Rebuilding domestic manufacturing with young people one meeting at a time

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Many people forget how long the metal fabricating industry has been on a roll. You could argue that it’s been expanding since 2010 as the U.S. climbed out of the giant economic hole that was the Great Recession. Of course, you can’t forget about the COVID-19-related economic shutdown during the first part of 2020, but manufacturing rebounded with such ferocity that you almost forget it occurred. Not counting the short-lived pandemic recession, the industry has enjoyed just over 12 years of robust manufacturing growth!

That growth has placed metal fabricating in the spotlight, particularly when it comes to communities where manufacturing jobs represent a large percentage of overall business activity. Local municipalities and school boards in these areas have invested in new vocational training facilities to support nearby manufacturing companies. For those still lagging behind, they are seeing the need to develop more “career-ready students,” to borrow the term from the educational community, and they are making the associated changes to support that new focus.

The time is ripe for such investments. Manufacturing employment in the U.S. grew to an estimated 12,826,000 jobs in July, reaching a level that hasn’t been seen since August 2019, and average hourly earnings in the manufacturing sector have been more $30 since last September. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate sits at 3.5%, tied for the lowest mark since 1969, and plenty of job openings remained unfilled.

If metal fabricating companies are not taking advantage of getting in front of young people and their influencers during this time of economic expansion, they are doing themselves and the overall manufacturer a disfavor. Now’s the time to be making the pitch to those who know very little or nothing at all about manufacturing.

Tom Malo, quality assurance and safety manager, and Brandon Dubroc, welding supervisor, DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations (DTPS), Pineville, La., are well-known in their own company because they were instrumental in helping to launch its factory-built substation business. (Typically these fabrications are built on-site, and welders have to battle the elements). But the duo, both certified welding inspectors, also are known for their contributions to the American Welding Society’s Central Louisiana Section. Dubroc is the treasurer, and Malo is the past chairman.

In addition to visiting the facilities of other section members during the year, Malo said one of the main functions of the group is to promote the welding trade by reaching out to the local community. The best example of this is a large welding competition held at Central Louisiana Technical Community College in Alexandria, La. Up to 60 students from all over the area participate and compete for prizes. Everybody gets lunch and a t-shirt.

“It’s a big community thing because we’re also including other area welding companies. That’s because we are all looking for welders, not just DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations,” Malo said.

What’s most important to those students participating in the competition? Is it the fact that a company like DTPS is growing its business aggressively as it continues to convince companies that fabricating substations in-house and delivering them for installation is much more efficient than fabricating them on-site in the elements? Is it because DTPS will support them if they want to broaden their welding interests, such as studying to become a CWI? More than likely, the students are simply won over by a company showing interest in them. Not too many teenagers have any idea what they want to do tomorrow afternoon, much less five years from now, but they do like it when people pay attention to them.

That sort of community outreach really is the ante for winning over a new generation of workers. Young people need to know that they are wanted, that opportunities await them, and that they can make a difference. Those are all things that metal fabricating companies can offer. They just need to strike while the market remains hot.

Time is a hard-to-come-by commodity in the metal fabricating industry. Shops would do well to carve some out and use it to reach out to the local welding programs. At the very least, let them know that you might have some scrap they can use for coupons and other projects. Every effort counts!

DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations, Pineville, La., have a couple of certified welding inspectors on staff, but their contributions to the industry don't end at the end of the shift. Both are active in the local American Welding Society section, and they interact frequently with local students as they promote the craft and manufacturing. DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations