There's a fundamental disdain for production and productive activities, John Adams, University of Minnesota geography professor, told a committee looking at work-force issues. Managing, financing and selling have higher status. In addition, he said, teachers don't know what goes on at workplaces. But we're finding that more and more skills are required. Not just manual dexterity, but a high level of creativity, problem-solving abilities, and an awareness that their function is really adding to the bottom line.
Manufacturing is important.
It constitutes about 22 percent of Minnesota's economy. James Bensen, Bemidji State University president, says valued-added manufacturing undergirds service industries. Bensen, former president of Dunwoody Institute, is a whirlwind dynamo for linking education and careers in modern manufacturing. He wants to change perceptions about manufacturing jobs. One problem, Bensen argues, is that Minnesotans are technologically illiterate.