Regions · Oregon
Clackamas County
Assessed in 2023-24 for the South Metro-Salem STEM Partnership. The coalition the assessment recommended, AMRAC, has convened five times and in May 2026 agreed to serve as the standing industry advisory committee for area CTE programs. A second assessment, the first under the version 2.0 method, is underway for 2026-27.
Client
Cycles
Status
Coordinator
What the assessment found
Employers set stick welding at 2.7 out of 3; no program in the county met it. CNC turning and milling ran near the bottom, as in every region measured. Safety, measurement, and shop math were demanded by nearly every employer and largely delivered. Programs ranged from 8 percent to 88 percent aligned: two schools in the same county were worlds apart, and what separated them was the individual program, its equipment, its instructor, and the support behind it.
What followed
About $75,000 in donated equipment traced to the assessment, which WBTO helped place and install in county school shops, alongside professional development delivered on minimal funding. The coalition the assessment recommended, AMRAC, has convened five times with about 30 manufacturers, instructors, college faculty, and workforce and economic development staff in the room, and in May 2026 it agreed to serve as a standing industry advisory committee for area CTE programs. Estacada is anchoring machining and CNC while Molalla builds the welding hub, with their first shared student cohort planned. Manufacturing Day at Clackamas Community College grew from 314 registered students in 2022 to 888 attending in 2024.
What's next
The 2026-27 assessment profiles the county's manufacturing base subsector by subsector and re-measures the 2023-24 baseline. Findings go to the coalition's [month] convening. Administrator and counselor interviews are scheduled for [dates].