TEXTILES.ORG
Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) has announced a strategic partnership with Advanced Textiles Association® (ATA), launching a limited three-part podcast series on ATA’s Talking Textiles. The first episode is available to stream now.
Hosted by Robert Finnegan, AFFOA’s director of education and workforce, each episode focuses on a key topic affecting the textile industry. Discussions will be based on many of the findings uncovered in AFFOA’s industry needs assessment and resulting program roadmap launched in the fall of 2024.
“It became clear that many industry leaders were hungry to hear from and share best practices in recruiting, retaining, and skilling up a workforce to meet the demands of this changing industry,” says Finnegan. “ATA was a perfect partner to launch a forum for industry-best practices focused on workforce topics.”
“Advanced Textiles Association is thrilled to be partnering with AFFOA on this new podcast series. Workforce development is one of the top challenges facing the textile industry, and we’re excited to work together to deliver this crucial information,” says Jonathan W. Sweet, director of content and member programs at ATA.
Part One of the series was released May 16 and can be found here.
Part One: Strategies for Retaining Employees in a Changing Workforce (available now)
This episode features a discussion with industry leaders on best practices for recruitment, employee retention and fostering a positive company culture. Guests include:
· Rachal McCarthy, president of NTI Global
· Nichole Hoylrod, COO of Spiritus Systems
· Bill Ackerley, manager at Bearse USA
· Michael Woody, CEO of Trans Tex
Part Two: Beyond the Buzz—The Impacts of Digital Engineering and Automation on Our Current and Future Workforce
In this episode, Finnegan hosts a discussion with leading technologists and industry experts to explore how digital engineering and automation are reshaping manufacturing and the workforce. Guests include:
· Caitlin Knowles, senior textile engineer, AFFOA
· Gabrielle Ferrara, president, Ferrara Manufacturing
· Jon Zornow, inventor, Sewbo
· Christine Spiegel, director of marketing, Parkdale Mills
Part Three: Our Future Workforce—Leveraging Career Pathways and High Schools to Drive Talent Pipelines
The final episode focuses on how companies can leverage traditional and Career and Technical Education (CTE) and develop a talent pipeline for next-generation employees. “Industry leaders unanimously cited an aging workforce with lagging interest from younger generation workers. We must begin leveraging our CTE and Trade HS more effectively to help fill this gap,” says Robert Finnegan.
Episodes can be streamed on major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and directly through AFFOA and ATA’s websites, as well as https://textiles.org/podcast.