CCAC hosts Fifth Annual Advanced Manufacturing Council Advisory Breakfast

CCAC hosted the Advanced Manufacturing Council Advisory Breakfast on Nov. 6 at Allegheny Campus. More than 100 business and education leaders attended the event, whose theme this year was "Collaborative minds, mechanical precision: Advanced Manufacturing for tomorrow."

During a panel discussion, participants shared perspectives on how to utilize collective ideas, efforts, and resources to expand the region's future workforce pipeline and meet the labor market demand in the manufacturing space. Moderated by Edgar Largaespada, Senior Director of Industry Strategy: Partner4Work, the panelists included Dr. Robert Scherrer, Executive Director, Allegheny Intermediate Unit; Dr. Katharine Roche, Director of Special Projects and High School Academic Principal, West Allegheny School District; Dr. Wayne Walters, Superintendent, Pittsburgh Public Schools; Dr. Quintin Bullock, CCAC President; Dr. Illah Nourbaksh, Kavcic-Moura Professor of Robotics and Inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Shared Prosperity, Carnegie Mellon University; David Fair, Founder, D2 Business and Manufacturing Solutions; and Maclennon Kimbrough, Facilities & Project Manager, Impact Guard.

A collaboration between CCAC and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the annual gathering was launched in 2019 with the aim of connecting leaders from the K–12 education and business/industry sectors to develop mutually beneficial ways to address the region's workforce ecosystem and its accompanying labor market challenges, specifically in advanced manufacturing. Since then, the advisory council has continued to meet each year to foster the formation of partnerships, ensure that CCAC's academic programs are aligned with industry needs, and explore best practices in establishing new career pathways and mentoring and apprenticeship programs.