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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) today joined students from across Southeast Michigan to kick off National Manufacturing Day, a nationwide effort to draw greater attention to modern manufacturing and the career opportunities available in the manufacturing sector. Dingell and Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) introduced a bipartisan resolution this week designating October 2 as National Manufacturing Day.

“Manufacturing Day provides an opportunity to celebrate the manufacturers and training facilities that are helping to keep Michigan at the forefront of innovation, and to inspire our next generation to pursue careers in modern manufacturing,” said Dingell. “Manufacturing is in our blood in Michigan, and it is important to engage our young people if we are to keep manufacturing in this country and continue to lead in a global economy.”

According to a recent report, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will become available across the U.S. by 2025, but 2 million may be left unfilled due to the skills gap.

As part of National Manufacturing Day, manufacturers and training facilities throughout Southeast Michigan, including the Ford Rouge Factory, Focus: HOPE, and General Motors, are opening their doors to middle and high school students to learn firsthand about the high-tech and innovative careers available in manufacturing.

Also today, the administration announced that the University of Michigan will lead a consortium to identify new, emerging areas of advanced manufacturing that would benefit from shared investment in research and development, education, and training. Entitled “Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Foresights: Defining the Critical Needs of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Community,” the project will be led by Professor Sridhar Kota.

“This award is a testament to the tremendous work being done at the University of Michigan in advanced manufacturing,” Dingell continued. “Investments such as these will help ensure we can meet the needs of the manufacturing community for decades to come and compete with anyone around the world.”

Manufacturing continues to be the backbone of the United States economy, contributing more than $2 trillion in 2014 and supporting 17.6 million good paying jobs. In the past five years, United States manufacturing has added over 700,000 jobs, marking the fastest pace of job growth since the 1990s.