Manufacturing Day – Looking out for our future!

Pretty much any time a group of my fellow CEOs get together, the discussion will eventually head toward what many of us describe as our biggest challenge – finding good employees. At Correct Craft, we have manufacturing plants across the U.S. and we offer competitive pay and benefits; however, it is still a challenge to find the employees we need to support our growth – the same challenge experienced by most other companies in the boating industry.

Unfortunately, this worker shortage is only going to get worse in the years ahead. Up to 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring each day and the math is plain and simple: If the economy continues to grow, we will be experiencing a severe shortage of employees. By some accounts, this worker shortage will grow to many millions by 2025. This will be a substantial problem for the boating industry and, unfortunately, boat manufacturing may be hit particularly hard since manufacturing is generally not considered to be a glamorous career.

We know that a lot of manufacturers in the boating industry offer wonderful career opportunities. However, we need to do a better job highlighting what we can offer to potential employees. We have a great opportunity to do this each year on Manufacturing Day.

We need to get the word out about opportunities in our industry. We encourage companies in the boating industry to join our Correct Craft companies in celebrating Manufacturing Day on Friday, October 6, 2017.

Across the country our Correct Craft companies will be working with either their local manufacturers’ associations, trade schools or counties to bring students to our facilities to learn what boat manufacturing is all about. We have been doing this for several years and the kids always have a blast (we try to include boat rides), but more importantly they always leave with more knowledge about opportunities available in the boating industry.

If many companies in our industry would join in on the fun and host a Manufacturing Day event this year at their facility, we could go a long way towards raising awareness of careers in boat manufacturing. We are always giving tours of our facilities, so invite a group to come learn about your brand and the potential job opportunities available. Additionally, it is a fun day that gives you a chance to invest in students in your community and share your passion.

To learn more about Manufacturing Day and find resources to help you plan your event, please visit www.mfgday.com.

Please join us in celebrating Manufacturing Day this October. You will have some fun and it will be a big step in not only raising awareness for our industry, but also helping us solve a long-term issue that will impact us all!

Bill Yeargin is the president and CEO of Correct Craft.