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Centering Work: Integration and Diffusion of Workforce Development within the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Network

Author

Listed:
  • Nichola Lowe

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

  • Greg Schrock

    (Portland State University)

  • Matthew D. Wilson

    (Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois Chicago)

  • Rumana Rabbani

    (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

  • Allison Forbes

    (Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness)

Abstract

As the U.S. economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, strategies that promote long-term transformation toward high-quality jobs will be critical. This includes workplace-improving interventions that enable employers to upgrade existing jobs, often while enhancing their own competitive position. This paper focuses on the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a national network of federally funded centers that support small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. We document the range of workforce- and workplace-enhancing strategies that MEP centers have adopted since the network’s inception in the mid-1990s. While workforce development is unevenly implemented across today’s MEP network, leading centers within the network are devising transformative strategies that shape underlying business practices in ways that can improve the quality of front-line manufacturing jobs. The pandemic recovery, along with federal commitment to reenergize domestic supply chains, presents an opportunity to establish NIST-MEP as a national workforce-development leader while also strengthening localized institutional partnerships to center that effort on inclusive economic development and recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Nichola Lowe & Greg Schrock & Matthew D. Wilson & Rumana Rabbani & Allison Forbes, 2022. "Centering Work: Integration and Diffusion of Workforce Development within the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Network," Upjohn Working Papers 22-371, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:22-371
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cathy Yang Liu & Marc Doussard & Nichola Lowe, 2023. "Fixing Work, and Moving Beyond It," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(1), pages 64-72, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial policy; industry studies; economic development policy; workforce development policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

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