Manufacturing

The Manufacturing Industry

The Columbia Willamette Workforce Partnership (CWWC) is a partnership between the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan region’s three workforce development boards – Workforce Southwest Washington, Clackamas Workforce Partnership, and Worksystems. Its purpose is to deliver a unified approach to serve industry, support economic development, and guide public workforce investments in the region.

The Collaborative work with industry to create sector strategies to identify and remove barriers that stand in the way of cultivating and sustaining a skilled workforce in the sectors of Manufacturing, Construction, Healthcare, Child Care & Early Learning and Technology. Under the guidance of local companies, we have three goals for the sector to advance the manufacturing workforce in the region.

Our Identified Manufacturing Goals

Three Identified Goals for the Manufacturing Industry

1. Make Manufacturing a Career Choice for the Emerging Workforce

2. Connect Manufacturers to the Right Candidates Now (Recruitment & Training)

3. Strengthen the Manufacturing Industry

Click here to review our Manufacturing Workforce Plan

Manufacturing Sector Report

The Advanced Manufacturing sector was initially hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, losing nearly six percent of its employment base during 2020. Although jobs are returning, the sector’s growth in 2021 was slightly smaller than the overall economic growth in the region.

Over the next three years, the Columbia-Willamette Workforce Collaborative will work with employers and industry experts to strengthen the manufacturing industry through strategic partnerships. The CWWC is committed to supporting the needs of the industry by ensuring that a skilled labor pool is ready to fill open positions now and in the future.

Click here to review our Manufacturing Sector Report