Help Wanted In The Metals Industry

Kentucky is a national leader in the critical American metals supply chain. In fact, our research at Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2) with the University of Kentucky Gatton College Center for Business and Economics last year found that the Commonwealth is the national leader in the growth of primary metals manufacturing jobs, with a 1.7% annual growth rate.

Our metals industry supports many Kentucky jobs in transportation, logistics, and services, and our central place in the supply chain has helped attract and support manufacturers in spaces like automotive, aerospace, food and beverage, construction materials, appliances, and much more. Our research with UK found that the metals industry currently employs 36,000 Kentuckians directly and impacts nearly 100,000 Kentucky jobs overall.

These are good jobs. The metals industry in Kentucky pays an average annual salary of $90,000 a year, and the continuous upgrades and expansions from this industry over the past decade has brought the latest advanced manufacturing technologies to Kentucky metals manufacturing—meaning these are quality, tech-enabled jobs.

However, we can only sustain those jobs and continue to grow this momentum with a steady stream of talented Kentuckians to do so. Our metals companies want to hire these talented young Kentuckians, but we have too often struggled to plug graduating students immediately into industry positions that require them to be ready to hit the ground running.

MI2 was created for this type of challenge. We are a public/private partnership started by the state government and leading Kentucky metals companies to work on filling the gaps between the great work everyone is already doing, to ensure it all comes together.

MI2 has been working with education and metals industry leaders to address how we can strengthen the talent pipeline to land Kentuckians in critical metals manufacturing jobs out of high school.

We are currently working to strengthen existing talent pipelines by working in regions that have a large concentration of metals jobs opportunities to create a Metals Career Pathway with the Logan County and Carroll County school districts.

The Metals Career Pathway will attract Kentucky high schoolers who have the aptitude and interest in this industry to get the education—and the credentials—necessary to prepare for metals jobs. And the pathway will provide the opportunities for those young people to bridge into metals manufacturing from high school through internships/apprenticeships and through continuing education and training. This will take a partnership between local schools, KCTCS, and metals industry partners.

Our companies stand ready to support efforts that strengthen the metals manufacturing talent pipeline, and we are building programs with Kentucky educators for a seamless, collaborative approach. We look forward to working with the Kentucky General Assembly to ensure the metals career pathway pilot programs in Logan and Carroll counties have the support they need to make them sustainable. 
    
These efforts will have a transformative effect on the lives of many Kentucky families. We want to ensure our young Kentuckians won’t have to leave Kentucky in order to pursue the opportunities they need…and end up building their own families somewhere else.

We’re excited to roll up our sleeves with Kentucky’s education and legislative leaders to make the Metals Career Pathway happen.

Mike Buckentin, Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2), CEO
Steve Clarke, Logan Aluminum, President/CEO (MI2 Founding Member Company)
Bob Eviston, Nucor, Vice President & General Manager (MI2 Founding Member Company)
Clive Grannum, North American Stainless, CEO (MI2 Founding Member Company)
Henry Gordinier, Tri-Arrows Aluminum, President (MI2 Founding Member Company)

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