When we began our Drive for 5 work, we had an idea of what we wanted to build: a better way to connect people to manufacturing careers while giving employers another avenue to find the talent they need. What we didn’t fully know was how much the work would evolve along the way.
That evolution has become one of the things I’m most proud of.
Through our Manufacturing Pathways initiative, we have connected more than 10,000 individuals with manufacturing career information, resources, and opportunities. And when I say individuals, I don’t just mean job seekers. That number includes students exploring what comes next, parents trying to understand career options for their children, employers looking for talent, people simply seeking information and community partners helping us reach people we might never reach on our own.
Those relationships matter. We’ve built a network of more than 20 workforce and community partners, achieved an 88% participant engagement rate, and, in the last 12 months alone, 30 individuals have secured employment through direct engagement within our Manufacturing Pathways Portal and our Employment Facilitation. Through the Employment Facilitation process, MPMA stays engaged with individuals who have come through the portal, offering individualized support, including help with identifying career opportunities, preparing for interviews, strengthening resumes, building confidence and connect directly with employers.
But numbers only tell part of our story.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through this work is that there isn’t one starting point or one straight path into manufacturing. Some people are ready for a job today. Others need help understanding what careers exist. Some need training, confidence, connections or simply someone to help them figure out their next step. Our role has increasingly become meeting people where they are and helping them move forward.
We’ve also listened closely to manufacturers. Again and again, employers have told us that one of the most important skills for someone entering manufacturing is understanding what it means to produce work correctly, consistently and to exact specifications. In manufacturing, even a small error can affect performance, safety or reliability of the final product. That feedback directly influences what we build next, including our Quality Technician Preparedness training, partially funded through Drive for 5.
This work hasn’t happened in a perfect labor market, either. We experienced a significant hiring slowdown during the grant period. Instead of abandoning the model when immediate placements became harder, we adapted, putting greater emphasis on career preparation, skills development, employer engagement and building a stronger long-term talent pipeline.
And now we’re seeing the original idea grow into something much bigger.
We’re enhancing our Manufacturing Pathways Portal so employers can connect directly with job seekers, developing foundational training based on employer feedback and creating a pathway into our multi-employer Registered Apprenticeship Program.
For me, that is the real success of Drive for 5. We didn’t just create another workforce program. We built relationships, learned what people and employers need today, adapted when circumstances changed and created something we can continue building on.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development awarded MPMA an $800,000 Drive for 5 grant in State Fiscal Year 24/25 and a $450,000 Drive for 5 grant in State Fiscal Year 26/27 to help ensure industry sector training program participants are connected with employers. Drive for 5 focuses on connecting job seekers with Minnesota employers in five targeted occupational areas: caring careers, education, manufacturing, technology and the trades.
- Find out more about Minnesota’s Drive for 5 initiative
- View resources on the MPMA website
- If you are looking for work, contact staff at a CareerForce location near you for help finding employment now
- Minnesota employers: meet your regional team of specialists to help you find the workers you need for your business to grow and thrive
