Manufacturing leadership program to launch first cohort next month

Ben Vickers: Program enrollment will continue through Dec. 31.

Officials behind a new leadership program devised for the local manufacturing sector say the initiative is tabbed to launch by late January.

Dubbed GEARS, the program organized by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Springfield, consists of monthly 90-minute sessions hosted over a six-month period at various local manufacturing facilities.

Participants will have the opportunity to sharpen leadership skills, expand their network and gain insights from industry peers through workshops, panel discussions and more, according to Ben Vickers, business development manager with the Springfield chamber.

GEARS, which is an acronym for growth, education, action, relationships and success, is a cohort-based model that includes small group work and facilitated discussions, similar to other Leadership Springfield programs, said Carrie Richardson, the organization’s president.

Vickers said the first cohort currently has 22 people enrolled, adding the chamber has internally been promoting the program to its members through its annual fundraising campaign, which enlists sponsorships of its events, advertising and programming efforts.

“The biggest thing we’re hoping for is to introduce people in manufacturing who have leadership potential to other professionals within manufacturing, both to network, to develop soft skills and to develop leadership capacity,” he said.

“We want to introduce all of the participants with topics that are important and critical to manufacturing and that are also transferable skills so that if they leave one manufacturer to go to the plant next door, that they have really good transferable skills and that they’re just a good fit for any company.”

The program’s cost is $1,250 for chamber members and $1,650 for nonmembers, Vickers said, adding enrollment provides participants with tickets to select chamber events and networking opportunities, lunches during each monthly session and membership in The Network, the chamber’s program for young professionals. He declined to disclose the investment to launch the program.

While The Network targets ages 21-39, GEARS is available for anyone in the manufacturing field. Vickers said for those aged 40 and older, officials will allow participants to still obtain value by offering them additional networking opportunities through chamber events.

In session
Richardson said each session has a specific theme that coincides with the program’s acronym, noting the initial one covers foundations of leadership and industry connections.

“So that’s talking about why is leadership development in connection with other manufacturers important,” she said of questions the session will answer. “What are some of the leadership styles that we have? How can we self-assess our leadership style and what that looks like for us?”

Session two will cover workforce development, specifically talent attraction and retention, along with mentoring, coaching and building career pathways. Richardson said it also will talk about generational challenges and opportunities in the industry.

Leadership Springfield is organizing and facilitating the curriculum but will not be the only organization teaching participants, Richardson said.

“It’s a combination of things each time we meet, but most of it is we’re bringing in experts to speak about these topics,” she said, noting a program reception will be held Jan. 16 in advance of the first session on Jan. 28.

That initial session will be hosted at SMC Packaging Group, said Mark McNay, president of the Springfield-based corrugated packaging manufacturer. He said the company has been supporters of Leadership Springfield since its inception in 1984.

“We like the way that it gives our co-workers exposure to the community and gets them connected in the community,” he said. “We truly believe that part of our responsibility as a local company is to give back through community service. Leadership Springfield kind of opened those doors for us.”

Participation interest
Steve Jett, structural design manager at SMC, is participating in the cohort. The Springfield native learned of the program from McNay and General Manager Matthew Massey.

“One thing that I think is really important in our industry in particular is building those relationships with other manufacturers. We obviously create products that they’re going to need to use all the time, and they create all kinds of products that we utilize,” Jett said, adding he’s interested to learn more about the suppliers in the manufacturing sector through the program.

Jett said he wants to build those relationships to be a better asset to his company and Springfield.

“I feel really strongly about being involved here, both at the social side and the business side,” he said.

McNay also is the chair of the Manufacturing Leadership Council, which Vickers said is a newer committee at the chamber. Discussion in that group planted the seeds for GEARS, Vickers said, adding several members provided undisclosed financial commitments for the program. Those included Amprod LLC, Erlen Group, Gold Mechanical Inc., Holloway America, L&W Industries LLC, Positronic Industries Inc., SMC, SRC Holdings Corp. and the Missouri Association of Manufacturers. He said most of the founding investors have employees in the first cohort.

“Through those conversations, we realized that this is kind of like a universal problem,” Vickers said of the industry’s lack of a leadership program. “There wasn’t a good place for people in manufacturing to plug into the community or do networking to connect with other professionals within manufacturing. That was frontline supervisors or back-office support all the way up to the C-suite.”

Early expectations
While the cohort size has already exceeded expectations for a first-time program, Vickers said he can be contacted for additional enrollment opportunities through Dec. 31.

Initially, officials thought 10-15 participants would be the minimum size needed for a viable program.

“We can look at expanding that in the future, whether that’s going up a little bit, doing a few cohorts a year,” Richardson said. “We would look at that based on demand and really reviewing the outcomes and the impact of our first cohort.”

Richardson said program officials understand the desire for local manufacturers to grow its workforce’s leadership development and bolster industry connections. She said GEARS fits into Leadership Springfield’s program work, which centers around outcome-based learning.

“Success at the end will look like we have a cohort of individuals in the manufacturing industry that have increased in their leadership skills, that they have a greater understanding of not just their own industry, but how their industry works together collaboratively in connection with the other manufacturers in the community,” she said. “Ultimately, they will leave with a vision for where their career path and their growth can lead in this industry, in our region.”