ALEXANDRIA, VA — In June 2011, President Obama endorsed the Manufacturing Institute's five-year goal of 500,000 industry certifications issued within its Skills Certification System. The institute and its partners has already issued some 419,528 certifications — putting the system on track to beat the original five-year goal by more than a year.

"This achievement is eloquent testimony to the value of industry-recognized, nationally portable certifications as the solution to the skills gap challenge facing manufacturers nationwide," said Leo Reddy, chairman and CEO of the MSSC. "These stackable certifications, endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers, offer a promising career pathway for millions of Americans to enter rewarding careers in advanced manufacturing."

The MSSCAs is a founding partner of the Skills Certification System, since 2009.

To date, the MSSC has assessed some 90,000 individuals and issued more than 70,000 credentials under its two training and certification programs: certified production technician and certified logistics technician.

Within the Skills Certification System, MSSC focuses on the industry-wide core technical competencies for front-line work (entry-level through first line supervisory), which constitutes more than 70 percent of the jobs in manufacturing and logistics.

As further evidence of the growing popularity of industry-led, national skill standards and certifications, the MSSC is rapidly building a nationwide infrastructure for delivering its instructional materials and certification assessments. MSSC now counts some 1320 MSSC-trained instructors and 735 MSSC-authorized assessment centers, mostly at community colleges and high schools in 44 states.

For more information, visit www.msscusa.org