Regional education leaders visit a school in Virginia to find clues for preserving the manufacturing industry

By: Conner Woodruff
Posted on: Thursday, July 20, 2023

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DANVILLE, Virginia (WOUB) — A group of higher education leaders from Ohio and West Virginia traveled to the Danville Institute for Advanced Learning and Research hoping to learn how to boost youth interest in manufacturing.

The group, which included deans, provosts, K-12 principals and others, was invited by the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition to visit the institute on July 11 and 12. The Manufacturers’ Coalition, which promotes the growth of the area’s manufacturing industry, organized the event with the goal of creating a supply of future manufacturers.

According to surveys conducted by the coalition, fewer students in Appalachian Ohio are interested in pursuing manufacturing as a career, raising concerns about a decline in the industry.

For two decades, the institute has been trying to rectify the same issue in Virginia.

“It’s because of exposure… there’s not a lot of television shows, movies or action figures that glorify manufacturing,” said Todd Yeatts, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing Advancement at the institute.

The institute’s recent success in attracting more students is what inspired the coalition’s trip.

The visitors received several presentations from faculty on how the institute formed new partnerships and ultimately grew its enrollment. They also got a tour of the institute’s facilities and workstations.

When the institute saw its numbers declining, it began partnerships with several K-12 school districts, higher education partners and industry. This led to the creation of Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC), an initiative in which instructors teach a middle school curriculum to introduce students to technology used in the manufacturing field. The initiative also connects these students in high school to expanded career and technical courses, industry certification programs and dual-enrollment training opportunities with higher education partners.

Teachers use tools like virtual reality and 3D modeling to showcase various topics. For example, they use VR headsets to teach kids welding without exposing them to danger.

Yeatts attributed the institute’s rising enrollment to these outreach programs. Their success has led to a partnership with the U.S. Navy.

“Every partnership built over the last almost 20 years has led to where we are today,’ Yeatts said.

This is what the Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition hopes to replicate in Ohio and West Virginia by leveraging the network of connections between major universities in the region.

“Collaboration is key,” Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition program manager George Bilokonsky said. “You have to have the same vision in order to all move forward and be successful in the region and that’s what we’re missing, that single vision.”

It’s not all cooperation, however.

“Companies that are looking to build a new facility or expand, we absolutely prefer that they locate in Virginia as compared to Ohio,” said Julie Brown, Vice President for Advanced Learning at the institute. “For economic development, we try to recruit companies regionally.”

In fact, the institute’s growth happened largely because of Virginia’s competition with Ohio.

Brown described their current stance as “coopetition”: Working together with other schools while still striving to outperform them.

The Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers’ Coalition’s next step is to have discussions with potential collaborators on how to move forward.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers initiative.