Marshalltown is home to a proud manufacturing history dating back well over a century, with several of the state’s leaders in the field calling the community home. On Monday, a group of representatives from the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) along with several elected officials including Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer, Sen. Kara Warme (R-Ames), Rep. David Blom (R-Marshalltown) and Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour) along with Iowa Workforce Development Executive Director Beth Townsend swung through town as part of the Elevate Iowa Manufacturing RV Tour in conjunction with Manufacturing Month and visited Marshalltown High School (MHS), Marshalltown Community College (MCC) and Emerson Process Management to learn more about how the aforementioned educational institutions are preparing their students for high-tech careers with local businesses.

During an introductory lunch prepared by Bobcat Cafe students at MHS, ABI President Nicole Crain, who is married to a proud Bobcat alum, touted the economic impact of manufacturing in Iowa — over $43 billion toward the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually with more than 200,000 jobs and an average wage and benefits of nearly $90,000 a year.

“We have recently launched a pilot program with iJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates), and we are also relaunching, this month, our Elevate Iowa Manufacturing Commission, which is what that beautiful RV out there is doing is letting people know what Elevate is all about — making students, parents and others aware of the great career opportunities in manufacturing. And what better place to do that than right here?” she asked. “We want to be a resource for you, and we hope that we’ll use us as a resource as we help partner businesses with education and career opportunities.”

Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Superintendent Theron Schutte, also a proud MHS alum himself who is in his 10th year in his current role, spoke about the steps the district has taken to expand its Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings and credited several other members of his staff including High School Principal Justin Boliver, Human Resources Director and former MHS Principal Jacque Wyant, Executive Director of Education Services Shauna Smith and Curriculum and Professional Development Leader Jenny Allen for their roles in the process.

When Schutte graduated from MHS in 1981, he said he believed that most of his classmates aspired to go on to obtain a four-year college degree, but he later realized the economy and the job market would only allow about 25 percent of them to do so — the other 75 percent were able to walk out of high school to careers with employers like Fisher Controls (now Emerson), Alliant, Lennox and MARSHALLTOWN Company to find substantive work.

“The reality today is, I think most all of you know, that today, 75 percent of the kids need something beyond high school in order to be well-positioned for those livable wage jobs,” he said. “I’m really excited for you to get to tour (the) relatively recent renovation and expansion of our Career and Technical Education spaces, mainly the industrial arts spaces today. We’re super proud of these spaces. We’ve worked with local business and industry reps in order to both design the layouts as well as to come up with what equipment we needed that was gonna be relevant to today’s workforce.”

In addition, all of the science and Family and Consumer Science (FCS) classrooms and labs have been gutted and remodeled along with the creation of a dedicated vocational agriculture space and a new greenhouse. For about a decade, Schutte said, district leaders have been working to create a framework of educational experiences starting as early as kindergarten to expose kids to a wide variety of opportunities with a high emphasis on jobs and careers available in Marshalltown.

They have partnered with MCC on dual credit programs, and in any given year, Schutte said 15 to 20 MHS students are able to obtain an AA degree before they even graduate from high school. Area educators have participated in teacher externships, and the MCSD was the first district in the region to partner with Junior Achievement (JA) of Central Iowa, which entails a comprehensive program in grades K-8 with 140 volunteers from 35 to 40 different businesses coming to classrooms to work with students on career readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. It is also the first central Iowa district to implement JA3DE curriculum for a cohort of students and staff at the high school.

Crain added that the tour offers a great opportunity for ABI staff and members to learn more about best practices in places like Marshalltown and implement them in other parts of the state. From there, the group set out on a walkthrough of various CTE classrooms at MHS before hopping back on the bus and heading south to the MCC campus, where Cournoyer, who was flanked by Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD) President Anne Howsare Boyens and Provost Matt Schmit, joined them in the Tool and Die room and spoke about the power of partnerships in moving Iowa forward.

Alongside Iowa’s proud agricultural history, advanced manufacturing is the largest economic sector in the state, contributing to 18 percent of the overall GDP, Cournoyer said. Iowa is the third highest state for manufacturing jobs per capita in the nation.

“These aren’t just numbers on a page. They represent real Iowans in real communities contributing to the growth and prosperity of our state, and I’m deeply proud of the role Iowa plays as a leader in manufacturing as a sector that’s critical to the lives of many families and individuals across the state,” she said.

Cournoyer touted steps the legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds have taken to grow manufacturing in Iowa and make the state more business friendly through cuts in personal income, corporate and unemployment tax rates and reducing regulations. Workforce development, she said, is the most important issue facing all industries in Iowa, and the task is “far from over” as state leaders focus on reimagining the unemployment system to serve as a re-employment system, expanding work-based learning by 76 percent and leading the nation in registered apprenticeships.

“It’s a critical pathway for individuals looking to earn while they learn and gain specialized skills that manufacturers need,” Cournoyer said.

She praised community colleges like MCC for their role in helping to provide the necessary tools to train the workforce, but she highlighted the need to continue building strong partnerships between education, industry and government, design tailored programs to meet the demands of industries and ensure that students graduate “job ready.”

“So as we look at the future, we know the road ahead isn’t without challenges. Workforce shortages persist, and the landscape of manufacturing continues to change at a rapid pace. Global competition, technological innovation and new consumer demands all shape the way we do business and the kind of skills that we need to succeed,” Cournoyer said. “I have no doubt that Iowa’s manufacturing sector is up to the task. In fact, I believe that Iowa is uniquely positioned to thrive as global demand for the advanced manufacturing sector continues to rise. So as we gather today to celebrate Iowa’s manufacturing achievements this month, I encourage all of us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and together we can ensure that Iowa remains the manufacturing leader of the 21st century.”

Schmit briefly spoke next and offered praise for MCC staff members who are working to provide opportunities to students in all walks of life, whether straight out of high school, still in high school or looking for new opportunities later in life, and Machine Trades Faculty Member Al Parks led a tour of the area and the various machines within the classroom, some of which have been donated by local businesses.

As the bus loaded up for its final stop of the day at Emerson, Schutte and Howsare Boyens spoke to the T-R about the ongoing partnership between the MCSD and MCC and how the tour showcased the work they’ve been doing in recent years to promote career readiness.

“It was surreal that we had the turnout that we did with our local and area legislators as well as the lieutenant governor and the Iowa Workforce Development director. It just shows how important this work is,” Schutte said.

Howsare Boyens echoed those sentiments, and she was especially excited that tour participants got to see students at work. Both she and Schutte are optimistic that Marshalltown will continue to be a hub for advanced manufacturing in the years to come.

“In addition to the strong history, we’ve got a strong present and a strong future. Both at the high school level and at the college level, we talk to a lot of our business and industry partners just to make sure that the curriculum — what we are teaching these students — is actually applicable and up to date and really trying to future-proof some of these jobs,” Howsare Boyens said. “So that partnership, while very strong in the past, it’s still strong today.”

During an interview with the newspaper after the Marshalltown stop had concluded, Crain shared her enthusiasm for the CTE investments made at MHS and said she relished the chance to hear about several exciting developments within the community.

“I think that’s also why we wanted to highlight Marshalltown and what’s been happening there because we’ve heard about it from our members in the area and from some other folks, so it was great to just be there, be on the ground and be able to share with our other members and share with other educators about some of the opportunities that are available to them and how businesses and education can really work together,” she said. “And so that’s really what our Elevate initiative is all about, and so we were really excited to get it launched there and relaunched when we were in Marshalltown.”

Crain is also optimistic that manufacturing can serve as a catalyst for growth in cities and towns outside of the Des Moines metro and Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor, citing examples such as Fairfield and Garner with thriving businesses reinvesting in their communities.

“You don’t have to go to a big city to find a career in engineering or even a career in accounting. That’s one thing we’re trying to educate Iowans, students and parents about. In manufacturing industries, we need everyone. We need people with high school diplomas. We need people with career and technical training. We need accountants. We need engineers… If you look at those communities that are doing well, it’s those that have a strong manufacturing base,” she said. “We want to just encourage people to consider a manufacturing career, manufacturing jobs and consider staying in Iowa.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering her position, Crain is optimistic about the potential for manufacturing growth in Iowa given the state’s business and tax climate, the availability of land for development, the relatively low cost of living and quality of life.