Forging a career: is manufacturing a first-choice career path?

• Author: Stewart, Heather
• Position: Business Trends

True or false: Manufacturing is hard, back-breaking work in deplorable conditions--and ifs a dead-end career that doesn't pay very well.

False! Industry leaders say manufacturing can be a great career path, but they are having a hard time convincing parents, school counselors and students to explore that option.

Vic Hockett, a faculty member at Dixie Applied Technology College, regularly visits high schools to talk about manufacturing.

"I tell them to completely erase what they've seen on TV or read in their old-school textbooks about the sweatshops and the smoke-filled factories and valleys that you see in some of the old pictures. The game has completely changed--it's very high tech; it's a very clean environment. Most of the factories in St. George, you can eat off the floor," he says.

And in Utah, manufacturing is a growing industry. Over the past 12 months, the manufacturing sector added 5,000 new jobs for a growth rate of 4.4 percent--double the state's overall growth rate of 2.1 percent. The industry encompasses a wide variety of sectors and companies, from the Malt-O-Meal plant in Tremonton to IM Flash Technologies in Lehi.

Career paths range from robotics to welding to assembling delicate electronics in futuristic clean rooms.

A Stepping Stone

The state's network of Applied Technology Colleges wants to spill the beans on a little-known secret: high school students can take free concurrent enrollment classes through the ATCs and earn a certificate by the time they graduate.

An ATC certificate is a great ticket into a skilled profession, says Kelle Stephens, president of the Dixie Applied Technology College. Especially since local manufacturers are hard pressed to find skilled workers. But she says it can also be a stepping stone to further education.

ATC graduates can take that certificate to a public college, where they will receive transfer credit hours and can quickly earn an Associate's degree.

Weber State University recently announced a partnership with the Davis Applied Technology College and the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College, wherein ATC students who have completed a 900-hour certificate program will receive 30 semester hours of transfer credit at WSU. The credits are applied toward an Associate's degree in general technology.

The state Board of Regents has directed all of Utah's public higher education institutions to create similar degree programs in partnership with the ATCs.

But why stop there? Students can...