confounding gap in technical- and soft-skills that Northern Indiana advanced manufacturers need in applicants in order to accomplish duties of hundreds of open jobs was spotlighted in a national news service.

A frustrating skills gap in applicants compared to math, reading, organizational and other abilities needed to succeed in an advanced manufacturing job was discussed by Larry Davis, CEO of Daman Manifolds in Mishawaka. An increase in demand world- wide for Daman's products has spurred the company into a hiring mode to boost its 115-person workforce, but significant roadblocks exist to finding qualified applicants, Davis told CNNMoney.com on Aug. 8, 2012.

"We need to hire 10 more workers in the next six months," Davis said. "We need to hire 10 more workers in the next six months," Davis said. With hopes to add enough qualified workers so as to avoid losing orders, he added, "I'll have to go through 500 applicants just to get the 10 that I need. And there's no guarantee that those 10 hires will work out."