program work,” Drew said. “They will be responsible for training the grant recipients.”

The Arizona team is actually trying to do something unique with its grant, Allen said.

“In most instances, grants have been used to simply upgrade the skills of workers in low-level manufacturing positions. We are going to do something different,” Allen said.

The Arizona team will base its mentoring on projects designed to meet specific needs of specific companies. “Part of the process of understanding the needs of individual companies will be determined by a technology road-map assessment,” Allen said. “Identifying the companies and conducting those road-maps will be our first steps.”

“This is a unique opportunity to leverage national resources,” Drew said, “because in addition to the $3 million grant, we will receive at least $1.5 million in matching funds from participating companies.”

The grant monies have already been allocated to NACOG and the program is up and running. The grant, in fact, was designed to provide long-term training solutions from now through January of 2007.

“Everyone involved in this grant program is excited,” said Drew. “For the most part, employment and training programs are designed for the economically disadvantaged individual. This one is specifically designed to develop the high-tech skills of our incumbent workers.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the companies and for the employees,” she added.

The Arizona MEP is an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business “coaches” whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the Arizona MEP program call 480-874-9100.

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