The Manufacturing Advancement Center Workforce Innovation Collaborative (MACWIC), a voluntary association of more than 90 manufacturers and institutions organized to identify and solve workforce-related business needs, has been selected to receive the 2013 John Gould Education & Workforce Development Award at AIM’s 98th Annual Meeting on May 10 in Waltham.

The Manufacturing Advancement Center in Worcester is an affiliate of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP).

The Collaborative is being honored for its groundbreaking work to develop a competency-based curriculum for precision machining that ensures students will have the ability to meet prescribed industry standards. The curriculum can ultimately lead to college credit.

Approval of a standardized curriculum has also led the Collaborative to create the Manufacturing Skills Academy – an industry-supported initiative to upgrade the skills of the current workforce.  Currently, academy training modules in subjects such as Shop Math, Blue Print Reading, CNC Mill Concepts and Statistical Process Control are being conducted in Worcester at the MassMEP office and the Worcester Technical High School, at the Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational High School in Billerica, and locations of participating employers.

“AIM applauds the Collaborative and its members for developing industry credentials, fostering communication within the manufacturing community and promoting vocational education,” said Richard C. Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIM.

“As the Collaborative achieves success in upgrading the skills of the incumbent workforce, entry-level positions will open up, creating opportunity for new hires.”

Lord said, “The development of a new employer-driven workforce training initiative is critical in order to deal with impending baby-boomer retirements that are expected to create almost 100,000 manufacturing job vacancies in Massachusetts during the next 10 years.  AIM is delighted to honor the MACWIC with the 16th annual Gould Award.”

The Gould Award was created by AIM in 1998 to recognize the contributions of individuals, employers, and institutions to improving public education and the advancement, employability, and productivity of residents of the Commonwealth.  Named for John Gould in 2000 upon his retirement as President and CEO of AIM, the award recognizes his many contributions to improve the quality of public education and workforce activities in Massachusetts.

As the 2013 winner of the Gould Award, the Manufacturing Advancement Center Workforce Innovation Collaborative joins past recipients John Rennie, founder of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education; Middlesex Community College, NYPRO, Inc.; William Edgerly, Chairman Emeritus, State Street Corporation; Northeastern University; The Davis Family Foundation; Intel Massachusetts; EMC Corporation; IBM Corporation; David Driscoll, former commissioner of the State Department of Education; Raytheon Corporation’s MathMovesU program; State Street Corporation and Year Up Boston; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership M.O.S.T. Program; and Brockton High School.