Technical Development Committee Report
August 2026 – by Al Mangels
The NESMA Technical Development Committee (TDC) meeting was held virtually on August 12th, 2026.
Al Mangels opened the discussion reporting on the successful Manufacturing Ins, Outs, and Interns event held at Gastro Park, which was the close-out event, co-sponsored by AMEP, for the 2026 CCAT Manufacturing Intern program. Eileen Candels reminded us that funding applications for the internship program remain open through September 11th. Eileen then announced a new MIT-developed TechAMP training program, also starting September 11th, as well as upcoming professional development for high school counselors and STEM/CTE teachers, with the first session for that program scheduled for October 14th and a follow-up session planned for December 9th.
Other reports from educators and partners looking forward to the Fall included Carolyn Freer from CCSU, who highlighted new signature campus tours available to employers through the CCSU workforce innovation hub (https://www.ccsu.edu/hub ), and Sharon Lutkus, from CTState Naugatuck Valley, who reported running cohorts in Waterbury and Danbury with fully funded scholarships, and announced an upcoming internship fair on November 18th.
Alyssa Adler announced an Advanced Manufacturing Student Engagement Day scheduled for October 22nd at Goodwin Magnet Schools, featuring morning sessions for high school students and afternoon sessions for elementary students. David Weinholtz updated the group on MakerspaceCT’s expansion, including new welding equipment donations, and plans for a textiles manufacturing pilot. MakerspaceCT will also hold a Gala on September 26th (see https://gala.makerspacect.com/ ).
Phoebe Gonzales from CONNSTEP announced upcoming fall training programs including Supervisory Boot Camp and Lean Manufacturing courses, while Joe Tercek from Capital Workforce Partners mentioned that industry-driven Skills Training Fund grants are available, and upcoming job fairs.
The balance of the meeting included a discussion centered on challenges NESMA employers still face in hiring entry-level manufacturing workers, with Al expressing concerns about applicants lacking any relevant experience or background. Several participants, including Eileen and Sharon, proposed solutions such as mentorship programs, work internships, and better connection between training programs and employment opportunities.
Subsequent to the meeting, on September 1st, I attended The Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Forum, along with hundreds of participants, and over fifty speakers, who addressed various topics in a series of breakout sessions. Much of the focus of the meeting was on workforce development, especially in the context of the further growth of advanced manufacturing methods in priority industries.
It was exciting to learn that additional efforts are being made by so many to reach young people of almost any age, to introduce them to the world of manufacturing, and the career opportunities that manufacturing offers. It was also my impression that while the bulk of the training responsibility for advanced skills workers still remains with the manufacturers, there are growing efforts being made by educators and other institution to engage with manufacturers, and to provide any help that they can, such as customization of educational offerings, flexibility of schedules and a targeted desire to provide talented workers driven by industry needs.
But I suppose that the key takeaway for me was that the employers who find the most success in attracting talent largely attribute their success to the efforts they themselves make to get engaged with the workforce development community, to find ways to reach out to young people, one way or another, and invite such prospective career-seekers into the manufacturing industry in general, and into their company specifically.
The next Technical Development Committee meeting will be Wednesday, September 9th (2-3 PM). We hope you can join in our continuing discussions.