Celebrate Manufacturing Day: Take a young person to your plantCelebrate Manufacturing Day: Take a young person to your plant
In case you haven't heard, one week from today is Manufacturing Day 2012. This inaugural event will be celebrated on October 5, and the founders of this day hope that manufacturers nationwide will celebrate with open houses, plant tours, career workshops and other events to showcase manufacturing's great opportunities in high-paying, skilled work.
September 28, 2012
In case you haven't heard, one week from today is Manufacturing Day 2012. This inaugural event will be celebrated on October 5, and the founders of this day hope that manufacturers nationwide will celebrate with open houses, plant tours, career workshops and other events to showcase manufacturing's great opportunities in high-paying, skilled work.
Manufacturing Day is the brain child of Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA), and is also sponsored by the U.S. Commerce Department's Hollings Manufacturing Extension partnership (MEP), Wisconsin MEP (WMEP), and the Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC). MEP is part of the DOC's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Manufacturing Day 2012
"Manufacturing Day will be the 'coming out party' for U.S. manufacturers all across the nation," said Youdell. "October 5th is dedicated to celebrating the great work and innovation of the 12 million men and women who make the United States the world's largest manufacturing economy. FMA and MEP centers are encouraging their members and manufacturers to open their doors to their local school kids, community college students, press, and job seekers so that they can see firsthand the safe, high-tech and innovative work environments that await the best and brightest who pursue careers in manufacturing."
Manufacturing has certainly taken center stage this year with Made in the U.S.A. efforts creating greater awareness of how much manufacturing contributes to a thriving economy and why that is so important as we continue to try and pull ourselves out of this recession.
In an FMA release, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) noted that "Setting aside October 5th as Manufacturing Day to promote the gains we've seen in manufacturing is a great initiative. The Fabricators and Manufacturers Association and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are playing no small part in the resurgence of manufacturing, and I commend them for their hard work."
Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL), who co-founded the House Manufacturing Caucus, has long championed manufacturing in Illinois and throughout the country. "I encourage all manufacturers to reach out and invite their members of congress to visit their facility on Oct. 5th for a tour and a chance to meet their constituents," he said in the FMA release. "Manufacturing Day is a great opportunity to do this."
Certainly next Friday will be a great opportunity to celebrate what manufacturing has done for this nation and what it has done for each of us personally. As the daughter of a tool & die maker, I fell in love with manufacturing early on, and have worked in manufacturing during my career. Writing about manufacturing and helping to promote the many areas of manufacturing in the plastics and mold making industries has been a great pleasure over the past 30 years.
Oddly enough, Manufacturing Day falls between my now-deceased father's birthday (Oct.4) and my birthday (Oct. 6), and I can speak for both of us when I say that there could be no greater celebration than to honor what made this country great!
I would encourage all of you who are company owners to contact your local community organizations and invite them to visit your plant. From the Chamber of Commerce to school teachers to city councilpersons to parents of students and the students themselves, everyone needs to see what manufacturing means to a community and to the nation as a whole.
Question: What will YOU do to help celebrate Manufacturing Day?
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