December
12 -- Over the years, I’ve spent considerable time writing and reporting on the
manufacturing skills gap. It remains a topic of concern for the industrial
sector in Wisconsin as business, education and political leaders continue to
work to develop solutions to a problem that stems from manufacturers struggling
to fill open jobs while thousands of unemployed workers search for employment
but don’t have the necessary skills to make them immediately viable candidates.
During
the course of my coverage of the topic, Dan Ariens, president and chief
executive officer of privately held Ariens Co., a Brillion-based outdoor power
equipment manufacturer, has been held up as an example of a top-level leader
who is taking noteworthy steps in dealing with the issue.
Ariens
is more than willing to share the story of how his company, over the course of
many years, has dealt with the situation. He will deliver the keynote address
and also will take part in a break-out session at the Wisconsin Manufacturing
Extension Partnership’s Manufacturing Matters! Conference on Feb. 28 in
Milwaukee.
Getting
students to develop problem solving skills has been essential in the success
Ariens has exhibited in attracting key talent.
“We
need to educate kids on how to solve problems versus teaching them a skill.
That can be done in our plant,” Ariens said.
Educational
systems, from high schools to technical schools and universities, aren’t broken
but are in need of greater focus, he added.
“What
keeps getting missed is that local business that are connected with their high
schools, technical schools or university systems need to get much more engaged
in those schools and in curriculum support so that it’s hands on, minds on,”
Ariens said.
Way
too often, students are are delivered the message that they need to go to
college so that they can avoid working in a factory, he said.
“There’s
a large population that isn’t built for advanced education and who’d much
rather work with their hands and solve problems in an environment like
manufacturing,” said Ariens. “Teachers keep telling kids that you don’t want to
get stuck in factory. We’ve got to get over that. We want them to think that
this could be a great opportunity.”
Manufacturers
need to go beyond addressing their immediate skills needs on the factory floor
and focus more on the long term, Ariens said. Again, he stressed the need to
get younger people to develop problem solving skills, which will make them more
viable employees.
A
key aspect in Ariens’ efforts has come through a major investment to build a
technology and education center at Brillion High School. The partnership
between Ariens and the school began six years ago.
“It’s
not just about the infrastructure that we built, it’s about the attitude and
the mindset,” Ariens said. “We really integrate with the school’s manufacturing
and technology educator, who creates projects through the full term that will
engage the kids.”
As
part of the initiative, Ariens places its manufacturing and engineering staff
into the classroom several times a year. The company also brings Brillion
school students to its manufacturing plant.
“We’ll
actually get them engaged in a real live product development process,” said
Ariens, who has been with the company since 1983 and has served as president
and CEO since 1998. “We have snow blowers on the market today that have parts
designed by these high school kids. It’s sort of a live curriculum.”
Since
the program began, students and parents alike have developed a more energized
attitude toward manufacturing, Ariens said.
“Kids
want to come work for Ariens,” he said.
Having
prospective employees see the plant in operation is a huge benefit for the
company, which has about 1,800 employees globally, including 850 in Brillion,
Ariens added.
“If
we can get them here, they know they are in a different place,” he said. “It’s
very high-paced and its hard work. I don’t want to shy around that. But for
people who want to come to work every day at a good company, those are the
people we are able to recruit.”
Ariens
wants to share his success story with other employers for the benefit of the
entire industry.
“We
get a lot of educators and chambers of commerce that call us, but individual
businesses don’t call,” he said. “Frankly, I wish they would. I wish they would
say what are you doing that we could do in Middleton or in Rhinelander. But
they don’t. I think businesses assume that what we’ve done is all about the
building and the money we spent to build it. It’s really not. It’s much more
about the mindset and creating an environment where educators and parents
understand that Ariens is a great place to work.”
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