richard peck is learning that when it comes to hiring new people to work at his metal shop, you can't rely on what's worked in the past. i've had a help wanted sign in front of my building for 10 years, never taken it down. peck is now thinking outside the box in order to close his company's skills gap - the skills gap is a problem manufacturers have grappled with for years and it's getting worse. the skills gap indicates there are manufacturing jobs open, but no one skilled or even interested enough to fill them. despite an unemployment rate hovering around 7 percent, the manufacturing institute says there are approximately 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in the us. we used to think that people didn't want to get into manufacturing because it was a dirty industry, but it's not, it's the forgotten industry. we don't have generations passing it down. and the current generation simply doesn't want to work the hard jobs of manufacturing. jerry custin of the upper tampa bay chamber of commerce says employers in this area are frustrated with the education system. he says there's no pus