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| About Us |
The Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council is a partnership of the region's labor, business, government, education and community leaders working together to establish the Chicago area as a global leader in advanced, high value-added manufacturing.Manufacturing is the single most important sector of the Chicago area's economy. The industry has the largest positive 'ripple effect' on the rest of the economy: each manufacturing job creates three more in related sectors. The industry is directly and indirectly responsible for over 1.7 million jobs in Chicago.The Renaissance Council's flagship initiative is Austin Polytechnical Academy (APA), an advanced manufacturing-focused public high school on Chicago's west side that prepares students for leadership in all areas of the industry.APA students learn about careers in manufacturing by working with our committed partner companies, who provide students with industry exposure and financial support. Our partners contributed over $150,000 to create our new Manufacturing Technology Center, a state of the art on-campus machining facility where students can earn industry-recognized credentials from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills.
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| Support Us | Your support makes our success possible. We need your help to deliver the resources, networks, and programs to help develop a skilled workforce and keep us on the cutting edge of innovation.
Please make your check payable to the Center for Labor & Community Research and mail it to us at 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10, Chicago, Illinois 60647. CLCR is the non-profit fiscal and operational sponsor of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council.
You can also contribute online securely through PayPal by clicking below:
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| Contact Us | 3411 West Diversey, Suite 10
Chicago, Illinois 60647
P: 773-278-5418
F: 773-278-5918
chicagomanufacturing.org
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Parting Ways with a Founding Partner
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by Dan Swinney
Executive Director
Recently, the Illinois Manufacturers Association decided to withdraw from the Renaissance Council. It was an amicable split, with the IMA affirming their best wishes to the students at Austin Polytech, and expressing their pride in the working relationships that developed between business, labor, and government in the CMRC.
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CMRC Welcomes New Director: Bruce Braker
|  Bruce Braker served on the staff of the Tooling & Manufacturing Association for 38 years, including 27 years as president. In 2010, he was presented with the Winzeler Award for distinguished service to TMA and the manufacturing industry.
Bruce developed and implemented many of the services TMA offers today. Having a strong interest in workforce development, he also was a founding board member of the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, and remains an Executive Committee member and treasurer.
Bruce will serve as director of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council, working to strengthen our links with the manufacturing community. |
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Illinois is #2 in NIMS Credentials for 2010 (with a Boost from APA)
|  In 2010, the National Institute for Metalworking Skills broke its own 2009 record with 5,455 total tests issued and 4,450 credentials earned. That's a 43% increase in tests issued over the previous year.
"Employers are looking for competency-based assessments and third party validations of skills," said NIMS Board Chairman Gregory Chambers of Oberg Industries. "The NIMS standards and credentials are designed by the industry to fulfill that need."
Illinois ranked #2 in number of credentials, with 302 issued in 2010, compared with 244 in Connecticut. Pennsylvania ranked first with 1579, thanks to a statewide NIMS testing program.
Austin Polytech students accounted for 7.5% of NIMS credentials earned in Illinois in 2010. Since the end of last year, another 50 students have earned their certifications, bringing the school's total up to 73. |
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Reshoring Initiative Addresses CMRC Executive Committee
| On February 23, the CMRC Executive Committee enjoyed a presentation by Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, which touts the benefits of sourcing production in the United States.
Harry discussed a number of strategies that manufacturers can use to estimate the true cost of offshoring -- which is often more costly than maintaining their operations in the US, due to quality control issues and rising shipping costs, among other factors.
Today marks the launch of the Illinois Reshoring Initiative, which debuted with a half-day conference "Rethinking the Total Cost of Offshoring" at Harper College, featuring a keynote speech by Peter Perez, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing in the US Department of Commerce.
Visit reshorenow.org to download the Reshoring Initiative's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) estimator, a free system to help OEMs and manufacturers determine their true total cost of ownership. |
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Austin Polytech: from California to the New York Island
|  Austin Polytech continues to draw national attention as we work to develop our model in Chicago. On March 8, a delegation from sunny Oakland, California traveled to the West Side for a lesson on our partnership-based approach to college and career prep education.
The delegation included representatives from McClymonds and Petaluma High Schools, the California Teachers' Association, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Oakland Unified School District. The visit could potentially result in a replication of the Austin Polytech model in Oakland.
"Hearing and reading about APA and the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council is one thing. Seeing the school and meeting the teachers, students, and partners is truly inspirational," said Gary Yee, president of the Oakland Unified School District's Board of Education.
Austin Polytech was also featured in The New York Times as part of a series by Chicago News Cooperative reporter Meribah Knight, who is following a group of seniors in Austin Polytech's first graduating class.
Meribah's latest article examines the decision by Chicago Public Schools (and its subsequent reversal) to merge Austin Polytech with Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy, which shares the same building. The story highlights the challenges APA and the Austin community have faced in trying to build a partnership with CPS.
Austin Polytech was also recently featured in Medill Reports. |
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