Page 50 - MetalForming July 2012

that another driving force for involve- ment was the work PMA’s Twin Cities dis- trict had been doing with education.
“It was a perfect relationship for us,” he says.
E & E Manufacturing Co. also takes advantage of the association’s training and safety products and services. In fact, Smith made development of train- ing products for business leadership a priority during his tenure as PMA chair- man in 2007.
“My message to PMA members and the entire stamping community,” said Smith upon taking the chairmanship, “was to focus on developing strategies that allow companies to operate with a strong balance sheet. The best com- panies are the ones that have figured out how to provide higher-profit prod- ucts to their customers while reduc- ing their customers’ costs.”
PMA members we talked to hope to see education efforts continue.
“Our industry’s lack of skilled work- ers will be a major obstacle for us in
MDA
48 MetalForming/July 2012
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PMA’s latest training initiative is the Manage-
ment Development Academy (MDA). MDA, the
brainchild of PMAs 2012 chairman P.J. Thomp-
son, is a three-part series of forum-style work-
shops, instructional seminars and structured networking. It’s designed exclusively for middle- management professionals looking to advance their business and leadership acumen.
terms of global competition,” says Ajax. “More than half of PMA members and other employers simply can’t find qual- ified applicants that we need right now to fill existing openings. PMAEF can help support such efforts.”
PMA Targeting Mid-Level Employees
One goal is expanding involvement in PMA at levels below the senior man- agers, according to Laystrom.
“The challenge for PMA is to try to dig down into member organizations to
bring in people such as purchasing agents and supervisors, not just owners and a few senior-level people,” he says. “The mid- level academy is a good start.”
Laystrom is referring to PMA’s latest training initiative, the Management Development Academy (MDA). MDA is a three-part series of forum-style work- shops, instructional seminars and structured networking designed exclu- sively for middle-management profes- sionals looking to advance their busi- ness and leadership acumen. The academy, which held its first of three
Management Development
Academy