Fourth annual State of Manufacturing is less than month away

More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the rollout of the 2012 version of Minnesota's State of Manufacturing survey research project, organized each year by Enterprise Minnesota.

The growing interest in the survey, according to Enterprise Minnesota President and CEO Bob Kill, indicates the growing clout of the project and the increasing public awareness of what manufacturers add to Minnesota's economy.

The final interviews of the 400-sample telephone survey will be completed by the end of business today. The survey, in its fourth year, is again being conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-area polling company that also partners with the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

This year's project also included a diverse complement of 20 focus groups across the state, representing more than 200 participants. Kill, who personally attended 8 focus groups, said "A noteworthy theme in the focus groups this year was the looming shortage of qualified workers in manufacturing." Kill said he expects that to be a common theme in the phone interviews as well. It is one reason he encourages manufacturers to invite others to attend the rollout.

"This poll provides an excellent yearly snapshot of the opportunities and challenges in manufacturing," he said. "It is usually quite eye-opening to teachers, counselors, economic development professionals and policy-makers at every level."

The main release event will be 4-7 p.m., Tuesday, February 21 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Regional events will be held:

February 22 in Rochester at 8:30 a.m.

February 22 in Faribault at 11:00 a.m.

February 23 in Mankato at 9:00 a.m.

February 23 in Redwood Falls at 1:00 p.m.

February 27 in Alexandria at 9:00 a.m.

February 27 in St. Cloud at 1:00 p.m.

February 28 in Eveleth at 9:00 a.m.

All events are open to the public. Register at www.enterpriseminnesota.org/resources/state-of-manufacturing.html.

Tags: news, updates, manufacturing