Sep 19, 2014 3 min read

Manufacturing, Petra Mitchell emphasized, is making it big.

“It is the second-largest and third-fastest-growing industry in Pennsylvania,” she said Friday at Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.

The Washington County Chamber of Commerce resumed its monthly breakfast event with a panel discussion about that subject, an industry that was flagging but is now revived.

Mitchell is president and chief executive officer of Catalyst Connection, an economic development organization in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

It strives to help small manufacturers from Southwestern Pennsylvania.

She was the moderator of a panel composed of Jim Johnston, facilities manager of Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC; Lisa Kruzan, human resources manager for U.S. Corrugated; Steve Ross, vice president of Universal Electric Corp.; and Ian Sadler, president and CEO of MCC International Inc.

All four companies have operations in Washington County – Caterpillar in Houston, U.S. Corrugated in Coal Center, Universal Electric in Cecil and MCC in McDonald.

Manufacturing has changed dramatically. It is no longer grimy, assembly-line type of work, but much more high-tech. Finding a sufficient number of properly trained workers is an issue for certain companies, especially considering about one-quarter of manufacturing employees in this state are 55 and over.

If there is a current need, there likely will be a dire need ahead.

“We need to recruit and develop skill sets that are important in the future,” Kruzan said to her fellow panelsts and an audience of about 90.

Johnston added, “There has been talk of a shortage of employees, and this is not just local but nationwide. We can’t fight each other for employees.”

He recommended companies work with schools, starting with ninth-graders, “to try to stimulate interest in students. Let them know what we offer, what we pay. We want the right person coming from the right culture.”

And, he added, with the proper skills and mindset.

“Looking for people who want to show up for work and want to work is so important.”

Speaking with an accent – he is originally from the United Kingdom and had a profound interest Friday morning in Scotland’s independence vote – Sadler posed an interesting tandem of related questions.

“‘Can you do the job?’ Another important question is, ‘Do you want to do the job?’ That may indicate whether a person will be successful.”

Mitchell told the panel, “Career awareness at a young age is important to your companies.”

Sadler lamented the lack of math proficiency that MCC job candidates displayed.

“We do a lot of testing. We hire slowly and fire quickly,” he said. “We found that the hardest skill is math, yet it is fundamental in so many ways.

During a brief question-and-answer exchange, Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi asked the panel, “What do you look for in an employee during training?”

“We have certain aptitudes employees must have,” Johnston said. “We look for an understanding of the business, not to just come in and do a certain job, but to know why they are doing it.”

Kruzan said: “I think attitude is huge and willingness to learn is huge. We want employees to add to their skill sets, not just do a certain job.”

It was a breezy 45-minute session that could have gone for another hour and change.

“I have 10 more questions,” Mitchell said, “but we have to cut if off here.”