2020 Annual Report
Message from Carolyn Lee, Executive Director, The Manufacturing Institute
As manufacturers and the country confronted the most significant health and economic crises in generations, The Manufacturing Institute delivered for the industry, advancing on our mission to inspire, educate and empower the manufacturing workforce of today and tomorrow. In the face of a year unlike anything we have ever imagined, we grew our impact, expanded and adapted critical programs to support more people on their path toward manufacturing careers and developed new initiatives to help manufacturers—and more Americans—seize opportunities.
Our team came together to accelerate our ongoing work to show the value and promise of our industry and empower manufacturers and emerging workers with programs such as the STEP Women’s Initiative, Heroes MAKE America and FAME. Just like manufacturers in the United States, we met problems with solutions and turned obstacles into new successes, pivoting to virtual programming and expanding our audiences with events such as MFG Day, which reached 50 million viewers, and the STEP Ahead Awards, which reached larger audiences than ever.
We led the industry in forging a path to identify and address systemic barriers that hold back communities. The MI developed essential diversity and inclusion resources and conducted roundtables to help manufacturers integrate D&I best practices into their organizational culture and day-to-day operations. We made strides to close the opportunity gap and skills gap and build a more equitable and diverse workforce. Notably, we spearheaded efforts to promote and collect tangible commitments for the industry-led Pledge for Action.
As one of the most trusted voices on the industry landscape and the U.S. economic outlook for manufacturers, we produced insightful research, together with key partners, to help empower and guide decision-makers during this unique time. For example, we produced a study with KPMG assessing the cost of doing business as a manufacturer in the U.S. relative to operating in 16 main global trading partners. In addition, our findings highlighted unique opportunities to strengthen manufacturing operations and make the sector healthier and more competitive in the long term.
To build on that progress in 2021, we’re scaling up our premier workforce development and education programs, securing targeted partnerships to grow our reach and tackle specific workforce challenges. Our new partnership with Union Pacific, for example, expanded our efforts to bring more women and youth into manufacturing. Our work with Caterpillar Foundation will broaden our outreach to veterans, while a recently announced partnership with the Charles Koch Institute will focus on expanding second-chance hiring opportunities industrywide. In addition, the MI and the National Association of Manufacturers launched the “This Is Our Shot” project to help manufacturers get their teams and communities safely vaccinated.
As you’ll see in this report, the MI showcased its adaptability all throughout 2020, rising to every challenge to welcome and prepare the next generation of modern manufacturing workers—and to position us for even greater achievements in 2021.
Thank you,
Carolyn Lee
Executive Director
The Manufacturing Institute
Workforce: Supporting Your Team
Manufacturers must attract new employees to do the jobs of the future, but we also need to train and upskill people for the jobs we have now. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, The Manufacturing Institute has pushed forward through far-reaching and comprehensive programs to make these goals a reality.
Innovative Programs
The MI offers a constellation of targeted initiatives focused on expanding and strengthening the manufacturing workforce.
STEP Women’s Initiative
The MI stepped up our work to recruit and support women in manufacturing and created the dynamic virtual STEP Ahead Awards to recognize winners from the biggest pool of nominations ever. To keep the focus on closing the gender gap, the STEP Forward regional series transitioned to virtual events reaching more than 1,000 people to learn and share best practices for building the network for women throughout the sector.
2020 STEP Ahead Awards
Take a look at the women who inspired and strengthened our manufacturing industry in 2020 at this year’s STEP Ahead Awards.
Our 2020 STEP Ahead Awards offered an innovative virtual forum that honored the past, present and future of women in manufacturing.
- 2020 STEP Ahead Awards to a virtual event with an audience of 1,500+ viewers from 17 countries
- 1,000+ persons participated in STEP Forward events in 2020
Heroes MAKE America
In our third year, Heroes MAKE America expanded its impact beyond the classroom to build an even more robust connection from the military community to manufacturing careers. In addition to continuing operations at four participating sites, we created “Heroes Connect: Military to Manufacturing,” so that military job seekers could engage virtually with manufacturers nationwide and enhanced our support for our female participants by introducing Women Veterans Roundtables with STEP alumnae who also served.
