St Peters non-profit hosts Missouri’s first inclusion manufacturing camp as industry struggles with decline in skilled workers

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – Experts in the manufacturing industry are urging businesses to tap into an underutilized labor pool, as demand for skilled laborers outpaces those entering the trades.

The industry accounts for more than $2 trillion in total output, 10.70% of the total output of the United States, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. However, a decline in skilled workers is presenting many companies with the challenge of having more work than it does employees.

“If the manufacturers don’t address the problem, then we are looking at a national deficit of GDP,” said Cindy Day of the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation. “We’re talking in the trillions of dollars within the next five to 10 years.”

Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs is the charitable foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association. It offers several camp programs, including an inclusivity camp offered in four U.S. cities. New this year to the list is St. Peters.

The Boone Center, or BCI, is a non-profit that aims to provide opportunities and employment to people with disabilities. After applying for the foundation’s grant, it offered the state’s first inclusive manufacturing camp this summer.

“The employee pool is a little low, as we all know,” said Darcell Fleeman, a manufacturing instructor at BCI. “We have a 75% unemployment rate with folks with disabilities, and there’s an untapped market there. Employers are finding they do bring value to their company.”

The four-week camp introduces teens with disabilities to the world of manufacturing, not only teaching them how to use basic power tools but exposing them to careers in manufacturing by touring various local manufacturing businesses.

“It gives them a behind-the-scenes look at what these careers entail, and it’s things they wouldn’t overwise be exposed to or get to see,” Fleeman explained.

On graduation day, the five campers showed family and friends their rolling tool cart, a project they constructed over the course of the summer. While they all may not pursue careers in manufacturing, the life skills they gain are ones they can carry with them.

“It was very cool and fun to see, and here I did, cutting of pipes for my cart,” said camper Jude Bross.

“I learned what a manufacturing job would be and what an engineering degree would get you,” said another camper, Jude Huebner. “I’m more interested in that route, so it was cool to see what you can do with that.”

Nestle Purina serves as the national sponsor of all Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Manufacturing camps.

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