On March 14, the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Partnership (AMIP), an OMA-Endorsed ISP, and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) convened a roundtable, bringing together 15 leaders from manufacturing, education, and government organizations to address the growing shortage of manufacturing instructors. As America’s workforce ages and experienced workers retire, it is a shared responsibility to ensure the next generation of machine operators, welders, and maintenance technicians are ready to join the industry.

Participants identified challenges manufacturing instructors are facing, including awareness of opportunities, pay gaps between education and industry, and barriers to entering the classroom. Ultimately, thirteen potential solutions were named and ranked on an effort versus impact matrix to determine next steps for the Southwest Ohio region. Download a full report of the ranked solutions and read more about the roundtable discussion on AMIP’s website. 3/14/2025