The Manufacturers' Association has announced an investment by BAE Systems to help expand the organization's Automation Training Center, a new 5,000-square-foot state-of-the-art training facility dedicated to automation, robotics, and mechatronics training in support of the defense industrial base and regional manufacturing sector.

The newly named BAE Systems Automation Training Center is an expansion of the Manufacturers' Association's existing 20,000-square-foot training center and was made possible in part through the support of BAE Systems, which helped underwrite the development of the facility. The center will provide hands-on training and apprenticeship opportunities designed to upskill workers in the high-demand fields of automation, robotics, and mechatronics.

The BAE Systems Automation Training Center will be a key component of TIDE, the Technology Innovation Defense Ecosystem, a central Pennsylvania initiative of the region's defense manufacturing community, designated by the Department of War. TIDE was also awarded a $6.1 million grant in 2023 through the U.S. Department of War's Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to train and upskill the defense manufacturing workforce across the region.