July 2011 eNews
teaching stucco to school kids
Nick Brown, Merlex
"I want the kid in the back row to see another career path for himself."
Today's school kids are told to focus on computers, foreign languages, and math, so they have the skills to compete in the Service economy. But this leaves kids with other skills thinking they can't succeed in the new economy – we were those kids a few decades ago. Maybe we chose to go into building materials manufacturing for the tangible satisfaction of seeing our product on new homes. Or we liked working with our hands. It was easier for us to see a career path for ourselves than for kids today with the same interests we had.
This is why I started teaching a real-world one-day class for my friend's Economics class at Long Beach Poly High. I want these kids to see manufacturing lives on in this country. The lesson makes the economics they are learning seem relevant to a real-world job they could some day have. And I want the kid in the back row to see another career path for himself.
We talk about the economics of running a real business – variable and fixed costs, how pricing decisions get made, why people get laid off when business slows down. And we use fictional stucco companies to demonstrate the points. The kids get into it when they have to offer a special price for a big job and compete with each other. The exercise raises questions from the kids like:
"Don't the companies have the incentive to get together and agree to keep prices high?" (Yes, but you absolutely cannot collude.)
"Even if you get a big job, how do you guarantee that the customer uses your product next time?" (Service and relationships)
"Can I ship in my product from China so I have a cost advantage and can offer a lower price to get business?" (Not in this lesson, but that's definitely possible for an enterprising company that wants to build a new brand in the U.S.)
Sherry Davis, of Carmeuse Industrial Sand Co., has done much the same thing in the San Juan Capistrano community, with a focus on mining. In the process, she helps communicate the benefits of having mining industry in Southern California, and helps public relations in her community that goes a long way toward staving off the city planners who often seem bent on driving industries like ours out of town.
The SMA Board has voted to make this type of school outreach a formal program this year. We're going to develop a model lesson plan for all our members to use in their local schools like mine and Sherry's. If each of our member companies gets out in their community schools just once a year, I know that our industry will get a public relations boost out there, kids will learn something important and real-world, and the day out of the office will give you a morale boost, too. I think you'll find, like Sherry and I have, that the school experience will remind you why you went into this industry, and what potential our young people have to improve on what they will some day inherit from us – a prosperous manufacturing sector with fulfilling careers for those who don’t embrace the new service economy.
More information on the SMA School Outreach Program to follow. Contact Norma Fox to express your interest in helping shape the program.
next sma meeting - september 15, 2011 SMA Cocktail Networking Social for the
Building Industry next sma dinner meeting - November 17, 2011 Recovering from the Recovery: What Next
for the U.S. Economy |
