It is difficult to recruit students into manufacturing because students have negative perceptions and misconceptions regarding the manufacturing sector and its available careers. The ATE Manufacturing Centers partner with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to plan to create regionally-based, institutional-centered career campaigns to change these perceptions. The manufacturing sector of the economy will grow substantially in the next decade and there are already too few workers with sufficient skills. Wages paid to well-educated manufacturing workers are higher than the average of all sectors. The campaign involves regional alliances of centers and industry to develop messages appropriate to their target audience, develop the campaign with identified funding sources, and build a regional delivery infrastructure, including a business plan.
