WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. Congress is proposing legislation that would designate 25 manufacturing universities across the country and provide each with $20 million over four years. The designated universities would be expected to invest the funds in creating advanced manufacturing engineering programs, strengthening partnerships with manufacturers, and enabling more manufacturing entrepreneurship.

The Detroit area is home to hundreds of manufacturing plants. One of the newest is the Operations Leadership Factory in Ann Arbor, MI.

EVERETT, WA—Twenty-one community and technical colleges in Washington state will split $8 million from the state to train more workers for aerospace manufacturing.

CHICAGO—Half of U.S. businesses say they plan to train new hires this year, up from 39 percent in 2013, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder. “Training budgets that were diminished or nonexistent during the recession are starting to make a comeback,” says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.

SANTA ROSA, CA—An innovative “job-shadowing” program to train high school students for skilled manufacturing jobs is gaining momentum in its third year. Launched by 101MFG, a trade group focused on boosting California’s manufacturing sector, the program is expecting up to 300 participants this year.

WASHINGTON—More than 50 colleges are now part of the Get Skills to Work Initiative, a coalition of industry, educators, and nonprofit organizations helping veterans discover careers in advanced manufacturing. The partnership includes more than 500 manufacturers, including GE, Boeing, Lockheed and Alcoa.

CLEVELAND—Tooling U-SME has introduced a new workforce development resource, called the Competency Framework, that outlines the knowledge and skill objectives for more than 60 manufacturing jobs.

HEBRON, KY—An innovative program here is designed to get more high school students to pursue careers in advanced manufacturing.

BUFFALO, NY—The Western New York Economic Development Council has endorsed a plan to create a workforce training center here that will help teach local workers the skills needed in today’s more-advanced factory work.