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Health & Fitness

ECEDC Announces Career Manufacturing Tours for Veterans and Job Seekers

The ECEDC is pleased to announce the second Manufacturers Tour and Panel will be held on May 15. Veterans and job seekers will tour Quality Controlled Manufacturing Inc. and Taylor Guitars.

The East County Economic Development Council (ECEDC) is pleased to announce the date for its second Careers in Manufacturing Series - Manufacturers Tour and Panel. The career tours and panel will be held on May 15, 2013 thanks to sponsorship from SDG&E, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo, along with funding from the San Diego Workforce Partnership. The series was created in response to manufacturers reporting difficulties in finding skilled, qualified personnel. With many veterans and adults out of work, ECEDC and partners are arranging tours of manufacturing facilities in East County San Diego for jobseekers to learn what manufacturing looks like today and what career opportunities are available within this sector.

Participants will tour two East County manufacturing facilities: Quality Controlled Manufacturing, Inc. (QCMI), a precision machining manufacturer located in Santee, and Taylor Guitars, the iconic, El-Cajon based, maker of world-class guitars. Following the tours, participants will attend a lunch panel presentation and hear from industry leaders about careers in the manufacturing sector, required skills, and training opportunities. The tours and panels are the first of its kind in California.

“The manufacturing sector in San Diego, especially in East County, has been having a difficult time finding personnel. While the industry’s growth improves as the country emerges from the Great Recession and as customers re-shore component fabrication from overseas, the manufacturers report that their growth projections may be adversely affected by the scarcity of skilled labor. In addition, manufacturers are increasingly concerned about their current workforce nearing retirement age without a reliable pipeline of skilled employees to replace aging-out workers,” said Jo Marie Diamond, ECEDC President and CEO.

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“Our company has been growing in operations. We need employees and cannot seem to find qualified individuals fast enough,” said Rick Urban, QCMI COO. Urban chairs a subcommittee of the ECEDC’s Supporting Education and Economic Development Committee (SEED) that has been planning the series of tours and has been pushing efforts to engage people in the manufacturing industry. QCMI made the 2012 Inc. 500/5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies as well as was one of San Diego’s 2012 Fastest Growing Companies.

In December 2012, the ECEDC worked in collaboration with the Grossmont Union High School District and other partners to organize the first Manufacturers Tour and Panel. More than 80 Career Technical Education high school students toured three East County manufacturing companies to learn about career opportunities. Company tours included Quality Controlled Manufacturing Inc., First Class Packaging, and Taylor Guitars. Following the tour, a panel of manufacturing leaders convened at Cuyamaca College to discuss career opportunities and to answer students’ questions about joining the manufacturing workforce.

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About the Careers in Manufacturing Series 
The Careers in Manufacturing Series is a collaborative effort. Partners organizing tours and panels include the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, Cuyamaca College, East County Career Center, East County Economic Development Council, Grossmont Union High School District, Public Consulting Group, Quality Controlled Manufacturing Inc., Seacoast Science Inc., and Wells Fargo. The series started as a project of the ECEDC’s Supporting Education and Economic Development Committee. The May 15th tour will be the second of the Manufacturers Tour and Panel Series. The series is sponsored by SDG&E, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. Additional sponsorships are still available.

About ECEDC 
The East County Economic Development Council (ECEDC) is a dynamic, award-winning, non-profit organization of leaders committed to a healthy, vital economic climate and quality of life in the East County San Diego region. For additional information, please visit the East County Economic Development Council at http://www.eastcountyedc.org.

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