San Jose, Ca—The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 8 and its board members have announced Manufacture: San Jose (MFG: SJ) as the 2022 Partners in Excellence Award. Metropolitan Education District (MetroED) has partnered with Manufacture: San Jose (MFG: SJ), and this award recognizes the significant contributions of partners across the region.

“I have had the opportunity to watch this initiative develop and grow over the past three years. During COVID-19, MFG: SJ pivoted to assist small business owners in obtaining small business loans to sustain their manufacturing businesses,” said Alyssa Lynch, Superintendent, Metropolitan Education District (MetroED). “MFG: SJ was there to support their local businesses because they received a $1.2 million grant due to the quality work.”

Manufacture: San Jose is a public-private initiative to drive resources, knowledge, and visibility to more than 1,200 manufacturers in San Jose. 

This manufacturing initiative has been launched three times through the City of San Jose.  However, the third time, it was established with the name Manufacture: San Jose, which also duplicates the SFMade Manufacturing initiative, which has been in existence for 12 years. The third launch was in 2018 as a partnership between the City of San Jose, nonprofits, California’s Manufacturing Network, and SFMade. 

MFG: SJ supports and strengthens the manufacturing sector by delivering an integrated suite of advising, education, and workforce and hiring services targeted at locally owned and operated manufacturing companies in San Jose. This includes multi-generational family-owned businesses, manufacturing suppliers, food and beverage producers, and more. The focus of these programs is to drive more visibility, knowledge, and access to resources for San Jose’s estimated 800 small-to-medium-size (SMB) manufacturing enterprises, which are an essential part of our regional economy. 

Manufacture: San Jose has been successful in: 

• Hosting educational workshops on a variety of topics addressing the specific needs of  manufacturing companies 
• Hosting manufacturing forums in partnership with the Silicon Valley Manufacturer’s  Roundtable bringing together local manufacturing leaders to network, share ideas, and address pertinent issues in the industry 
• We coordinate an educational CNC Manufacturing training program in partnership with  Metropolitan Education District and Goodwill Industries. 
• They hire the Manufacturing instructor to train students in the Manufacturing classroom hosted on the MetroED campus. Through this program, students have been allowed to develop skills to fill high-wage, high skills jobs available in San Jose. 
• Hosting and coordinating Manufacturing week annually 
• Providing annual field trips to San Jose manufacturing companies for over 200 high  school students to explore careers in manufacturing 
• They are assisting companies in preparing to hire from the local workforce by promoting hiring fairs. 

The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) is the largest umbrella organization for school leaders in the United States, serving more than 16,000 California educators. ACSA's top priority is advocating for public school students in kindergarten through grade 12, as well as adult learners. The mission is to be the driving force of education in California and beyond. ACSA Region 8 consists of Santa Clara County, at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area. It comprises nearly 400 schools and more than 30 school districts, the largest of which is the San Jose Unified School District. In all, it serves about 262,000 students. For more information: www.regions.acsa.org/8/

About Metropolitan Education District: MetroED provides Career Technical Education and academic programs to over 2,600 high school and adult students in Santa Clara County. From its campus located centrally in San Jose, California, the district operates Silicon Valley Career Technical Education and Silicon Valley Adult Education. Get more information at: www.metroed.net