Regional Needs Assessments for manufacturing · Oregon and Southwest Washington
Measure the gap. Act on it. Fund the fix.
When a manufacturer hires a recent graduate, how close does that graduate come to what the employer actually needs? We answer that skill by skill and school by school, in any region, with one method, then help the region's partners close the distance.
Totals are computed from the region records and update when a region is added.
[photo, full width: employer interview at a shop bench or an AMRAC session, named and dated in the caption]
Where we work
All regionsYour region isn't listed? Tell us about it.
For regional bodies
ESDs, STEM hubs, workforce boards, community colleges. The assessment reports where each program meets employer expectations and where it doesn't, and names the partners and funding able to close each gap. Same method every region, so results compare honestly across regions and over time.
How an assessment worksFor manufacturers
You set the bar, skill by skill, on a three-level scale. Then you choose how to plug in: site tours, donated materials, classroom visits, advisory seats, internships. In Lane County, 86 percent of interviewed manufacturers offered tours and nearly half offered internships.
Ways to take partFor schools and instructors
Customized one-on-one training in your own lab, on your own machines. Machine sourcing and installation, maintenance, and repair when something goes down. Classroom projects drawn from real production work.
Instructor support and repairsOne method, every region, what followed
All results and reports| Region | Cycle | Machining | Welding | What followed | Client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia County | 2023-24 | 19% → 55% prelim. | not assessed | About $450,000 in CNC machine tools and instructor training traced to the assessment. Re-measured in 2026: every school improved. | OMIC R&D / Northwest Regional ESD |
| Clackamas County | 2023-24 · 2026-27 | 50% | 61% | AMRAC convened five times and in May 2026 became the standing industry advisory committee for area CTE programs. Estacada anchors machining, Molalla builds welding. | South Metro-Salem STEM Partnership |
| Lane County | 2024-25 | 44% | 58% | Roughly $100,000 of hands-on instructor training under Lane ESD's $499,923 CTE Revitalization Grant. Furniture Lab with Pivot Architecture. | Lane ESD |
| NW Oregon | 2026 | 55% prelim. | 50% prelim. | First assessment to cover a region's full manufacturing mix. $193,000 in identified program needs, $42,000 already funded. Final review underway. | Northwest Regional ESD / NW Oregon Works |
Percentages are the share of employer-expected skills where students meet the bar. A region appears here when it has results; method and limitations are published with every report.
“WBTO has been vital in implementing CNC into our manufacturing curriculum. They worked with other local industry partners and schools to help determine how to best incorporate state-of-the-art equipment, tooling, practices, and teacher training into our program.”
[Instructor name] · Manufacturing instructor, [School], Columbia County
Clients and partners
[Listed once each organization is confirmed for the public site.]