Group puts twist on governor’s proposal
Wayne Peal| Livingston Daily
It’s Gov. Rick Snyder’s idea, but with a Livingston County twist.
That is why representatives of two dozen county businesses will be boarding a bus outside the Livingston Educational Service Agency offices next week to tour two county high school manufacturing programs.
“The governor’s idea is to put students in contact with businesses,” LESA Work-Based Learning Coordinator Kate Roberts said. Snyder is among those invited to take part.
But the Livingston County Talent Tour is a 180-degree turn from what the governor has proposed.
“The governor’s idea is to have students tour manufacturers, but we thought we’d do it the other way around,” Roberts said.
Wednesday, business representatives will be visiting the robotics and manufacturing programs at Pinckney Community High School as well as well as Howell High School’s machine trades, manufacturing and computer-aided design classes.
The goal is to make local businesses aware of the talent in their own backyard.
“You hear all the time about the dearth of talent coming into manufacturing, but these are among the top programs of their kind in our state,” LESA Career-Technical Education Director Timothy Jackson said.
Students with skills in automated manufacturing are especially in demand, Jackson said.
Offers made coming out of high school
“We know for a fact that there have been students from Pinckney who turned down $80,000 offers coming out of high school because they knew they’d get six-figure offers once they graduated from college,” Jackson said.
Tour participants are expected to include company CEOs and plant managers as well as human resources professionals.
In addition to seeing students at work, business professionals will also be able to discuss forming partnerships with each high school.
In addition to LESA, tour sponsors include Livingston County Michigan Works!, Ann Arbor SPARK and both school districts.
Contact Daily Press & Argus reporter Wayne Peal at 517-548-7081 or wpeal@ gannett.com.