Cliff Clavin from “Cheers.” Hamm from “Toy Story.” Mack from “Cars.”
John Ratzenberger is the voice for many of America’s most beloved TV and film characters. Yet, one of this Emmy-winning actor’s most passionate projects to date is as an advocate for American manufacturing.
Ratzenberger, an accomplished screenwriter and producer, is the host of the hit Travel Channel TV series “Made in America,” and serves as founder and chair of the nonprofit pro-manufacturing group, the Foundation for America. He also co-founded Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, a foundation now run by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, which is aimed at encouraging young people to explore careers in manufacturing.
So, what makes the sixth most successful actor of all time, with a total box office of more than $3 billion — yes, billion — want to be a champion for manufacturing? For Ratzenberger, it’s all about looking at the big picture.
Before landing his role as everyone’s favorite know-it-all mailman on “Cheers,” the former carpenter and Bridgeport, Connecticut native grew up in a household where he learned how to tinker and fix things. His uncle worked for Bridgeport Machines “building the machines that built the machines,” he says, and Ratzenberger — for all his fame and fortune — never lost sight of the value or importance of learning a trade.
“Kids today are not making things,” he says. “Instead they are going to college to get degrees and can’t get a job. There are plenty of jobs out there. We just need to teach kids the skills.”
Ratzenberger will share his enthusiasm for all things made in the USA as one of the keynote speakers for the Manufacturer & Business Association’ Manufacturing Day celebration on October 1 in Erie. His message is simple and straightforward — that Americans must wake up to the shortage of skilled workers that threatens our country as a whole.
