ABOUT

Manufacturing is the number-two employer in the two-county region, and is in need of everything from welders, engineers, machinists and maintenance technicians to marketers, accountants, and IT technicians. Many of our CA-DIDI programs and events have opened our students’, educators’ and counselors’ eyes to career pathways that they otherwise would not have imagined.  Part of our mission is to dispel any myths about manufacturing and show our area students that manufacturing is safe, clean, highly skilled, diverse, and state-of-the-art. CA-DIDI is a means of reaching out to talented youth, encourage them to remain in the area, and pursue careers in the manufacturing career field.

A study conducted by the Manufacturing Institute in DC showed that 63% of students make their career and education decisions based on experiences. At the same time manufacturers in our region continue to struggle to fill open job positions, due in large part to the retirement of the baby-boomer generation. CA-DIDI is an important bridge between students, educators, counselors and manufacturers. Right now, it is even more important to provide our hands-on STEM experiences, as students may not be receiving these opportunities at school.  Efforts to introduce students to excellent local manufacturing job opportunities in their own backyard increases the chances that those young minds and talent will stay in our area.

The mission of CA-DIDI is to increase the skilled workforce pipeline entering manufacturing careers.  Manufacturing is the number-two employer in the two-county region, and needs everything from welders, engineers, machinists and maintenance technicians to marketers, accountants, and IT technicians.  Our CA-DIDI programs educate students, teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and post-secondary educators about advanced manufacturing and the importance of STEM. Our events and projects are designed to energize the talent pipeline exposing students and educators to Advanced Manufacturing. This is accomplished through technology tours, technology camps, STEM focused career fairs, STEM focused technology competitions, K-12 Class Room Experiences and at home STEM projects that help enhance hands-on learning.