wufwugy, there certainly is accreditation for manufacturing positions. There is the ASE certifying body, and then a ton of manufacturing jobs which fall under the "engineering" umbrella and would have students graduating with degrees in applied sciences.

As for the manufacturing sector crumbling in the midwest because people don't like cold weather-- well, I'm just glad you, yourself, admitted that you were talking out of your ass. I like thinking outside the box, but I think it's well established that manufacturing left, and so labor left, not the other way around. Labor may have caused it to leave through the demands of unions, but it wasn't because their toes were cold.