Why promising careers in St. Louis don’t require a traditional four-year degree

The metro area is uniquely positioned to develop new processes for advanced manufacturing.

Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis.

By Amy De La Hunt – St. Louis Magazine. November 7th, 2024

Look around the room you’re in right now, and you’ll see evidence of the need for advanced manufacturing, from electronics to home goods to textiles to lighting fixtures. Experts say St. Louis is uniquely positioned to develop new processes for making things, thanks to its location, industrial ecosystem, and growing infrastructure to ensure a supply of skilled workers. 

“It is amazing to see how manufacturing is evolving,” says Tracy Henke, deputy executive director and chief operating officer of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis, or AMICSTL. The nonprofit’s goal is to realize the full potential of advanced manufacturing across eight industries: aerospace and defense; agtech and plant sciences; automotive; biomedical and life sciences; construction; energy; geospatial and location sciences; and transportation and logistics.

Henke was part of a $25 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant submission for advanced manufacturing priorities that included $7 million for AMICSTL. Construction on its new home is underway in North St. Louis; in the meantime, it is moving ahead with workforce-development programming, such as education initiatives to develop a pipeline of skilled workers. 

“Research shows that you need to expose children to this early, at ages 7, 8, and 9—not as manufacturing but as building,” Henke says. “Making things is exciting when you realize you can be involved in anything from a skyscraper to the phone in your hand.”

In addition to workforce development, AMICSTL will focus on prototyping and production, as well as research and development on ways to manufacture products more efficiently and at a lower cost. Its partners include Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Harris-Stowe State University, Washington University, Ranken Technical College, and the University of Missouri. 

Today’s students are eager to embrace careers in fields such as advanced manufacturing, according to Alandon Pitts of STL.works, an initiative of the Regional Business Council aimed at workforce development across technology, advanced manufacturing, health care, public safety, and skilled trades. 

During the 2023–24 school year, Pitts visited 46 middle schools and high schools to help ensure that students know about all of the career pathways available to them after graduation, including those that don’t require a four-year college degree. “We partner businesses with schools to speak to students about how to get into those careers through entry-level positions,” Pitts says. “We also bring students inside companies for career exploration.”

He’s seen companies engage students for internships on the spot based on their perceptive questions and eagerness to learn. “I get to see students flourish with these opportunities,” says Pitts, who was previously principal of St. Louis Public Schools’ alternative high school, the Innovative Concept Academy. “It really puts a smile on students’ faces because it may be the first time they hear about these skilled careers. And it puts a smile on teachers’ faces because they then have students who want to be engaged.”

Both a growing awareness and a demand for skilled workers are driving investment in educational institutions and training organizations across the region. For example, South Technical High School, one of two technical high schools operated by St. Louis County’s Special School District, recently completed extensive upgrades and added more than 2,400 square feet of instructional space. To keep up with demand for students from the collaborating high schools within the county, North Tech High School likewise added to and upgraded its classroom space, including a new dental sciences lab.

The Collinsville Area Vocational Center, a cooperative program among eight school districts in the Metro East, is planning a $24 million expansion and renovation that will allow it to grow from the current 16 programs and 580 students to at least 22 programs with more than 800 students.

Both Pitts and Henke emphasize the importance of training organizations, such as Access Point, CyberUp, NPower, LaunchCode, St. Louis Job Corps, and Save Our Sons in preparing students and young adults for these skilled careers. Their contributions include everything from helping students gain necessary certifications to providing financial support during training to teaching effective communication.

For example, Rung for Women, a nonprofit that aims to break barriers for women in advanced manufacturing and technology, has experienced tremendous growth since opening its $20 million facility in South City in 2021. Rung welcomes cohorts of 300 participants per eight-week session for career and financial coaching, community building, wellness amenities, and comprehensive support services.

Henke says companies’ policies are evolving to match the reality of a competitive hiring market. “Companies know how important the acquisition and retention of skilled talent is,” she says. “They want to keep future leaders engaged, and they’re getting extraordinarily creative to meet the interests and needs of this generation.”

Perks—such as time off for charitable work and paid sabbaticals—are among the amenities that are becoming more common, Henke says. There are also companies such as Veryable that match individuals with opportunities in manufacturing that have flexible models and use creative ways to fulfill their production timelines while retaining their talent pool.

The potential for transforming families’ trajectories—including veterans, people who have been in the justice system, and historically disadvantaged communities—makes these opportunities beneficial for a range of St. Louisans. But Henke and Pitts also note that one challenge is helping parents, teachers, and administrators better understand and advocate for skilled careers.

Pitts says STL.works has hundreds of industry partners and has reached 4,000 students in the past year alone. Going forward, part of his work is to ensure that teachers and administrators are keeping pace with the new workforce landscape.

Henke concurs—and adds one more big-picture perspective that carries sway with both educators and parents. “When people think manufacturing, they tend to think of the past: dark, dirty, dusty. They’re not thinking robotics or AI or additive printing,” she says. “But a country that makes things is much better positioned in the long term.”

Read more from the st. louis MAGAZINE here:

https://www.stlmag.com/stlmade/advanced-manufacturing-career-without-college-degree/