Engaging Manufacturers Engaging Manufacturers in Early in Early

Childhood DevelopmentChildhood Development

Engaging Manufacturers Engaging Manufacturers in Early in Early

Childhood DevelopmentChildhood Development

Jennifer M. McNelly

Senior Vice President

ENGAGING NATIONAL, REGIONAL, AND LOCAL

ASSOCIATIONS

Meeting the manufacturing and business workforce needs of the future means meeting the educational needs of children today.

Manufacturing Drives the American Economy

To continue to thrive, the manufacturing industry must attract and retain a skilled, educated workforce that can spur and maintain continual innovation.

Growing a Skilled, High-Performance

Workforce

If our education system were a business, its products would be judged as inferior and its stock value would be falling.

High School Graduation Rates Must Improve….

Source: U.S. Chamber Institute for a Competitive Workforce

Talent Options for Business

• Import the talent • Export the job• Grow the talent here

MAKING THE CASE FOR MANUFACTURERS

Why Early Childhood Development?

– Workforce Development and Economic Development are Interrelated and Interdependent

– Early Childhood Care and Education is a Foundational Issue for Economic Development

Early Investment Results Return On Investment

(ROI)

SOURCE: Heckman, James J. Schools, skills and synapses. Economic Inquiry. July 2008.

The Economic CaseBenefits of quality early learning:

– Promotes positive brain development– Strengthens families– Promotes school readiness – Saves tax dollars– Contributes to long-term economic growth– Prepares today’s children for tomorrow’s

competitive workforce

Engaging From The Ground Up

Putting the Pieces Together

The Current State of Early Childhood Education in Bartholomew County, IN

“Connecting the Dots…”

Why Early Childhood Education?

Currently in the county:

– Raised/leveraged/invested more than $150 million over the past ten years to support alignment of the secondary and post secondary system with our economy (and we will continue to support this work); HOWEVER,

– Must invest in our youngest citizens and their parents or our industries will not be able to conduct the types of work that pay well, retain companies and attract new investment.

Why Early Childhood Education?

Currently in the region:– 25 percent of adults age 25 and over:

• Do not have a high school diploma• Additional 25 percent have received little or no

education or training beyond high school– Nearly two-thirds of high school graduates who attempt

college do not complete a degree within six years of leaving high school

– High school dropout rate in the region is 30 percent – Only 15.5 percent have bachelors degrees or above (state

= ~24% nation = ~26%)

WHAT DO YOU NEED?JUST TELL ME

Take Action

• Write an Op-Ed or letter to the editor; call into talk radio; post on a blog

• Contact your local children’s group • Encourage providers of early childhood services to join

community and civic organizations• Encourage your peers to get involved • Host a forum to share research • Promote sensible policies on early childhood

development• Call on state and local government • Join a commission on early childhood policy• Contact policy makers, leveraging your relationships

Thank You!

The Manufacturing Institute Institute@nam.org

www.nam.org/institute

www.PartnershipforSuccess.org