Public-Private Hookups Galore: Is This a Trend or a Blip?

The other day I was researching a story idea and I put in two broad terms—manufacturing and workforce—and wound up heading down a different path.

Take a look at these clips. All of them have been published in the last four weeks.

• El Camino College gets $1.3 million grant for employment training—The Daily Breeze, Torrance, Calif.
• UNH is poised to deliver highly skilled workforce—The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H.
• RI invests $150k in construction, machinist workforce training—The Daily Journal, Providence, R.I.
• $991,321 grant to train workforce—The News Tribune, LaSalle, Ill.
• WORKFORCE: IEEP, manufacturing group link up—The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
• Highmark grants aid job training at seven midstate organizations—The Patriot News, Harrisburg, Pa.
• The Future Of Manufacturing Talent—Manufacturing Business Technology
• CAEDC Action Report: Americans want a country that builds things—Cherokee [Iowa] Chronicle Times
• State prepares for aerospace to take off—Charleston [S.C.] Regional Business Journal
• Filling the worker gap—The Tullahoma [Tenn.] News and Guardian
• Allentown looks to bring manufacturing, high-paying jobs back to city—The Express-Times, Easton, Pa.
• Clemson, Greenville Tech create Center for Manufacturing Innovation—The Times and Democrat, Orangeburge, S.C.

Something Solid & Positive

Obviously this is an encouraging trend. If this type of public-private partnership were to catch fire everywhere—it's happening in a lot of places but not everywhere, not sea to shining sea—wouldn't it go a long way toward closing the skilled-worker gap that U.S. manufacturers face? If so, what's keeping it from happening?

While I'm at it, one last question (or two): Is this a mirage or the real deal? Does this burst of activity constitute a solid rock on which a reborn industry could be built, or is it an aberrant surge?