Reading, PA:  More than 40 leaders from the packaging industry, economic development, and education met in Reading, PA on Thursday, June 25 to hear the results of multiple studies that were conducted in the course of a Regional Innovation Project in packaging through a Regional Innovation Grant from the US Department of Labor.  Studies reported included an overview of the packaging industry in the tri-state (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) area, a study of the capabilities of the machine building industry in the region to build packaging machines, an in-depth examination of packaging supply chains and opportunities to fill gaps as a part of business attraction, and a report of the highly-articulated program of training in mechatronics and  industrial maintenance that has been developed for new and incumbent workers.

New York, June 9, 2009:  Despite more than a year of bad news as the manufacturing sector continues to contract, a new annual index released today by Deloitte LLP and The Manufacturing Institute shows that Americans view manufacturing as the most important industry for a strong national economy. There is a wide perception gap, however, between the public's highly positive views of manufacturing's contributions to America's economic success and their negative views about pursuing a career in manufacturing. For a downloadable copy of the survey, click here.

The survey, Public Viewpoint on Manufacturing, which assessed public perceptions and understanding of a wide range of issues related to manufacturing, shows that the majority of respondents (71 percent) view manufacturing as a national priority with 59 percent agreeing that the United States manufacturing industry effectively competes on a global scale. These results fall in line with public perceptions that manufacturing plays a larger role in overall economic prosperity compared to the technology, energy, healthcare,

Philadelphia:  This report by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia finds that local human capital is the most important variable in explaining why some regions patent at higher rates than others. Authors Gerald Carlino and Robert Hunt conclude that the education level of the local workforce is directly related to its innovative activity. While the paper itself does not connect patents to economic growth, it comes on the heels of another article, published last year that found a connection between local patenting activity and local employment numbers.

Together, the articles suggest that investments in local human capital can be an effective strategy in spurring local innovation and creating jobs. The other variables include historical mix of industries, the average number of employees per establishment, historical patenting activity in different industries and R&D activity at private firms, government laboratories and universities. University R&D was additionally broken down by academic field and source of funding.  Click here for a downloadable copy of the report.

New York:  On June 10, 2009, the Brookings Institution released a report examining middle skill jobs in America.  This report investigates the accessibility of middle-wage jobs, good-paying jobs for less-educated workers without bachelor's degrees in 204 metropolitan areas. It measures "accessibility" as the share of jobs that are middle-wage as a percentage of the share of workers without a bachelor's degree. The higher this percentage, the more accessible middle-wage jobs are. Click here for a downloadable copy of the report and here for its appendix.

Using American Community Survey and Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2005, it finds that:

• Many middle-wage jobs are in clerical, construction, and production occupations.
• Middle-wage job accessibility is at least 65 percent in the 15 metropolitan areas where those jobs are most accessible to less-educated workers, well above the average of 52 percent for all metropolitan areas in this report.
• Middle-wage jobs are slightly more accessible to less-educated workers in small and medium-sized metropolitan areas, and metropolitan areas in the South.
• Less-educated workers enjoy above-average access to middle-wage jobs in metropolitan areas that specialize in leisure and hospitality and manufacturing industries.

 Despite the economic downturn, middle-wage jobs remain a prominent feature of the labor market in metropolitan areas nationwide. Yet policymakers can do more to tailor economic and workforce development strategies to expand the number of middle-wage jobs in metropolitan areas to better match the number of middle-wage jobseekers. They can also strengthen policies that help more working adults earn four-year college degrees, thereby enhancing their earning power while reducing competition for middle-wage jobs. The type of analysis provided in this report can help economic and workforce developers and policymakers better align middle-wage jobs and middle-wage jobseekers in their metropolitan economies.

Harrisburg:  Recently, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency released a report completed by the Public Health Management Corporation and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency which summarizes the findings of an 18-month assessment of the needs of Latino youth ages 10-20 involved with the juvenile justice system and their parents in seven Pennsylvania counties: Adams, Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Philadelphia, and York. A relatively high percentage of Latino youth in these counties are in contact with the juvenile justice system.  Click here to download a copy of the report.