MI2's Talent and Workforce Updates - A Year in Review

[Image: Luke Ramsay headshot]

By: Luke Ramsay, MI2's Talent & Workforce Deputy

Over the course of 2023-2024, MI2 has made significant strides in understanding and acting on the evolving needs of Kentucky’s metals ecosystem. As we reflect on our progress, the work falls into two key areas: Understanding and Action. While these two elements often intertwine, it’s clear that our growth began with deep learning—understanding the industry, the workforce, and the individuals within our member organizations. From there, we moved forward with purpose, driving meaningful change and positioning MI2 as a catalyst for workforce development and innovation in Kentucky’s metals industry.

Understanding

A big portion of this year has been deeply understanding the industry, MI2 member companies, and the individuals who work to make Kentucky’s metals industry successful. We applied a multi-pronged strategy to collect the data needed to understand. This included:

• Monthly Strategy and Feedback Calls – Open Talent and Workforce workgroup calls were hosted. These calls included individuals representing member and partner organizations to weigh in on projects and questions that needed to be answered. The feedback from these calls significantly informed the direction of our Talent and Workforce initiatives.

• Talent Pipeline Management – We launched the first Metals Talent Pipeline Management Collaborative with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. At the core, the TPM process is about understanding the workforce needs of the companies in the collaborative and working to fill those gaps. We are in the final stages of the first collaborative.

Action

While we will continue to work to understand the industry and the needs of the employers, we will do so with action at the forefront. This year we initiated several projects, and we are looking forward to the positive impact of our involvement.

• Public Representation – Be it through Idea Festival and SCK Launch Experience in Bowling Green, or the Everybody Counts Block Party in Louisville, or Engineering Day at the University of Kentucky, we’ve worked hard to share the message that “Kentucky is a great place for careers in metals” across the Commonwealth.

• UofL Management Course – MI2 has now partnered with the University of Louisville’s Dr. Alfred Frager for 3 semesters. This partnership offers management and human resources students a chance to learn and provide feedback on the recruitment and retention processes in our members' shops.

• Curriculum Design – We are in the process of developing curriculum for a metals industry certification in Kentucky. This certification will help our members better vet applicants, retain talent, showcase the skills needed in the industry, and drive awareness of the metals industry.

• Bus-to-Business – We continue to partner with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to bring students to member facilities to showcase the incredible careers in metals.

So what’s in store for 2024-25? A whole lot more, and we would love to have you be a part of it. If you are interested in participating in the second Talent Pipeline Management Collaborative with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce or programs like the UofL Management course, please reach out to our team here at MI2!