Three key reasons to join the Tampa Bay Export Alliance's Oct. Trade Mission to Canada

If you're considering new international markets for your business, our neighbor to the north warrants a closer look. That's why the Tampa Bay Export Alliance (TBEA) is hosting a trade mission to Toronto, Canada on October 19-22.

Here are three compelling reasons Tampa Bay businesses should consider this opportunity:
1. Canada has been ranked the best country in the G20 for business, and the most tax competitive country in the G7.
2. The U.S.-Canada trade relationship is the largest in the world. Canada is also the #1 export destination for goods and services from Tampa Bay, and the top export sectors include aerospace, information technology, manufacturing, automotive, and film and digital media.
3. TBEA is offering Canada mission participants access to a Gold Key Package designed to save busy executives time and money and maximize business opportunities over the course of a few jam-packed days.

Gold Key appointments are filling fast, and detailed information about the mission can be found at www.tampabayexportalliance.com, or phone Brent Barkway at (727) 464-7411.

Hillsborough County, Fla. (July 16, 2015) – In support of the Hillsborough County Manufacturing Academy initiative, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners approved a partnership with Hillsborough Community College (HCC) July 15 to enhance workforce training for manufacturing careers. The County’s $322,000 investment will provide two years of programming enrichment and $80,000 in new and upgraded equipment for functional training.

Under the agreement, HCC will provide training and resources to prepare high school students and graduates, post-secondary school students and graduates, and residents for careers in manufacturing. This includes programs that lead to industry certifications, career-focused summer camps, introducing veterans to manufacturing career opportunities, fast track manufacturing training, outreach activities, aligning curriculum with industry standards to facilitate accelerated degrees, and paid internship opportunities.

Earlier this year, Hillsborough County approved a $325,000 agreement with the Hillsborough County School Board to enhance manufacturing skills training for students participating in specialized programs at Armwood, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Middleton, and Tampa Bay Tech high schools, and Brewster Technical College. The Economic Development Department is collaborating with partners to identify additional ways the County can help increase awareness of production-type jobs, improve the readiness of job candidates, and advance career placement opportunities, with an emphasis on the engagement of women, minorities, and veterans.

About the Hillsborough County Manufacturing Academy Initiative
The Hillsborough County Manufacturing Academy initiative is coordinated by the Hillsborough County Economic Development Department to strengthen the pipeline of local employable manufacturing talent. The initiative uses a hands-on approach to leverage the expertise, network, and resources of several workforce partner agencies, including Hillsborough County Schools, Hillsborough Community College, the University of South Florida, CareerSource Tampa Bay, private sector manufacturers, Upper Tampa Bay Manufacturers Association, Bay Area Manufacturers Association, Florida Medical Manufacturers Consortium, and the National Tool and Machining Association.
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View this video about girls succeeding in Machining Technologies program at Atlantic Technical College. ATC supports the growing network of women in Manufacturing.

There is grant money available to manufacturers, but you must be quick because it goes fast.

OJT - On the Job Training

EWT - Employed Worker Training

Employer Tax Credits

Video interview with Bill Muir, chief operating officer at Jabil.

There has been a great deal of attention paid to the skills gap facing American manufacturers. The gap needs to be addressed before we can develop the engineers and technicians of the future. A study from The National Defense Industrial Association reported that between 5th and 12th grade, 74 percent of the children do not have access to or interest in STEM the coursework they need to thrive in today’s advanced manufacturing environment.

Read more here:
http://www.inthehopper.org/?navItemNumber=7878&utm_content=16596002&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin

The increasing number of jobs tell the story: Florida and the Tampa Bay area are experiencing a resurgence in manufacturing jobs. The resurgence, which appears to be mostly concentrated in smaller, high-tech or “niche” companies, is occurring after years of gradual but steady decline in manufacturing, made worse by a crash during the latest recession.

Now with more than 333,000 manufacturing jobs across Florida, more than 61,000 just in the Tampa Bay region and growing companies hiring again, you can actually see the industry's comeback on the high-tech factory floors of local manufacturers.

You can see the comeback at Southern Manufacturing Technologies situated in a small industrial park just off the Veterans Expressway in northwest Hillsborough County. There you’ll see lathes operated by computers and workers using microscopes in fabricating ultra-precise valves, actuators and other parts for jet and rocket engines.

You can also see it at the headquarters of Heat Pipe Technology off Orient Road, a company that was founded in 1983 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an innovation that makes air conditioning systems more efficient and keeps satellites safe from the broiling heat and deep cold of space.

And it’s also in the headquarters of Creative Sign Designs off Racetrack Road, where workers design and fabricate one-of-a-kind exterior and interior signs, including the unique “sign” on the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg – actually the artist’s signature recessed into a section of the building’s exterior concrete wall.

Read more: http://www.83degreesmedia.com/features/manufacturing061615.aspx

If Florida were a country, its $800 billion economy would make it the 19th largest economy in the world. Our state is poised to play a huge role in the global marketplace. In order to grow that economy, businesses need to be able to compete fairly around the world. Manufacturers need the support of U.S. negotiators to secure strong trade agreements in the world's biggest markets. Trade Promotion Authority is necessary to create the environment for such negotiations.

TPA is the key to increasing markets for Florida manufactured goods. It gives our leaders, both the president and Congress, the ability to negotiate trade deals in a timely manner. Contrary to rhetoric that has come from loud factions in both parties lately, TPA will not lead to manufacturing jobs being shipped overseas. It is a legislative mechanism to ensure that we can negotiate and finalize trade deals to increase our exports and even attract new manufacturers to the United States. That means more — not fewer — manufacturing jobs for Floridians.

Florida businesses exported more than $58 billion in goods last year alone. Along with those billions of dollars in exports, international trade supports over 2 million jobs in Florida.

More than 18,000 manufacturers in our state employ more than 317,000 workers. TPA is an essential legislative tool for helping the United States lead in trade negotiations and secure deals that will increase Florida's exports and bring even more manufacturing jobs to the state.

Trade Promotion Authority had strong bipartisan support in the Senate with Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., voting for passage. Our senators should be commended for their bipartisanship in support of Florida manufacturing. Now the U.S. House needs to follow their lead and support Florida manufacturers by voting for TPA.

Nancy Stephens, executive director, Manufacturers Association of Florida, Tallahassee

The Tampa Bay Export Alliance recently hosted the second annual International Town Hall at the Hilton Carillon in St. Petersburg. More than 300 business representatives and partners attended the conference designed to increase the Tampa Bay region's understanding of how to engage in international trade.

A partnership between Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation and Pinellas County Economic Development, the Alliance's synergy stems from the cooperative efforts to promote the region as a whole.

For more information visit http://tampabayexportalliance.com

Recruiting Girls for STEM Pathways Webinar 05/27/2015
There are numerous strategy resources and success stories which work for recruiting girls to STEM programs, yet overall recruitment numbers for girls in STEM subjects and careers still lag behind the interest and enrollment boys show for STEM programs.

This webinar looks at “what works” from the unique perspective of teachers in the field at progressive levels of education: Elementary, Middle, High School, and College programs and outcomes.

Register online here!
For more information contact: boyette@fl-ate.org