Oct 2, 2020
Pursuing Equity, Inclusion, and Industrial Rebirth in the Age of COVID-19
We are proud to share that UMA has finalized our new program, Industry and Inclusion, in partnership with The Century Foundation. Together, we selected eight community-centered workforce training organizations from cities across the country, inviting them to a rigorous, guided engagement with support from experts in the field.
When we first announced the cohort opportunity, we noted that, “Alongside the aging of the manufacturing workforce, it’s estimated that between 2015 and 2025, approximately two million manufacturing jobs will go unfulfilled because of recruitment and skill-building challenges. This historical moment has major relevance for communities of color and other communities who have long counted on manufacturing jobs as a source of middle-class income. After decades of economic trends that have shaken the faith of people in manufacturing careers, companies and communities now have the chance to create a more diverse — and ultimately more inclusive — future. But without thoughtful community-led interventions, the opportunity could be lost.”
This estimation holds even more relevance now, as the United States and other countries respond to the racial uprisings, calling for justice, on top of a global pandemic and staggering unemployment numbers. We see economic mobility and the dignity of work for black, brown, indigenous, and other people of color as a crucial component of that quest for justice. We believe manufacturing, through entrepreneurship, employment, and ownership, can play a role in lifting up neighborhoods, individuals, and our economy, overall.
We are proud and humbled to be students of and advocates for the work our cohort members are doing in their communities.
Also in this newsletter you’ll find:
- Two more profiles of our Pathways to Patient Capital members — Build Institute in Detroit and Inner City Advisors in Oakland — from our “Forging Fairness” Report. Keep up to date with UMA by following our new Medium page!
- A request from the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) to take their Open Source Hardware Survey. OSHWA aims to foster technological knowledge and encourage research that is accessible, collaborative, and respects user freedom. This survey is key to get a pulse on the community and informing their future efforts.
We know the power of UMA is you, our members, and during this time we’re working to provide opportunities to lift up what you’re doing and build a stronger practitioner network.
In collaboration,
The UMA Team
Pursuing Equity, Inclusion, and Industrial Rebirth
in the Age of COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis, and America’s struggle to produce enough protective equipment to endure and emerge from the pandemic, has underscored the critical need for a strong U.S. manufacturing sector. And it has posed new challenges and opportunities to education and workforce programs seeking to elevate the next diverse generation of manufacturing workers. When it comes to racial equity, the last few weeks have taught all of us in America that we need to build a new future for our country out of this crisis, including the creation of a more racially equitable economy.
The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Ron Williams, Professor of Business at Coppin State University. Panelists will include Andrew Stettner, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation; Autumn Russell, Executive Director of the Early College, Early Career program at MAGNET; Lee Wellington, Executive Director at the Urban Manufacturing Alliance; and Rhandi Berth, Chief Innovations Officer at the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership.
Creating & Preserving Urban Industrial Space: Policy Toolkit Release & Discussion
One of the many crystalizing facts the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare is the devastating fragmentation of and disinvestment in the United States’ manufacturing sector. Municipal governments are scrambling to source personal protective equipment (PPE); manufacturing companies are rapidly retooling their factory floors; and we are all wondering how to move forward from the health and economic crisis brought on by COVID-19.
Over the past year, UMA and ANHD have been engaging industrial policy stakeholders across the country to derive best practices for creating and preserving affordable industrial real estate, culminating in the upcoming release of our Mission Driven Industrial Development Toolkit.
Today, as manufacturing is being touted as a mechanism to support our economic rebound and public health, our findings, which emphasize the importance of collaboration between manufacturers, community organizations, developers, and government to inform development, business services, and land use policies, are more relevant than ever before. As we have always known, the manufacturing sector holds a source of employment for the middle class and those without a college degree, and the promise to lift up local economies and neighborhoods. Most notably, it presents a path out of the current public health and economic crisis.
We are excited to share these learnings and to inform the industrial policy conversation in cities across the country at this crucial moment. Please join us as our panel discusses the critical importance of bringing together stakeholders from across the policy and geographic landscape to support manufacturing. We will release our toolkit following the webinar.
Our panelists include Leah Archibald, Executive Director of Evergreen in Brooklyn; Hannah Jones, Director of Economic Development at Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago; and Andrew Dahlgren, Researcher at UMA. Our facilitator will be Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen, Eirector of Capacity Building for ANHD, and we will hear opening remarks from Barika Williams, Executive Director of ANHD, and Lee Wellington, Executive Director of UMA.
