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Miller Urges Greater Involvement with Skilled Trades Through Support of SkillsUSA Organization
- Welding leader donates scholarships, time and machines to support future welders
- Involvement combats expected shortfall of 200,000 welders
APPLETON, Wis., March 11, 2008—To support future welding professionals, Miller Electric Mfg. Co. announced that, for more than 20 years, it will continue as a SkillsUSA Official Sponsor. Companies become official sponsors by donating more than $10,000 in cash and/or documented in-kind donations.
SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization for high school and college students training for careers in trade, industrial, technical, health and other skilled service occupations.
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| Miller Electric Mfg. Col supports the future of welding by becoming an official sponsor SkillsUSA organization. Support includes donating the time of individuals such as Dave Heidemann of Miller’s training department, shown here at a recent SkillsUSA competition. |
“The future of welding and all skilled trades demands more involvement from industry, secondary and post-secondary institutions, teachers and parents,” says Neal Borchert, a business development manager with Miller. “Without a stronger partnership to recruit and retain younger talent, the shortage of skilled tradespersons may significantly hinder growth in many industries, from manufacturing to construction to healthcare.”
Welding affects almost every common item imaginable, from machinery that shapes it to the trucks, trains and ships that transport goods to their final location.
200,000 Welders Short
According to research by the American Welding Society (www.aws.org) and other industry sources, the average welder is in his or her mid-fifties, and more than half of the 500,000-strong welding workforce is set to retire soon. AWS estimates a shortage of 200,000 skilled welders by 2010.
Miller’s own research indicates that manufacturers and fabricators consistently rank lack of skilled welders as one of their top business concerns, as do numerous reader comments posted on Miller’s Industry News Blog.
In past years, Miller has not promoted its involvement with SkillsUSA. However, “The extreme shortage of welders requires that Miller and others in the industry become increasingly vocal about the importance of promoting a technical education.”
Involvement
To encourage students to pursue a welding-related career, Miller annually donates thousands of dollars in cash to support the SkillsUSA organization, awards welding equipment to each of the state, regional and national winners and donates the time of its employees who serve on welding competition’s technical committee. Miller employees who are Certified Welding Inspectors judge the quality of the students’ welds.
Miller also sponsors the $40,000/four-year scholarship from the AWS Foundation for the U.S. representative to the World Skills Competition (the national winner of the SkillsUSA competition in welding goes on to represent the U.S. in the world competition, Miller employees also help train the U.S. representative).
Borchert notes that support and involvement with the skilled trades comes in many forms. For example, technical colleges are offering to send their welding instructors to high schools to talk careers in welding, as guidance counselors are often unfamiliar with the trade.
“Something as simple as encouraging a young person to pursue a technical career makes a big difference,” says Borchert. “We have to break the mindset that working in the skilled trades is somehow settling for less than going to a traditional four-year college. The fact is that skilled tradespersons generally make above-average salaries and have good career options.”
As an example career options, Borchert points to three Miller employees who are former SkillsUSA participants and winners of state and national competitions. One is industrial sales specialist, one is a marketing manager and another is a vice president/general manager. In addition, consider that many business owners begin their career as tradespersons. Remember, John Deere started as a blacksmith.
For more information on Miller, visit http://www.MillerWelds.com or call 1-800-4-A-MILLER (800-426-4553). Miller Electric Mfg. Co. is a leading worldwide manufacturer of Miller brand arc welding equipment and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW)
