Lake Norman Publications

MSI Chamber spreading awareness about high-tech manufacturing opportunities



Town of Mooresville, Chamber and NASCAR Tech officials, along with students at the ribbon cutting for the Welding Technology Program. /Courtesy of MSI Chamber of Commerce

MOORESVILLE – One of the top industries in our region is manufacturing, and we can not continue to grow and thrive in that industry without dispelling outdated perceptions of the skilled trades that pay well and present opportunities for advancement.

Manufacturing is a high-tech frontier in the application of automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital collaboration and augmented reality where they depend on irreplaceable human skills like creativity, critical thinking, design, innovation, engineering and finance. 

Today, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs are going unfilled around the world. Companies are even struggling to fill high-paying, entry-level production jobs. According to a research study by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, the industry had a record number of job openings go unfilled last year and not because of the pandemic. Part of the problem is finding people with the right skills. The National Association of Manufacturers is forecasting that 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2030.

Across the country, there is strong demand for welding technology graduates in industries such as automotive fabrication and motorsports to agriculture, aerospace, construction and virtually every kind of manufacturing. Because of this, Universal Technical Institute’s Mooresville campus, NASCAR Technical Institute, has officially launched its new Welding Technology Training program, gathering with local dignitaries and employers for a ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside the campus’s first class of welding students. The program is hailed as another achievement for workforce development efforts in the region and helps address the demand for skilled workers. 

This represents the eighth welding program launched at a UTI campus nationwide, with three additional programs scheduled to launch in the summer of 2022 at the UTI Exton (Pa.) Campus and the new UTI campuses in Austin, Texas, and Miramar, Fla. 

The 36-week course trains students on the hard and soft skills needed to prepare for a welding career. Welders are highly sought after in industries ranging from automotive fabrication and motorsports to aerospace, construction, and virtually every kind of manufacturing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be an annual average of 49,200 welding job openings nationwide between now and 2030.

You can find these and other local businesses at our mooresvillenc.org website.

Please join us at our Spring Golf Event April 8 at the Mooresville Golf Club and come downtown Mooresville for the Race City Festival 39th anniversary event May 14.

For further information for these and other upcoming events visit our website or go to our MSIChamber page on Facebook.

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Kirk Ballard is the president and chief executive officer of the
Mooresville-South Iredell Chamber of Commerce. This is part of a Citizen series highlighting agencies promoting business in the Lake Norman area.

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