Women in Manufacturing

TeresaBeachShelow Left to Right: Rylie Berg, Andi Berg, Sarah Koons, Teresa Beach-Shelow, Krista Beach, Nikki Berg, Chris Magee.
Photo from Northwest Quarterly "25 Local People Who Inspire."

Teresa Beach-Shelow is the President and co-founder of Superior Joining Technologies, Inc. and wants to inspire men and women to go into manufacturing-related jobs. Through her involvement in many associations such as WOTM, WIM, Manufacturing Day, youth Legos teams, High School Robotics teams, and many volunteer activities, Teresa continually encourages students of all ages to consider careers in manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs provide a living wage and benefits to support families and a respectable quality of life. There are ample opportunities to consider, such as Purchasing, Quoting, Sales, Welding, and CNC Operator, just to name a few. Teresa is a strong advocate for the industry that is becoming more innovative, streamlined, lean, and efficient and is often asked to speak at and participate in association events.

Teresa’s quest is to figure out how to attract young, energetic women to this industry and then, not only keep them but inspire them to be mentors to other women. This is all part of her larger effort to attract more young people to manufacturing.

Below are two studies focusing on the importance of getting more women interested in manufacturing:

2015 Women in Manufacturing-Exploring the Gender Gap

The women in manufacturing study were commissioned by The Manufacturing Institute, APICS, and Deloitte to understand why manufacturing isn’t attracting, retaining, and advancing its fair share of talented women.

Deloitte Review Issue 16

Deloitte Consulting LLP article, “Help wanted: American manufacturing competitiveness and the looming skills gap”

While many of the strengths and capabilities that propelled the United States during the 20^th century remain, the growing skills gap threatens America’s competitiveness today and in the long term.