Tech and Innovation Power Detroit's manufacturing revival: CNBC

**BankruptcyGuy** · June-29-15, 11:51 AM

Great story about our town.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102791688

**401don** · June-29-15, 08:55 PM

Bumping this terrific article in case anyone missed it amidst the crime blotter that is DYES the past few days.

**Richard** · June-30-15, 07:47 PM

Alot do say manufacturing is dead and will never comeback,there are shortages of skilled labor all across the board,the average age for a skilled machinist or fabricator or even tool and die is 54 years old and many make in excess of 70k a year.

We raised a whole generation on tech and forgot about the nuts and bolts and the idea of a daily mental challenge.

The auto manufactures located in the south are begging the tool and die companies to move from Detroit and be closer to them,in theory it would be better for them to have a location both in Detroit and in the south but without the skilled labor to fill those positions they are throttled and everybody loses,both manufacturing and health care are being whittled down and unless we restart the skills training programs again we will leave them no choice but to outsource and keep dragging the country down further.

Not everybody is tech savoy and maybe a outlet for restlessness is a education in the skills trades all it requires from the start is the ability to work with ones hands which gives the pride of producing something from nothing.

I think the city is underestimating its labor resources and writing many off as uneducated and therefore not worth the training investment and in return having to deal with a labor drain verses a labor opportunity.

If the government had not subsidized tech in silicone valley for the space program it would not be where it is at today,maybe it is time to start investing back into the skills training today so when tomorrow comes we are ready.

**Jimaz** · June-30-15, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Richard

... unless we restart the skills training programs again we will leave them no choice but to outsource and keep dragging the country down further.

And it's not just the trainees but the trainers as well: Michigan job skills programs need more teachers.

Trying to find qualified people to teach career and technical education programs has become such a problem in Michigan that some advocates want the state to relax the certification rules temporarily to widen the pool of candidates.

**BankruptcyGuy** · June-30-15, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by Richard

Alot do say manufacturing is dead and will never comeback,there are shortages of skilled labor all across the board,the average age for a skilled machinist or fabricator or even tool and die is 54 years old and many make in excess of 70k a year.

We raised a whole generation on tech and forgot about the nuts and bolts and the idea of a daily mental challenge.

The auto manufactures located in the south are begging the tool and die companies to move from Detroit and be closer to them,in theory it would be better for them to have a location both in Detroit and in the south but without the skilled labor to fill those positions they are throttled and everybody loses,both manufacturing and health care are being whittled down and unless we restart the skills training programs again we will leave them no choice but to outsource and keep dragging the country down further.

Not everybody is tech savoy and maybe a outlet for restlessness is a education in the skills trades all it requires from the start is the ability to work with ones hands which gives the pride of producing something from nothing.

I think the city is underestimating its labor resources and writing many off as uneducated and therefore not worth the training investment and in return having to deal with a labor drain verses a labor opportunity.

If the government had not subsidized tech in silicone valley for the space program it would not be where it is at today,maybe it is time to start investing back into the skills training today so when tomorrow comes we are ready.

I got the wonderful chance to see one of these businesses up close, and I will tell you that it's very complex, very technical, and very hard to replicate. It also requires close, in-person interaction between vendor and customer. And yes, those engineers are in very high demand.

**Richard** · June-30-15, 10:18 PM

For years they seem to have pushed it off as anything not tech related was considered a dirty job per-say.

I have a friend that was a top-less dancer while going through engineering school,she now makes $160,000 a a year and loves it.

In the link Jimaz posted it talks about the lack of teachers to educate is a really good example on how we have really dropped the ball in this country and had degraded the teaching profession to the point of bliss and then we sit back and ask why,the single profession entrusted to carry the young into the future is now deemed a second class profession.

I like the idea of allowing those with the 4000 hours to be intrusted with teaching because like myself book smart did little to help me in the real world,I was horrible at math and still am,but because I acquired the hands on skills early in life I can now pretty much custom fabricate anything using a blueprint in my mind.

I think there are alot that would do horrible in a school situation but good in the field,back to the education aspect if they perhaps mixed a teacher with the teaching skills with an assistant, even a retired one looking for something to do or willing to help and combine that with host companies to provide the actual hands on experience.

I have a friend from Holland,she became divorced with two children and no skills other then being a housewife.

The government provided day care,collage,and a small stipend to cover living expenses,she became a lawyer and has payed back in taxes way more then she received,the government invested 4 years for a 30 year return,versus her working a meaningless low paying job while still collecting government support.

That country felt it was a wiser investment to educate for the long term verses continue to support.

I think they should pay a comparable wage to get the skilled teachers that they need and do what it takes.One teacher puts out a class of 30 students,the impact of the 30 students on the economy locally and nation wide far surpasses any salary of one teacher.

They are looking at the start of tech which was driven by passion but it started by one guy from Bell labs transferring to farmland in Cali bringing four smart guys with him,he wins the Nobel prize for inventing the resister and pissing the four guys off ,they leave team up with fairchild camera and invented the silicone chip,they made no money and did it for passion,they then left because fairchild was raking in millions while they were living on passion,they started a little company called Intel.

All of the tech companies,Intel,AMD,and any other company that got their start in silicone valley and are now all major players where past employees of Fairchild that went to work for the company strictly for passion,because they loved what they were doing and it was exciting.

The moral of that was no matter how much passion one has for their work at the end of the day they still have to pay the bills and they were quick to jump ship to do so.

So I guess before we go any further we have to decide what value and what contribution to the future do we place on the educators,I doubt there is anybody in this country over the age of 50 that does not realize how screwed this country really is if we do not return back to what we did best at one time.Maybe not exactly how it was but we are not going anywhere raising a generation of burger makers or store clerks who will be replaced by automation anyways.

It is kinda funny in a way,we are screwing this countries future by squabbling over the pay of
such of a small percentage that would be entrusted to carry those under them into the future.

It is like a drop of water in gallon,but it is not funny it is shameful because it is easier to cut a check to pay ones rent for a vote.

CC:Jeb Bush

**bibs** · June-30-15, 10:42 PM

Regarding the lack of skilled labor in the South. I thought that businesses in Right to Work states would flourish once that got away from those unions and high taxes. Sucks to be you!

My father is a machinist. There used to be a journeyman's programs where they would train you to be a machinist but it ended decades ago. He also worked for 90 day shops where they would lay you off on the 89th day so they didn't have to pay any benefits. I wonder why they don't have enough machinist? Perhaps, these businesses should create the journeyman's program again. Yeah, right.

There isn't a teachers shortage. My sister-in-law is a teacher. Synder cut her pay by 47% in the last five years and she no longer wants to be teacher due to the politics and the high cost of continuous education classes. Teachers are quitting and going into the private sector. Now, that there is no collective bargaining the state is going to have to pay the market rate for a teacher and there is no way to control costs without the unions in places. A wise man once said to be careful what you ask for.

**BankruptcyGuy** · July-01-15, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by bibs

There isn't a teachers shortage. My sister-in-law is a teacher. Synder cut her pay by 47% in the last five years and she no longer wants to be teacher due to the politics and the high cost of continuous education classes. Teachers are quitting and going into the private sector. Now, that there is no collective bargaining the state is going to have to pay the market rate for a teacher and there is no way to control costs without the unions in places. A wise man once said to be careful what you ask for.

Sndyer didn't cut her pay. The local school board did, and they reacted to cuts that were put in place by Granholm in 2009-10, before Snyder was elected.

You are wholly correct on the 2nd point--teachers are going to be subject to market forces, just the rest of the employees in the world. If a district wants the best teachers, they will have to pay the best. Unfortunately, the market is saturated with people with education degrees, and that holds pay way, way down.

There was an intriguing model in upstate New York, where they paid teachers something like $120,000/year. Needless to say, they got the best of the best, and the results showed that.

There is no more valuable investment, especially in a child's life, than education. Unfortunately, the state is paying off massive pension and benefit obligations, and that is sucking the life out of in-class funding.