Are we asking the right questions with a Next-Gen Attitude: The opportunity ahead for NE Indiana manufacturing
Originally published by The Journal Gazette
Patrick Buesching, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Don Wood Foundation
Have you recently thought about northeast Indiana’s reputation as a nationally recognized, leading economy? We were once, and we can be again, but it will look different from the era of International Harvester, General Electric, Dalton Corporation, and RCA/Thomson.
In my 30-year career, I have worked in retail management and training, higher education, and for a large manufacturer. For nearly 10 years, I worked alongside Don Wood at 80/20, Inc., eventually succeeding him as president & CEO.
Now, as I lead the Don Wood Foundation’s research and strategy work, I see Don’s vision with new clarity. He believed economic prosperity depends on investing in people, especially students, by building skills, confidence, and a problem-solving mindset.
Don’s vision points to a broader regional imperative: to build a Next-Gen Manufacturing Workforce, a future-ready talent pipeline that blends advanced technical skills, adaptive leadership, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
The frequently mentioned “Don-ism” from the 80/20 sign on US-30 between Fort Wayne and Warsaw was “Your altitude is a result of your attitude.” It occurs to me that this adage holds true for us, both individually and collectively as a region.
Are we, as a community, approaching our region’s manufacturing sector with a Next-Gen attitude that empowers us to ask fresh questions to uncover new solutions?
The report referenced in Rachel Blakeman and Michael Kirchner’s column brings Don’s vision into sharp focus, with data showing that manufacturing remains the backbone of our region’s economy, outpacing the state and the nation in manufacturing's share of total jobs and GDP. Depending on which of the 12 counties in northeast Indiana you live in, between 15 percent (Allen) and 47 percent (LaGrange) of jobs are in manufacturing. The number of manufacturing establishments, think locations, in the region has been remarkably stable since 1994, despite the “boom and bust” and “Rust Belt” narratives frequently shared.
Despite its ongoing importance in northeast Indiana, manufacturing work is rapidly transforming as new tools require a more skilled workforce. Like every other sector, manufacturing is supercharged by technology while also facing an aging workforce, with about a quarter of workers approaching retirement in the next 10 years. This is coupled with a shrinking total workforce in many of our rural counties.
Successful manufacturers are increasingly data-driven, leveraging tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, robotics, additive manufacturing, and the industrial internet of things. Industry 4.0 has been supplanted by Industry 5.0, with an increasing emphasis on sustainability, resilience, and the use of technology to augment human skills rather than replace them.
Next-Gen Manufacturing offers robust and varied career paths, not dead-end jobs. And most require education and training beyond high school, as well as a commitment to lifelong learning. PFW’s report shows that the most in-demand professions in manufacturing over the next 3-5 years will be engineering, industrial maintenance, high-skill production, and information technology. Each requires deep technical expertise, soft skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking, and an innovative mindset.
How might we build greater awareness of careers in manufacturing?
The report shows that students and parents or guardians aren’t aware of what manufacturing careers are today. This awareness challenge is further complicated by the negative portrayal of manufacturing as an early-20th-century male-exclusive machine shop with intense heat and greasy equipment. Instead, a more accurate depiction of modern manufacturing is technology-rich, safe, clean environments available to all workers that offer ample opportunities for ongoing training and career growth.
Awareness-building should start earlier. Today, the Don Wood Foundation carries this Next-Gen attitude forward by offering funding through our Engaging Youth and Camps, Clubs, & Competitions Grant Programs for area nonprofits and schools to offer hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) activities and career exploration opportunities that embed the development of foundational soft skills and mindsets.
PFW’s report also highlights a long-standing and often healthy tension between educators focused on helping students “learn how to learn” and those who emphasize the value of measurable credentials and degrees, and employers seeking workers with practical, job-ready skills and growth mindsets. Conversations about technical and soft skills matter. But too often, they get stuck in a false choice: either students learn in classrooms or on the job; either they go to college, or they go straight to work. Both can coexist.
How might we create pathways that achieve both goals, blending academic achievement and career preparation?
Today, the Don Wood Foundation carries this Next-Gen attitude forward by offering funding for schools and nonprofits through our Developing Talent and CTE Career Ready Grant Programs, providing resources to catalyze a structural shift in which educators, manufacturers, and workforce and economic development organizations intentionally collaborate to bring about the best results for our future workforce and the region’s talent-hungry businesses.
In the fall of 2025, Foundation staff met with more than 100 community partners, and we noticed a clear trend. Traditional workforce development efforts rightly focus on the “supply-side” of the talent equation by helping students build skills. Still, we must also recognize the growing “demand-side” reality. Manufacturers of all sizes are being asked to navigate the rapid adoption of Next-Gen technologies, co-design talent development systems, and support lifelong learning for their existing employees.
What makes these efforts even more challenging is that the report notes that 73 percent of manufacturers have fewer than 50 employees.
What resources might manufacturers, especially small- and mid-sized companies, need to build their technological capability, adopt modern production tools, and create more value for both customers and employees?
The Don Wood Foundation is carrying this Next-Gen attitude forward by offering funding through the Empowering Manufacturing Grant Program. Adopting technologies to improve customer satisfaction, productivity, and worker safety is ultimately a people strategy that requires commitment to training and professional development. As technological change outpaces traditional education and workforce development programs, the Foundation is interested in partnering with nonprofit intermediaries that work with manufacturers to develop real-world, real-time solutions.
The road ahead is clear. We must collaboratively commit to both sides of the talent equation by building opportunities for learners to keep adapting, for educators to align pathways with real demand, and for employers to clearly define skills and create on-ramps through internships, apprenticeships, and work-based learning. To support this work, the Foundation is committed to making the report public so that we are all working from a shared set of information to move the region forward.
Just as important as focusing on the “supply side” of talent, we must invest in the “demand side” by helping manufacturers, especially small- and mid-sized firms, adopt technology and build the capacity to hire and develop talent. By working together, we can invest in building a Next-Gen Manufacturing Workforce capable of driving innovation and positioning northeast Indiana to lead in today’s hypercompetitive global economy.