Minnesota Manufacturing Q&A with CMMA’s Executive Director

Octo­ber is Man­u­fac­tur­ing Month in Min­neso­ta, a time to cel­e­brate the peo­ple, com­pa­nies and inno­va­tions that pow­er one of the state’s most vital indus­tries. From pre­ci­sion machin­ing and food pro­duc­tion to advanced tech­nolo­gies and med­ical devices, man­u­fac­tur­ing plays a crit­i­cal role in our econ­o­my and com­mu­ni­ties. 

At Bell­mont Part­ners, we’re proud to sup­port the Cen­tral Min­neso­ta Man­u­fac­tur­ers Asso­ci­a­tion (CMMA) and its mis­sion to con­nect stu­dents, edu­ca­tors and man­u­fac­tur­ers through mean­ing­ful work­force devel­op­ment ini­tia­tives. Recent­ly, we caught up with CMMA Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Lyn­da Bai­ley to learn more about what’s hap­pen­ing in Cen­tral Minnesota’s man­u­fac­tur­ing indus­try, how CMMA is help­ing build the next gen­er­a­tion of tal­ent and what to expect dur­ing this year’s Tour of Man­u­fac­tur­ing. 

Tell us about your role with CMMA – what are you work­ing on these days? 

As exec­u­tive direc­tor of CMMA, my role is to con­nect man­u­fac­tur­ers with each oth­er, our com­mu­ni­ty and the next gen­er­a­tion of tal­ent. Right now, we’re focused on sev­er­al key ini­tia­tives. The Tour of Man­u­fac­tur­ing is under­way, giv­ing stu­dents and the pub­lic an inside look at the excit­ing career oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able in our region. We’re also prepar­ing for our sixth annu­al Career and Tech­ni­cal Edu­ca­tion (CTE) Jam­boree on Novem­ber 20th. This event is designed to close the gap between edu­ca­tion and indus­try by fos­ter­ing part­ner­ships between schools and man­u­fac­tur­ers. Atten­dees includ­ing school lead­ers, CTE teach­ers and manufacturers—will hear from experts in the field, explore best prac­tices for pro­mot­ing man­u­fac­tur­ing careers in grades K–12 and tour Big Lake High School’s CTE facil­i­ties along with LISI Med­ical Rem­mele. 

I’m for­tu­nate to have a strong team that assists me in plan­ning and deliv­er­ing these events and we also work close­ly with our board of direc­tors and part­ner­ing agen­cies such as DEED, CMJTS and Career­Force. Their col­lab­o­ra­tion ensures that we not only pro­vide valu­able pro­gram­ming but also strength­en con­nec­tions between edu­ca­tion, work­force and indus­try. Beyond events, I’m work­ing with our mem­bers and com­mu­ni­ty part­ners to cre­ate a strate­gic plan for the year ahead. Grow­ing mem­ber­ship and ensur­ing CMMA remains a strong, uni­fied voice for man­u­fac­tur­ing in Cen­tral Min­neso­ta is always at the heart of what we do. 

What’s the cur­rent state of the man­u­fac­tur­ing indus­try across Min­neso­ta? 

Man­u­fac­tur­ing con­tin­ues to be one of Minnesota’s strongest eco­nom­ic engines. The indus­try is grow­ing, but it is also evolv­ing quick­ly to respond to work­force chal­lenges, sup­ply chain issues and tech­no­log­i­cal changes. What stands out in Min­neso­ta is the resilien­cy of our man­u­fac­tur­ers they adapt, inno­vate and con­tin­ue to con­tribute sig­nif­i­cant­ly to the state’s econ­o­my. 

What are some of the unique things about man­u­fac­tur­ing in Cen­tral Min­neso­ta? 

Cen­tral Min­neso­ta has an impres­sive mix of com­pa­nies, from pre­ci­sion machin­ing to food pro­duc­tion to advanced tech­nolo­gies. A unique strength here is the col­lab­o­ra­tive spir­it among man­u­fac­tur­ers, schools and com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions. That col­lab­o­ra­tion helps us address shared chal­lenges, like work­force short­ages, in a way that sets our region apart. At CMMA, we’re proud to serve as a leader and advo­cate, ensur­ing man­u­fac­tur­ers’ voic­es are heard. We con­tin­ue to assist in build­ing a strong pipeline of tal­ent, resources and sup­port through­out the man­u­fac­tur­ing com­mu­ni­ty. One exam­ple is with the K12 Nav­i­ga­tor, an online tool that con­nects edu­ca­tors, stu­dents and par­ents to career explo­ration oppor­tu­ni­ties and resources in man­u­fac­tur­ing and oth­er indus­tries. By pro­mot­ing tools like the K12 Nav­i­ga­tor, we’re help­ing stu­dents dis­cov­er career path­ways ear­ly and mak­ing it eas­i­er for schools and man­u­fac­tur­ers to con­nect in mean­ing­ful ways. We also sup­port our schools by award­ing funds to assist with bussing funds, funds for com­pe­ti­tions and oth­er relat­ed activ­i­ties. To date, over $203,000 has been donat­ed to our com­mu­ni­ty. 

Tell us more about Min­neso­ta Man­u­fac­tur­ing Week – what is it and how can peo­ple get involved? 

Although we cel­e­brate Min­neso­ta Man­u­fac­tur­ing Week Octo­ber 1–4, Man­u­fac­tur­ing Month runs through­out Octo­ber and in many ways extends all year long. It’s a statewide cel­e­bra­tion of the peo­ple and com­pa­nies that pow­er our econ­o­my. One of CMMA’s high­lights is the Tour of Man­u­fac­tur­ing, where local busi­ness­es open their doors to stu­dents, fam­i­lies and the com­mu­ni­ty. These tours are a pow­er­ful way to show­case the excit­ing careers avail­able in man­u­fac­tur­ing and to shift per­cep­tions about the indus­try. For a full overview of the Tour of Man­u­fac­tur­ing, includ­ing par­tic­i­pat­ing com­pa­nies and event details, read­ers can explore our annu­al mag­a­zine online.  

CMMA is proud to col­lab­o­rate with our affil­i­ate asso­ci­a­tions, includ­ing the Arrow­head Man­u­fac­tur­ers and Fab­ri­ca­tors Asso­ci­a­tion (AMFA), Tri-State Man­u­fac­tur­ers Asso­ci­a­tion (TSMA) and Minn-Dak Man­u­fac­tur­ers Asso­ci­a­tion (MDMA), to extend the reach and impact of these tours across Min­neso­ta. Togeth­er, our asso­ci­a­tions not only host tours dur­ing Man­u­fac­tur­ing Month in Octo­ber but also coor­di­nate events through­out the year, giv­ing thou­sands of stu­dents,  com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers and fel­low man­u­fac­tur­ers the chance to see mod­ern man­u­fac­tur­ing up close. Peo­ple can get involved by attend­ing tours, encour­ag­ing schools to par­tic­i­pate, or help­ing to spread the word. It’s a mean­ing­ful way to cel­e­brate the impact of man­u­fac­tur­ing across our com­mu­ni­ties and high­light the oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able for the next gen­er­a­tion. 

Sup­port­ing Minnesota’s Man­u­fac­tur­ing Future 

Man­u­fac­tur­ing is a cor­ner­stone of Minnesota’s econ­o­my, con­tribut­ing over $57 bil­lion to the state’s econ­o­my in 2023 and employ­ing more than 320,000 peo­ple statewide. With tens of thou­sands of job open­ings pro­ject­ed in the com­ing years, the need to con­nect stu­dents with career path­ways in man­u­fac­tur­ing has nev­er been more urgent. 

Bell­mont Part­ners is proud to sup­port CMMA and oth­er orga­ni­za­tions work­ing to build a strong, inno­v­a­tive and inclu­sive future for Min­neso­ta man­u­fac­tur­ing. Whether it’s through pro­mot­ing the Tour of Man­u­fac­tur­ing, ampli­fy­ing work­force devel­op­ment efforts, or help­ing tell the sto­ries of local man­u­fac­tur­ers, we’re com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing the growth and suc­cess of this vital indus­try.