ILMA Compoundings July 2017 - 8

INDUSTRY RUNDOWN

Raise the Floor: A Holistic Approach to
Preparing Women for Manufacturing Jobs
Twenty-six women from manufacturing, education
and nonprofit sectors in their community got together
during the summer of 2013 to tackle the Northern
Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region's lack of a pipeline
of skilled manufacturing workers. They believed
manufacturers were overlooking a significant segment
of the population - women.

The group considered why women were not already attracted to manufacturing jobs, what training would give them
the skills needed to qualify for higher-paying jobs and what
barriers they need to overcome to complete a training program and settle into a job.
Their answer was the Gateway Community and Technical
College's Raise the Floor program - a 12-month manufacturing training and certification program designed by
women for women.
Laura Lyons, president of ATech Training, an active
supporter of Raise the Floor and one of the original 26, said,
"If you are looking to fill open jobs with the most qualified
workers, why would you eliminate half the population?"

JULY 2017

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make
up 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, but only 29 percent of
the manufacturing workforce. Lyon's company bucks that
trend - women make up 42 percent of her workforce.
Carissa Schutzman, vice president of Workforce Solutions
at Gateway, said the Raise the Floor women get the whole
community involved to raise awareness about all the potential career paths in the manufacturing industry. In addition
to recruiting events, they hold information sessions targeted
to employment agencies, human resource representatives
and anyone else with access to individuals looking for a
career change. The idea is to spread the word through people
who have larger connections in the community.
What makes Raise the Floor unique is the holistic approach to training. It is not just an academic program that
results in qualification for a particular job. Raise the Floor
is committed to recruiting women into manufacturing,
training them for and placing them in skilled jobs, and to
providing the support they need to get through the program
and settle into their new job.
Women going through the program, held at Gateway's
Boone campus in Florence, Kentucky, have access to academic and non-academic services through the school, outside partners and private donations. Some of those services
include access to child care, transportation, counseling and
even help to pay for gas or groceries if things are tight.
To date, 80 women have been enrolled in the Raise the
Floor program. Forty-three have gone on to a job in manufacturing, and six women decided to pursue a degree. Of the
remaining students, about half found employment in another sector, which Schutzman still sees as a success for the
program and the women involved. The remaining students
lost touch with the school.
The program has been so successful that the National
Association for Partnerships in Equity has recognized Raise
the Floor as a program which uses superior techniques for employing support systems to train women in livable-wage jobs.
The national exposure Gateway is receiving has prompted
other organizations to reach out, hoping to replicate its program, and Schutzman wants to help. Raise the Floor is the
type of program that can benefit all underrepresented demographics and bring greater diversity to manufacturing.

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ILMA Compoundings July 2017

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