AUSTIN, Texas — KVUE is a proud sponsor of Make It Movement, along with UFCU and Texas Mutual. If you’d like to learn more, go to MakeItMovement.org.
It’s no secret – living in Austin is expensive, and everyone’s out to find a high-paying job to be able to afford to live here. With Austin’s growth comes a need for high-skill employees to keep businesses running.
That’s where GSD&M cofounder Roy Spence hopes he can help.
“When America is at her best, every generation is called to leave it better for the next generation. And we've got work to do,” Spence said.
Spence founded the Make It Movement, a marketing campaign aimed at educating young people about different, high-demand career routes before they graduate high school. Those jobs are in fields like manufacturing, construction and nursing.
Spence said he founded the Make It Movement in the hope that students can learn more and earn more quickly. The careers they get into may not be high-paying at first, but he said those careers offer on-the-job training that can lead to higher incomes.
“We can't wait till after high school,” Spence said. “You know the numbers; you graduate and you go wherever and 40% or 50% of young people drop out. Let's reach them while they're in high school.”
Manufacturing is one industry that's seeing explosive growth in Austin, thanks to the expansion of companies like Samsung, Tesla and more. Ed Latson, executive director for the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association, told KVUE local manufacturing companies could need as many as 20,000 more employees in the next two to three years.
“Everybody's booming,” Latson said. “The only thing that's really throttling these companies are people, and it's not going to slow down.”
Latson also said the Make It Movement provides young people with a unique opportunity for rapid growth after high school.
“If these kids like technology, if they like working with their hands and building things, really being a part of what's driving the evolution of technology in the world, it's happening here in Austin, Texas, and it's happening in manufacturing,” Latson said.
Spence said 16 local superintendents are onboard with the Make It Movement so far and are helping connect students with the program. One of the districts getting involved is Elgin ISD, where students got to be part of a rally to learn more about the program on Thursday.
Elgin High School student Luke Nelson said he’s ready to go to a trade school after graduation but many of his peers don’t know about other career opportunities.
“School doesn't teach them the stuff,” Nelson said. “It's good to have a source and resource to be able to learn more of the stuff without having to ask.”
Elgin High School senior Abdias Castillo also said he appreciates getting to learn about these career options early.
"It shows [students] that they don't have to take a dead-end job, and that they can take a high-end job that's going to get them further in life," Castillo said.
Robert Block is the principal for P-Tech and welding at Elgin Early College High School. He said Elgin ISD is taking stock on the interest of all students and wants them to be able to make good money.
"Living in Austin is expensive, right?" Block said. "Some professions that we might be interested in might not give you the pay to match the lifestyle or what you want after graduation."
Taylor ISD is also involved in the Make It Movement. The district will soon be a neighbor to Samsung's $17B semiconductor factory, and as part of the deal that brought Samsung to Taylor, the company will help the district expand classes for students that focus on manufacturing.
Taylor ISD superintendent Dr. Devin Padavil told KVUE that classes like those can lead students to career paths they can get into right after graduation where they earn more money faster.
"When you ask a kid, 'what do you think you're gonna do after high school?' You know, the answers for any kid across the nation are pretty limited because kids just don't know what's out there," Padavil said. "We just want to expand the entire range of what's out there for a student. So they really know, 'Hey, I think that's something I'm going to be interested in' or 'that's a field I want to go into, and that's going to make me a great living.'"
Texas State Technical College also offers classes that teach young students about everything from aviation to engineering to computer technology. With so much demand for employees in high-skill fields like those, staff at TSTC say employers who don't recruit early will likely miss out on talented employees.
"Those employers who come in and say, 'I need as many graduates as you can hand me,' I have to tell them, 'Listen, you know, almost all of our students are being courted for employment before they graduate,'" said Hunter Henry with TSTC's Office of Career Services. "So if you're looking for graduates, you're a little bit late to the game."
Spence said the Make It Movement targets Central Texas for now, but the goal is to expand it to other cities across the U.S.
“We're on a mission to live up to the promise of America that if you work hard and take responsibility, every young person should be able to make it in America,” Spence said.
KVUE is a proud sponsor of Make It Movement, along with UFCU & Texas Mutual. If you’d like to learn more, go to MakeItMovement.org.
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