You’ve probably seen or heard us use the phrase “worker voice” a lot.

In addition to being the title of our most recent podcast season (which includes interviews with manufacturing workers themselves), it’s also the name of a pilot, qualitative research project we’ve been working on with partners in Oklahoma and Texas.

But why give the phrase that much attention? Why does “worker voice” matter?

For employees, amplifying “worker voice” means recognizing their dignity and bringing their unique expertise on day-to-day operations to the forefront.

For employers, that translates to a smart business strategy because it helps with retention and hiring. To fill hundreds of thousands of vacant manufacturing jobs, U.S. employers will need to create business environments that benefit worker well-being to entice a broad range of potential employees - including those who may have never seen themselves working in manufacturing.

We’re excited to share the initial findings from our qualitative research on this topic. Our newest report, “Good for Workers, Good for Business” is available on our website now, complete with high-level takeaways and focus group quotes that help tell the story of how manufacturing businesses are incorporating and acting on worker voice.

This qualitative research was made possible thanks to the interview coordination and analysis produced by our local partners. Capital IDEA Houston led the process in Houston, Texas. Harrison Consulting Group oversaw the work in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Without them, this important research wouldn’t exist.

Read “Good for Workers, Good for Business” here.

Announcing the Pittsburgh Local Lab!

Walk throughout Pittsburgh and you’ll find community gardens tucked into neighborhood lots, food artisans turning raw ingredients into products, busy kitchen incubators and co-ops sharing resources, and organizations working to get food to residents in every corner.

Our newest Local Lab was just launched in Pittsburgh to help strengthen this food production ecosystem. We’ll be collaborating with food product manufacturers, their supporters, and their suppliers to drive this work forward.

In our initial interviews with local leaders in this space, we kept hearing a similar story: While there's no shortage of studies, plans, pilots, and passionate people working on food production, the pieces aren't connected.

Growers, small food businesses, workforce programs, food policy advocates, and infrastructure builders are all doing vital work in relative isolation, and even with those efforts there are still missing pieces. All of this prevents the food production landscape in Pittsburgh from functioning like a true system.

Mechanism's goal is to bring food system efforts into conversation with one another, surface what's already working, and help identify where investment and collaboration could add up to something larger than any single organization can build alone.

Read about our new Pittsburgh Local Lab here.

If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and would like to get involved, please reach out to Program Associate Katie O’Connor.

Watch All Three Sessions From Our “Raising Dough” Learning Series

Last September through November, we held a 3-part virtual learning series led by food and beverage manufacturers and their organizational supporters. We got to hear from both sides in the business-funder relationship about a common pain point: capital access for food businesses.

Now you can re-watch each of those sessions at our new resource page “Raising Dough, Creative Funding Strategies for Food & Beverage Manufacturers.”

Each of the three sessions unites different perspectives that offer practical, real-world strategies for collaborating toward more sustainable finances for food businesses.

Watch our “Raising Dough” webinar series here.

Ohio’s Strategy Around AI-driven Manufacturing Raises Red Flags

A recent article in The New York Times highlighted an AI-driven manufacturing boom taking place in Ohio, one of the states where Mechanism has developed multiple programs to support local production ecosystems.

When an ex-Google Cloud director quoted in the article said what he's seeing in Central Ohio "feels like the Bay Area felt 13 or 14 years ago," it grabbed our attention as a major red flag.

Behind-closed-door public subsidy negotiations. A rush of tech investors. Companies that may rely on an automated or AI-based workforce.

We explain why this could all go wrong, and how Ohio can introduce economic opportunity to its residents without displacing them or their interests.

Read our response on LinkedIn.

Thank you, Audra!

To close out this newsletter, we wanted to say THANK YOU to Audra Ladd, our outgoing Director of Research & Experimentation.

A respected leader (and friend), Audra was essential to guiding the Urban Manufacturing Alliance’s transition to Mechanism, and played an important role in developing our new strategy. She is now the Executive Director at Williamstown Rural Lands, but she’ll still be providing guidance to Mechanism in an advisory role.

Thanks for everything, Audra!