CHICAGO – MxD and the University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute (EGI) have released “Strategies to Build a Robust EV Manufacturing Ecosystem and Workforce,” a new toolkit that helps manufacturers and the organizations that support them strengthen local ecosystems and broaden participation in manufacturing careers.
Since 2021, federal and state investments in electric vehicles (EVs) have created new opportunities for manufacturers, but companies are also navigating significant uncertainty as market conditions and policy priorities shift.
The toolkit is a complement to MxD’s “Electric Vehicle (EV) Manufacturing Hiring Guide,” which outlines emerging EV workforce skillsets.
The findings draw on Spring 2026 interviews with 20 individuals from 15 manufacturers and support organizations in Michigan and across the United States.
Four strategies emerged:
- Understand and build your value as a partner. Define the mutual value and return on engagement, and build workplace cultures where employees thrive.
- Develop mutual understanding through experience. Open doors through plant tours and job shadows, and bring manufacturing into the community.
- Invest in intentional, ongoing engagement. Design solutions with manufacturers rather than for them, and show how their input changes programs.
- Align efforts to expand and strengthen the workforce. Focus on the right fit for both employee and employer, and recruit beyond traditional pathways.
The toolkit offers specific actions for both support organizations and manufacturers under each strategy, along with examples from communities and companies across the country.
The toolkit was created in partnership with Mechanism, a national nonprofit that works with communities and manufacturers to build local production ecosystems that increase resilience and well-being.
Mechanism will host a webinar on December 2 from 12-1pm ET, “Building a Robust Manufacturing Workforce Pipeline: Lessons and Research from the EV Industry and Beyond,” to discuss the findings in the toolkit. Register for the webinar here.
