John Ratzenberger - Center for America

John Ratzenberger
www.CenterForAmerica.org
February 2011
Why I’m Leading the Campaign to Prevent the Collapse of American Industry
by John Ratzenberger
Senior Fellow, Center for America
While producing the 97 episodes of “Made in America”
for the Travel Channel, I learned from dozens of
factory owners that the upcoming retirement of millions of skilled workers threatens the collapse of our
manufacturing economy. Why? Because there are too
few young people being trained with real-world skills
to take their places.
industrial arts programs during and after school
hours. We need to educate guidance counselors about
opportunities in the skilled trades for high paying and
rewarding jobs. We need to educate parents that not
every young person needs to go to college. We need
to get the media to stop demonizing “blue collar workers” in television programs and movies.
It is an undisputed fact that America will not have a
successful economy without rebuilding our domestic
skilled workforce. Think about what happens when
there are not enough expert workers to keep our
national energy grid working, repair water systems
and bridges, keep the elevators running, and fix traffic
lights. This is the tip of the iceberg. When nothing
works consistently, we become a Third World country!
This year, I’ll be speaking out through radio and television interviews, op-ed articles, and speeches around
the country to rally public support for local initiatives.
This is why I’ve started the Industrial Tsunami campaign and why I need you to join with me to reinvigorate America’s commitment to our skilled workforce.
We need young people to experience the wonders of
tinkering and building things. We need to restore
I hope you will contribute financially and through
your leadership to this campaign. Look for ways your
community, your foundation or your company can
step-up your leadership while we still have time. Send
us details about the vocational programs for young
people your organization supports so we can post
profiles on our website. And, send along your ideas
and suggestions as well!
John
The Center for America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization bringing people face to face with issues that affect the future
quality of life, economic prosperity and freedom in America. We offer a wide range of knowledge resources about ways
people can get involved to help solve America’s problems. For more information contact, Todd Young, Chief Operating Officer
at 770-317-2423 or [email protected]. Center for America, Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, 250 Willow Springs Drive,
Roswell, GA 30075 © 2011 Center for America. All rights reserved. www.CenterforAmerica.org
“Industrial Tsunami” is Coming to America’s Livingrooms!
Memorandum
From:
Steve Nowlan, President
Center for America
We’re excited by John Ratzenberger’s leadership in rallying the nation to rebuild America’s skilled workforce.
It is inspiring for all of us, in whatever cities and towns
we live, to know that John is speaking out all over the
country in support of keeping enterprise, skills and
opportunities in America.
The centerpiece of the campaign is a new
documentary, “Industrial Tsunami”, being
produced by John and Emmy-award winner
Craig Haffner, that will be broadcast on
several commercial cable networks, websites
and offered for high school classroom use.
The purpose of this documentary is to “wake up
America” to the shortage of skilled workers in America
that threatens the very existence of many companies
and industries.
Through the eyes of young people, parents, manufacturing executives and community leaders, viewers
will learn the reasons for this shortage and gain a new
respect for the importance of careers in the skilled
trades.
The program will take viewers on a journey across
America to meet business executives and owners
whose vital companies are facing severe shortages
of workers. We’ll hear from those on the front lines
how shortages are already holding back production,
slowing economic growth and even forcing some
companies out of business or to move operations to
other countries in search of skilled labor. We’ll learn
how Baby Boom demographics set the stage for a mass
exodus of experienced mentors in the next few years.
Viewers will come to understand how negative
media images of skilled workers and cultural
preferences of “college rather than trades” have
wrongly deflated the interests of young people
to pursue good careers as skilled workers.
Most importantly, viewers will learn about many
examples of local and national initiatives that illustrate the action steps we can take to address this
crisis. Through on-site interviews with those leading
proven demonstration projects at the grassroots level,
“Industrial Tsunami” will empower viewers with
compelling information, examples and ideas that will
motivate them to get involved in their communities
to create similar programs that can produce practical
results.
The documentary will feature interviews with corporate, union, foundation, government and community
leaders who have demonstrated effective leadership in
creating a variety of successful model solutions to this
urgent national problem.
More than just a compelling documentary, “Industrial
Tsunami” will be the clarion call to initiate a national
campaign to save America from becoming a secondrate economy in the global marketplace.
Why Become a Campaign Sponsor?
Without enough skilled workers, more jobs and more
factories will move overseas. More than 45,000 factories in America have closed over the last decade. What
will be the quality of life for our families when another
45,000 factories or more close in the next ten years?
Each of us has a great stake in preventing the shortage
of skilled workers from destroying our nation’s future.
John’s Industrial Tsunami documentary has the potential to galvanize the public and community leaders
to step up their support for the expanded skills training we need to preserve our economic and personal
independence.
As an individual, foundation or corporate sponsor,
you’ll be contributing to support John’s voice in awakening America’s resolve to beat this problem.
If you are ready to help fund the campaign with $10,
$10,000 or even more, please donate through our website or get in touch at 201-513-0379 or snowlan@lawexec.
com. There is no time to lose!
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 2
Steve
Join the Campaign to Help Rebuild America’s Skilled Workforce!
You can help by spreading the word and volunteering to support local vocational training programs that
expand opportunities for young people to gain the skills training they need. Look over this list and pick
the ways you can help!
1. Sign up to receive our free email newsletter to stay in touch with current developments and ideas.
Click here to enroll.
2. Download the Industrial Tsunami PDF brochure and send it by email to leaders and friends in your community who will have an interest in helping. Click
here to download it!
3. Download the collection of John’s articles published in leading publications
and send it along to journalists and bloggers you know who may be interested
in also publishing articles about the skills crisis. Click here to download the
collection.
4. Be a partner – help us feature vocational programs in your area. We will
promote vocational/technical programs in your area on our website and to
national media. Let’s encourage local leaders to develop and expand vocational
programs across the country. Please send contact information about your program – or programs
in your area (like vocational-technical high schools, technical programs, etc.) to Amanda Oursler at
[email protected]. We will then invite the program to participate.
5. Write or call your local school district officials and your state legislative representatives to find out
what they are doing to support expanded vocational program opportunities. Your interest in finding
out about what they are doing will help to stimulate them to do more because they will know the public
is interested in these programs. If you are excited about what you learn, send the information along
to Amanda so we can post the highlights for others to read. If you think your local officials need to do
more, send them a copy of the booklets you have downloaded with encouragement to connect up with
our campaign!
6. Volunteer your time and talents to local programs you learn about. Some programs are sponsored by
school districts and others are nonprofit organizations. Most programs need volunteers ranging from
teachers with specific skills (such as plumbing, carpentry, or metal working) to people who can help the
organization itself with communications and website projects, and locating suitable tools, equipment
and special project materials. There is always something important to be done!
7. Contribute financially to the Industrial Tsunami campaign through Center for America and its foundation, the Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, or contribute financially to one of the local programs you
learn about in which you have confidence. You can make a tax deductible contribution through PayPal
on the website or you can send a check to Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, 250 Willow Springs Drive,
Roswell, GA 30075
8. Add links to your website so visitors will learn more about the
campaign. You can download various graphic icons, such as this one,
from our website or from here that you are welcome to post. Just add
the URL link to: http://www.CenterforAmerica.org to your file when
you post it.
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 3
One Community Leadership Model: Bradley Tech in Milwaukee
John visited recently with the students and faculty
of the Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology and Trade
School. Its mission is to deliver a quality, comprehensive four-year academic and technical education that
enables students to deliver life-long learning skills
and apply their talents on a well-defined Trade and
Technology career path.
Bradley Tech is guided by a commission of community and business leaders that specifically unites
Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee Public
Schools and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
The commissioners ensure the school provides high
quality educational experiences consistent with the
needs of the world of work in trades and technology.
The school offers specialized curriculum and experiences to prepare students in the areas of technology
and trades for the 21st century, helping them compete
in our global society. The school requires 26 credits for
graduation. A shop certificate honors students who
complete the expected 10 credits in the technology and
trade program with outstanding performance.
Bradley Tech has four small learning communities:
Communications Academy (sponsored by AT&T),
Construction Academy (sponsored by PieperPower),
Design Academy (sponsored by Harley-Davidson),
and Engineering Processes Academy (sponsored by
Rockwell Automation). Students apply to an academy upon entry. The staff meets often to enhance
curriculum, improve instructional approaches, and
discuss student performance. Interventions to assist
students are explored for those who may need an
extra boost. Each of these small learning communities has an Instruction Administrator, an Intervention
Administrator, and a community of teachers who will
stay in place as their students move through the high
school grades.
Contact: Ed Krupka
700 S. 4th Street • Milwaukee, WI 53204
414-212-2400 • E-mail: [email protected]
www.BradleyTech.org
Help Us Publicize Your Skills Training Activities!
Email a brief profile with pictures of what you are doing and we’ll post them on the Center for
America website in a special directory available to everyone.
We want to help you connect with people who will be interested in supporting what you are doing,
learning from your ideas, and sharing good ways to solve common problems. To get started, download
the Profile Word document you can use to tell us about your program. When you send this back to us
with whatever picture files you want to include, and after we accept your profile for posting, we will
convert the Word document into a PDF and post your profile on the website. You can send us updates
whenever you wish and we’ll replace the original.
Special Note for Funders: If your organization provides grant funding for skills training programs,
send us a brief description and we will gladly post this in the Funders section.
Download the Profile form in Microsoft Word
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 4
Skilled Labor Falls by the Wayside
by John Ratzenberger
just treat our symptoms. That’s why
I’ve kicked off a national campaign.
The “jobs crisis” is nothing new.
In fact, the current political debate
misses the bigger picture. It won’t be
elected officials and bankers alone
who save the day. What our leaders have been doing - and not doing
- has consequences for American
jobs and the future of American enterprise. We’ve each got a stake in
the game, and we each have a role to
play in fixing it.
America has moved away from its
common-sense, risk-reward ethos
formed over many generations into
a consequence-free mentality, in
which bad decisions don’t really
change behavior. Tragically, one
word best describes a broad section
of the “new America” - bailout.
November 11, 2010
I’ve met with hundreds of American community leaders and entrepreneurs who have joined our
campaign to tackle the bigger jobs
issue. We don’t have enough jobs
right now and, conversely, we don’t
have enough skilled workers to fill
key jobs. Major obstacles blocking
solutions to our national jobs crisis
- abusive litigation, complex regulations and cultural biases - have been
addressed on an ad hoc basis, like
over-the-counter cold remedies.
These are challenges that must be
tackled together, with an eye toward
“actions have consequences,”or they
will kill us separately. We need a
plan that will cure the patient, not
I agree with Matthew Crawford, the
author of the 2009 best-seller, “Shop
Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into
the Value of Work”; namely, that the
way we work from top to bottom
has broad public consequences. See
America in 2010 - the consequences
abound.
Mr. Crawford observes that “in the
boardrooms of Wall Street and the
corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue, I
don’t think you’ll see a yellow sign
that says ‘think safety’ ... no doubt
because those who sit on the swivel
chairs tend to live remote from the
consequences of the decisions they
make.” His practical suggestion
says it all: “Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade ... so that
their fingers will be crushed once or
twice before they go on to run the
country?”
As part of our national campaign for skilled workers, I
am currently in production
on a documentary, “Industrial Tsunami.” What I’m
finding in my daily chats
with innovators and employers is that the “loss of
skilled workers” is a symptom of our nation’s “bailout” culture.
Here’s how this plays out: A teenager gets hurt in high school shop
class. His parents sue the school.
The school district cannot afford the
costs of liability risk, so they cancel
vocational training. Thousands of
kids in one school district go without the opportunity for hands-on
skills training.
This same teenager graduates high
school and faces a media culture
that tells him that he must go to college or be a failure. Taking a minimum-wage service job, he reads
about high unemployment in the
daily newspaper. Despite available
technical training and vocational
schools, he doesn’t think that jobs
really exist on the other side. The
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 5
celebrity culture further stigmatizes
his views on skilled work. Only lowclass people work with their hands,
or so goes the implied message.
manufacturing. These employers,
however, face an ever-increasing
mountain of regulations that sap
resources from recruiting and hirMeanwhile, employers are starving ing into bureaucratic compliance
for skilled workers in all sectors, that often has little to do with public
from health care to infrastructure health, safety and welfare. Skyrockconstruction and repair to high-tech eting liability insurance premiums
and litigation costs drain
further dollars away from
training - not to mention
research-and-development
innovations that would create millions of new jobs.
That would be too costly,
too risky.
jobs issue.” As
a former carpenter, I can
assure you that
smashing your
thumb with a
hammer teaches you to move your
thumb out of the way. If you don’t
move your thumb, the house doesn’t
get built. These are the consequences facing Wall Street, Pennsylvania
Avenue and Main Street.
John Ratzenberger is an actor and
entrepreneur, and his website is
www.ratzenberger.com.
Loss of opportunity. No in© Copyright 2010 The Washington
centives. Loss of pride in Times
work. These are symptoms
of the underlying disease
that the media calls “the
Listen to John Ratzenberger’s Interview on
Hugh Hewitt’s National Radio Show
Salem Radio Network’s Hugh Hewitt interviewed John on his national radio show about John’s new television documentary, “Industrial
Tsunami” and his visit to the Bradley Tech school in Milwaukee, a
model for the nation of vocational education for high school students.
John was the guest speaker at a meeting of community leaders sponsored by The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of
Milwaukee. His message: America needs to restore the dignity of
“essential workers” and expand opportunities for industrial arts training for young people so we don’t lose our manufacturing base.
www.CenterForAmerica.org
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 6
About John Ratzenberger
John is leading a national campaign to educate,
motivate and empower Americans to work together
to rebuild America. He is bringing the message to
company, community and government leader meetings that there is an urgent need to rebuild our skilled
workforce, restore fairness to our civil justice systems,
and reduce barriers to our Free Enterprise system for
entrepreneurs and innovators.
John produced and hosted 97 episodes of “John
Ratzenberger’s Made in America” for the Travel Channel.
This series featured the
enterprise of American
entrepreneurs across the
country. It established
television
precedent
and led the way for a
new series of shows
including: “Dirty Jobs”;
“Deadliest Catch”; “Ice
Road Truckers”; and
more. These celebrate
the American work
ethic.
While visiting factories
that in John’s words, “provide the backbone of our
civilization”, he learned that the average age of skilled
manufacturing workers is about 55 years old. John
realized that the essential workforce necessary for our
infrastructure and very existence of our civilization
will disappear within six to ten years. John is taking
the lead in a national public awareness campaign to
mobilize Americans to rebuild our skilled work force
through local and national initiatives.
Articles written by John about the skills shortage in
America have appeared in many leading publications
and web blogs including Investor’s Business Daily, The
Washington Times, AOL News, The Oklahoman, Atlanta
Business Chronicle, Big Hollywood, Big Government and
others.
As measured by total box office receipts, John
Ratzenberger is the 6th most successful actor of all
time. His ten years performing in over 28 films in
Europe and his 15 year association with Pixar studios
has yielded a total of more than $3 billion for projects
featuring the well known actor. John is the only actor
to have voiced a character in every Pixar movie since
Toy Story 15 years ago.
John is best known for playing mail carrier Cliff Clavin
on the sitcom Cheers. Cliff and Norm, the primary customer characters, became iconic bar buddies. Cheers
won 28 Emmy Awards, ran for 11 years and became
one of the most successful sitcoms in television history.
John is a Senior Fellow and a member of the Board of
Directors of the Center for America.
Born in Bridgeport Connecticut, the son of a factory
worker and truck driver, early in his life, John earned a
living as a carpenter framing houses throughout New
England.
Download Bio as PDF
Earlier in his career, John founded Eco Pak Industries, a
company that developed and manufactured packaging
alternatives made from biodegradable and non-toxic
recycled paper as a safe alternative to Styrofoam “peanuts” and plastic bubble wrap. John sold the company
in 1999 and since then, it has grown to five manufacturing plants and the product is used worldwide.
John is on the board of Pepperdine University and is
the recipient of two honorary Doctorate degrees. He
coauthored We’ve Got it Made in America: A Common
Man’s Salute to an Uncommon Country, which was published by Time Warner.
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 7
About the Center for America
The Center for America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004. We produce video, audio and
website programs to educate, motivate and empower
ordinary Americans to invest their time and talent
in solving our country’s challenges. As a nation, we
need to find ways to reduce barriers to entrepreneurship, including excessive liability, lawsuit abuse and
over-regulation.
Thomas Jefferson said, “I know of no safe depository
of the ultimate powers of the society but the people
themselves; and if we think them not enlightened
enough to exercise their control with a wholesome
discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but
to inform their discretion by education.” We take this
admonition seriously.
Rebuilding America’s prosperity in the global marketplace of the 21st century requires us to change our
culture of polarization and to refocus on the fundamental values that have characterized the American
experience. One of these is Free Enterprise, the genesis
of our prosperity and the only sustainable source of
new jobs and innovation.
Through our partnership with Salem Radio Network
and extensive media relations efforts, CFA’s multimedia programs reach millions every week, presenting
challenges, ideas and opportunities for Americans in
all walks of life to take responsibility and leadership in
their communities – to make a difference.
Center for America
Todd Young, Chief Operating Officer
250 Willow Springs Drive
Roswell, GA 30075 717-317-2423
www.CenterForAmerica.org
© 2011 Center for America. All rights reserved.
Some of the Features on www.CenterForAmerica.org
Hugh Hewitt is presenting a 10-part series on his Salem
Radio Network national radio program focusing on
how America can expand enterprise and create jobs.
Hugh is a Center for America Senior Fellow and this
series was taped at CFA’s recent Summit Conference in
Atlanta. Visit our website for program details and to
listen to the full interviews. Click here to see what’s
coming!
CFA Senior Fellow Bob Dorigo Jones presents weekly
radio commentaries highlighting frivolous, funny and
sometimes tragic lawsuits that are destroying what’s
best about America -- and what we can do about it.
You can listen to Bob’s programs on radio stations
around the country including Eagle Broadcasting and
Midnight Trucking Radio Network. Or visit www.
DailyCaller.com or our website. Click here to listen.
www.CenterForAmerica.org • Page 8