JARC: Bridging Skills Gaps and Fostering Equity in Chicago Manufacturing

Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) was founded to keep manufacturing and industrial middle income jobs in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor of Chicago. Their earliest strategies focused on purchasing and operating commercial space for industrial use. JARC grew and implemented new strategies as more research and increased interactions with manufacturers pointed to the need for upskilling incumbent workers. In the mid-1980s, JARC launched its first training program focused on providing employers incumbent worker training by going to their facilities and training on their equipment. JARC broadened their scope of work in the ‘90s and established a training center to teach community residents seeking jobs in manufacturing. JARC developed their in-house training programs for positions employers in the Ravenswood Corridor needed filled and for individuals who had no prior experience in manufacturing.

In the early 2000s JARC became an early adopter of the Center for Working Families (CWF) model of supporting new workforce trainees developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The CWF strategy is focused on careers, not jobs, which means it focuses on creating systems that support the whole individual. By integrating the CWF program with the technical skill development program, JARC trainees — both new and incumbent workers — learn manufacturing skills and financial planning and management skills. Also in the early ‘00s, JARC launched their Manufacturing Bridge Program (MBP) which teaches introductory shop skills, such as how to read blueprints, as a way to improve math and reading skills. The MBP prepares individuals to participate in JARC’s manufacturing training program, establishing a new path for more people to apply and succeed.

As manufacturing changed with new digitally controlled tools, JARC’s staff, center, and programs kept up, developing programs in computer numerical control (CNC) machine operation, and most recently developing a 10-week course in 3D-printing. In 2015 JARC launched an affiliate organization in Baltimore, Maryland — Jane Addams Resource Center Baltimore — and in 2017 they added another Chicago-based training center in Austin, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. Across all sites, JARC now offers eight manufacturing skills training programs ranging from fundamentals of manufacturing to mechanical assembly to more focused programs in press brake operation and welding. JARC has worked with over 400 employers to develop customized on-site training, to create customized apprenticeships, and/or to complete analysis of their existing workers to better understand strengths and weaknesses among an existing workforce. While JARC has grown and evolved over their 30-plus year history, their guiding belief has stayed the same: “People who work should not live in poverty.”

“We really do a lot more than job training. We provide people with a pretty robust set of services and options and so the more we know about them, the more we can help to make sure that it's going to work.”

-Guy Loudon, Executive Vice President and former President

JARC serves both sides of the workforce development community: the employers and the workers. The Careers in Manufacturing Programs (CMP) was created to help any individual, regardless of their skill set, prepare for and gain a job in manufacturing. The Business and Workforce Services (BWS) program offers employer partners customized, on-site training to upskill incumbent workers. Both programs tap into JARC’s dedicated staff of adult learner educators, coaches, and technical trainers.

Once a week JARC hosts an application session in each of their Chicago locations for job seekers interested in the CMP. An in-person session¹ lasts for seven hours and covers a lot of different topics because individuals often don’t have any knowledge of manufacturing or about careers in manufacturing. Sessions were designed for job seekers to learn about and evaluate if a job in manufacturing is right for them. The same sessions are opportunities for JARC to learn about the job seeker. JARC’s goal in this application process is to learn as much as they can quickly. JARC wants to know about the applicants’ experiences both on the job and off; they want to know about potential barriers to participating in training, like the need for childcare or transportation; and they want to know if the applicant is interested and motivated. The application sessions are all about building a candid, honest relationship, and trust, between JARC and a potential trainee. These sessions are an appraisal process because JARC and their support network invest significant financial resources and social capital into trainees, and the trainee will invest a lot of time and energy into the program. If both sides fail to understand what is required and aren’t equally invested, those resources are not recoverable for either side.

Participants start by taking a tour of the training center, to see manufacturing processes and technologies in use, and to get a chance to talk with existing trainers and trainees. Afterwards, applicants fill out a rigorous application. The length of the application is another element of getting to know the applicant. Staff at JARC have come to learn that if people tend to skip questions on the application it shows they aren’t invested in the opportunity and not that interested in the commitment it takes to be a trainee at JARC. Applicants then take the Test for Adult Basic Education (TABE) to determine their math and verbal skills. Based on their scores, they may move on to an interview or be referred to the Bridge Program or the Adult Learners Programs and Services (ALPS), which provides math and English tutoring and the education necessary to be successful in one of the Careers in Manufacturing Programs. Once an applicant has made it through the one-on-one interview, JARC may ask for references and job history details. The thorough application process is not about removing candidates, or weeding people out, but instead it is designed to find people that are a good match and serious about fully engaging.

1. Virtual sessions were offered due to COVID social distancing guidelines.

At the Ravenswood facility, trainees can sign up for one of three tracks: CNC Operator, Welding, or Brake Press. All tracks range from 10 weeks and 250 hours to 20 weeks and 500 hours. In the CNC Operator track, for example, over the course of 500 hours, trainees learn at JARC’s training center equipped with technology comparable to that used by employers in the region. They learn about running manufacturing equipment using computers, writing code, cutting feed and speed rates, and types of cutting tools. A normal week of training runs Monday through Friday, seven hours a day. Within that 10- to 20-week period, every Friday, trainees participate in the CWF training via group and one-on-one work sessions with a financial coach and an employment coach to develop skills for managing household income, writing resumes, applying for jobs, and learning how to navigate on- and off-the-job stresses. When training is complete, individuals are prepared to take tests in: National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) credentialing for CNC Milling Level 1 and NIMS CNC Turning Level 1; and complete the OSHA 10 HR (General Industry) safety course. Since 2006, graduates of the Careers in Manufacturing Program have gone on to work for 411 different companies, 99 of which have hired between 2 and 62 graduates.

JARC’s Business and Workforce Services program (BWS) designs and delivers customized worker training for manufacturers and their employees. JARC works with their BWS customers to develop on-site training that incorporates their specific manufacturing process and technologies. The customized training fits within five training topics: workplace safety, basic skills, quality assurance and quality control, manufacturing technology, and lean manufacturing. Before the training, a company can hire JARC to complete a skills assessment for their existing workforce in order to better align training with the existing talent. Training schedules are developed with the employer in mind to create ways that disrupt the production floor as little as possible, while also making sure training is done in a timely manner. This means, depending on the skills being developed, a worker may be participating in training between two and eight hours a week. Each year the BWS program works with between 20 and 30 companies, most of which are repeat customers but on average five are new.

Over the last decade JARC has developed a strong mix of strategies and innovations. This is the first key to success identified by Guy Loudon, Executive Vice President and former President of JARC. As an example, the Careers Manufacturing Program blends shop floor learning, simulated to model a work environment; trainers who promote peer learning, teamwork, and leadership development; project-based learning; a curriculum in line with credentials from NIMS or AWS; open entry/open exit¹ enrollment and graduation; and the Bridge Training Program for working families. These elements are brought together in such a way that employers consistently tell JARC their trainees are prepared above and beyond the standards set by other workforce development organizations.

Having outstanding staff plays a big role in JARC’s success. JARC understands that dedicated, value-driven people make it possible to recruit and develop a very skilled and motivated team. This has led JARC to have the largest number of full time technical trainers at a non-academic institute in Chicago. The frontline staff are mission-driven and care deeply about the trainees. The instructors are all really good at what they do, or they tend not to stay long. Instructors are either in the classroom teaching, working on new curriculum, or engaging with possible applicants or employers interested in customized training. They are always on the go and looking for new ways to improve the program and support system.

Outstanding partnerships are necessary for JARC to focus on what they do best. JARC has had a lot of opportunities to grow and the best outcomes have all been centered around outstanding partners. The strongest example of this is JARC’s expansion into Baltimore. JARC was brought in by the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers as well as government and private sector partners. Because Baltimore doesn’t have members of the Financial Opportunity Centers or organizations that implement the Center for Working Families model as they do in Chicago, JARC had to develop partnerships to develop the support systems necessary to meet the needs of their trainees. All the organizations were motivated and excited to work together which allowed JARC to replicate their model quickly and efficiently. The same is true in Chicago. For example, an employer partner recently stepped up and provided space to host JARC’s new Austin location after they were forced to relocate. JARC also works with Manufacturing Renaissance on developing policies to promote holistic workforce development strategies across the city.

Loudon also acknowledges the role new recommendations set forth in the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), signed into law in 2014, played in their recent success. The act created a sharp break from workforce strategies that were in place from the ‘70s to the early ‘00s. WIOA promoted sector strategies for identifying skills development and understood the need for support services — two fundamental elements JARC had in place from the beginning. It is agreed that workforce development hasn’t completely changed and adopted the recommendations, but it is waking up the workforce development community to leave behind racist and uninformed practices. WIOA has helped JARC and other similar organizations by setting new standards for what a good workforce development organization is and how it should operate. These standards are impacting how and where financial resources can be allocated.

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“Because it's a simulated work environment that is very project-based, we do a lot of peer-based learning. It's not for lack of resources, it is part of the design. We want our trainees to learn how to be team players, how to give and receive leadership, and how to give and receive criticism. When you're struggling in the world of work, you don't go get your foreman, you ask a coworker that you have a working relationship with. When you're an incoming trainee, you may be working under the wing of a senior trainee, observing him or her while she goes about her projects. And then after lunch, she may be taking you into the lab and helping you set up your first program.”

-Guy Loudon, Executive Vice President and former President

1. Open entry/open exit allows new trainees to start a training program right away regardless of when existing trainees started the program. This strategy also allows individuals to exit the program when they are hired even if they haven’t completed the full training.

The majority of individuals JARC serves through the Careers in Manufacturing Program meet the federal and state WIOA eligibility requirements for Individual Training Accounts (ITAs). To be eligible for an ITA, one has to be a low-income individual, a dislocated worker, an individual with limited skills and barriers to employment, or a youth. The majority of ITA-eligible individuals in Chicago are people of color and women. By working with this audience JARC is helping make the advanced manufacturing sector more diverse. At their core, they are helping people learn, promoting those who are learning, and helping manufacturing companies keep their talent working.

Beyond helping over 400 people complete training and find jobs over the past 10 years, JARC has developed other initiatives that have made an impact. JARC’s Women in Manufacturing Program (WMP) addresses gender in manufacturing jobs that traditionally are male-dominated. Women participate in the CMP tracks and family service support systems while also gaining access to the Emergency Fund to mitigate short-term financial emergencies that often derail commitment to training. The WMP also offers more customizable and flexible scheduling options. Because of this program, 20 percent of JARCs trainees are now women. In 2019, the Center for Urban Research and Learning at Loyola University Chicago completed a study on the WMP and developed new recommendations and materials for JARC to increase their ability to recruit and retain female trainees.¹

JARC is also creating more employer-based outcomes with a new initiative called HR Roundtables: discussions on equity and inclusion in partnership with Women Employed and the Race Matters Institute at Just Partners. The first roundtable was offered in March 2021 and focused on sexual harassment in the workplace; the second will focus beyond diversity, to racial equity and inclusion, in the summer. JARC plans to ask Industry Advisory Council members to recruit their HR staff and decision makers to attend and participate in the dialogue. JARC is also reaching out to their network via their newsletter. The roundtables are a first step in helping local manufacturers develop new equitable practices. The belief is that businesses will attend because they know they can, and want, do better. Rather than bombard them with more reasons why they should change, JARC is working with partners to focus on offering companies a way to learn how to adopt new strategies. JARC has secured grant funding to cover costs for local manufacturers to bring in Women Employed —- a nonprofit advocacy organization whose mission is to improve women's economic status and remove barriers to economic equity — to help them write new sexual harassment policies and learn best practices.

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“The role of the Industry Advisory Council is a way of organizing the end customer employer and giving them a voice in what we do. And that is a real voice, it's not symbolic. The employers are really engaged through that medium. Our press brake program was developed because the Advisory Council asked for it. Same for the new 3D printing track. They gave us feedback that trainees could be better skilled in their frontline quality assurance functions. So we really ramped up the training to make sure that it was much more systematic. We really count on the Council to help us get better.”

-Guy Loudon, Executive Vice President and former President

1. Recruiting Women into Manufacturing Job Training at Jane Addams Resource Corporation

One of the challenges facing JARC is that they get more opportunities than they can responsibly accept while meeting their high standards. This means JARC has to be very strategic about their growth, making sure that what they are adding is mission-driven and responsible, not just growing for growth’s sake. This reinforces the role that partnerships play in JARC’s success. A 2018 report by American Enterprise Institute¹ helped JARC understand why Baltimore succeeded and why Metro West — a JARC training center located in the Chicago suburbs — failed. The research helped reinforce the role of and need for engaged stakeholders outside of JARC.

JARC sees themselves expanding in Chicago as they continue to operate their original site and headquarters in Ravenswoodand their newer location in Austin. These locations run their Careers in Manufacturing Programs, offering tracks in CNC operation, welding, and assembly. JARC is working on a new site in Chatham on the South Side. They will start by offering tracks in assembly and 3D Printing. These new expansions demonstrate JARC is getting better at evaluating opportunities to replicate and expand.

Beyond Chicago, JARC is working to expand their center in the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore. This means recruiting more trained staff, getting the word out to more potential applicants, and continuing to find new employers and support service partners. JARC is also in initial conversations to open a location in Rhode Island.

Now that JARC has had some experience replicating its model, each new location is getting easier. They have developed a specific approach and system that allows them to gauge whether the commitment to a new location is a good fit or whether they should change course and review other opportunities. By 2022, JARC plans to have three locations in Chicago, one in Baltimore, and one in Rhode Island, while still being open to other opportunities.

The evaluation of those opportunities is consistent with JARC’s updated strategic plan which incorporated a race, equity, and inclusion lens. This means JARC is working on being physically present where there are long-standing issues of racism and inequality — something they believe to be more important now than ever. That's where JARC wants to find themselves in the future: making a difference in distressed and marginalized neighborhoods that are being left behind.

1. What Works: Replicating Success at the Jane Addams Resource Corporation