In the tough current manufacturing climate, there has never been a more important time to bump up the numbers in the domestic skilled labour pool.

“The time for a skilled workforce has never been more profound,” Ross Black, of Black's Signs and Banners, has said. “Projections show a large per cent of the skilled workforce in Canada will retire within 15 years.

In Ontario, there’s an expected shortage of 100,000 skilled workers.

“Action clearly needs to be taken.”

Leading the charge are the Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce and the City of Barrie. May 12 to May 15 marks the third annual Barrie Manufacturers’ Week designed to showcase the local opportunities in manufacturing.

“Barrie Manufacturers’ Week encourages young people to consider careers in manufacturing and raises community awareness of existing industry in the area,” say organizers.

Determined to introduce the concept of these careers to students young enough to really plan for such a future, organizers have planned an event specifically for Grade 8 students.

The Career Exhibition of Local Manufacturers, co-hosted by Bistro Corporation, will allow direct interaction. Not only can area businesses make presentations, but students can also get their questions answered right away.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Kempenfelt Graphics’ Ted Southam has reported. “I watched students at our booth and at the other manufacturing booths. I’d like to think they were thinking ‘Wow!’ At the end of the day, I think we all felt we had accomplished something.

“I felt a real sense of purpose we were doing something really worthwhile.”

Older students and employers will have the on-site chance to check each other out during the Exchange Day.

This will provide plant tours for high-school students and school tours for manufacturers.

Both regional school boards welcome the partnerships.

“The SCDSB (Simcoe County District School Board) is very pleased to help celebrate Manufacturers’ Week,” said board education director Gordon Campbell.

“We know that a central component of our students’ high school experience is having the right resources to help them make decisions as they plan their futures,” agreed education director Michael O’Keefe of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

Other events include the Manufacturing Symposium Breakfast and Manufacturers’ Luncheon.

For more information, call 721-5000.