Minnesota Manufactured: Connecting the Next Gen of Trade Pros to Local Manufacturers

Bell­mont Part­ners Tech­nol­o­gy & Man­u­fac­tur­ing prac­tice group mem­bers Angela Seut­ter and Mic­ah Car­roll recent­ly trav­eled to Duluth to attend the sec­ond annu­al Min­neso­ta Man­u­fac­tured Awards Ban­quet, held at Lake Supe­ri­or Col­lege. The event, host­ed by the Min­neso­ta State Advanced Man­u­fac­tur­ing Cen­ter of Excel­lence, brought togeth­er a room full of man­u­fac­tur­ing lead­ers from across Min­neso­ta to cel­e­brate one shared mis­sion: inspir­ing and prepar­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of man­u­fac­tur­ing pro­fes­sion­als and con­nect­ing them with local manufacturers.

A high­light of the evening was the recog­ni­tion of ongo­ing efforts to con­nect stu­dents with local man­u­fac­tur­ers through a sim­ple yet impact­ful initiative—funding school bus trans­porta­tion. This major effort helps bridge the gap between young peo­ple and the world of advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing by mak­ing it eas­i­er for stu­dents to tour facil­i­ties and explore real-world career paths. 

The Pow­er of the Tour 

The ban­quet spot­light­ed the suc­cess of the Min­neso­ta State Advanced Man­u­fac­tur­ing Cen­ter of Excel­lence and its sig­na­ture ini­tia­tive: the Statewide Tour. This pro­gram brings togeth­er edu­ca­tors, stu­dents, par­ents and man­u­fac­tur­ers to fos­ter career explo­ration and aware­ness through­out the year, with a spe­cial empha­sis dur­ing October’s Man­u­fac­tur­ing Month. Since its incep­tion, the tour has fea­tured over 3,200 man­u­fac­tur­ing vis­its, involv­ing thou­sands of edu­ca­tors and employ­ers across the state.  

One of the evening’s most com­pelling moments came dur­ing the keynote address from Danette Seboe, a prin­ci­pal in the Duluth Pub­lic Schools dis­trict. She shared per­son­al insights into the effec­tive­ness of the Statewide Tour in rais­ing aware­ness of local advanced man­u­fac­tur­ing jobs, high­light­ing the trans­for­ma­tive impact that hands-on expo­sure can have on stu­dents’ career aspi­ra­tions. Through sto­ries of stu­dents vis­it­ing local Duluth-based man­u­fac­tur­ers such as Cir­rus Air­craft, Loll Designs and Epi­cure­an, she illus­trat­ed how these expe­ri­ences can ignite curios­i­ty and shift per­spec­tives. 

Man­u­fac­tur­ing Growth and Oppor­tu­ni­ty in Min­neso­ta 

The impor­tance of this work is under­scored by the strength and scale of Minnesota’s man­u­fac­tur­ing sec­tor. Accord­ing to Enter­prise Min­neso­ta, the state is home to more than 8,300 man­u­fac­tur­ers, employ­ing over 320,000 Min­nesotans and gen­er­at­ing $53 bil­lion annually—representing 13.6% of the state’s GDP. With more than 10,000 open man­u­fac­tur­ing jobs today, the industry’s future depends on attract­ing new tal­ent and build­ing stronger con­nec­tions with Minnesota’s stu­dents. 

Bell­mont Part­ners is proud to sup­port the mis­sion of the Cen­tral Min­neso­ta Man­u­fac­tur­ers Asso­ci­a­tion (CMMA), an advi­so­ry coun­cil mem­ber for the Cen­ter of Excel­lence, by help­ing pro­mote these vital work­force devel­op­ment ini­tia­tives. As man­u­fac­tur­ing con­tin­ues to evolve, so too must the strate­gies that inspire and equip the next gen­er­a­tion. By con­tin­u­ing to con­nect edu­ca­tion with indus­try, Min­neso­ta is paving the way for a strong, inno­v­a­tive and inclu­sive man­u­fac­tur­ing future.