Carolyn Lee

We have to think about how we're making those investments differently, and that's one of the things that we do through our FAME initiative.

And it's really about building the regional workforce and talent pool solution together.

Because in manufacturing, we are each other's customers and suppliers.

And so working together to address the problem, to grow the size of the pool is effective when it comes to these really high demand, high skill roles.

And it is accelerating in momentum because companies are recognizing this.

And they see that there is an opportunity for them to do that.

And then you start building other solutions locally and regionally.

And I think that's going to help strengthen the backbone.

It's going to help strengthen our bonds with the educational sector from K-12 through post-secondary and all facets of post-secondary, as well as a national conversation that has shifted away from everybody has to get a four-year degree.

There are other pathways to opportunity.

And that includes skills training.

And there's more public interest in doing that and pursuing those pathways.

We have this renaissance in public attention about the notion of manufacturing as the backbone of the US economy, which it is and has continued and will continue to be.

And we need the people to be very much front and center in that.

It is our most important resource in the sector.

And with all this attention on it, we have this opportunity to really bear that out and to prove that.

I think for people coming into the sector today,

They have this opportunity to be alongside and to be part of how is the next generation of automation and AI going to come in to improve manufacturing even more.

And that is something that we cannot underestimate the opportunity because a lot of the youngest generation, they don't want to just be sitting at a desk all day.

They want to be doing things.