Photo provided Students explore career options at Manufacturing Day, sponsored through Toyota Material Handling, FORVIA Faurecia, Lindal and Cummins, Inc.
Local industry leaders recently partnered to encourage teens to consider careers in manufacturing.
Toyota Material Handling, FORVIA Faurecia, Lindal and Cummins, Inc. hosted a Manufacturing Day event at Toyota’s T+Rex fitness center on Oct. 7. High school students from the C4 program and Center Grove High School were able to experience interactive activities set up by the sponsor companies.
“It’s just exciting to get the word out to students to let them know what we do,” said Tracie Cutrell, a national customer center specialist with Toyota. “There’s a need for manufacturing employees, most certainly, and we just want to share what we do with high school students who are maybe undecided about what they might do for their future.”
Event organizers shared in a promotional flyer that over the next decade, 4 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled in the U.S.
Manufacturing Day is an initiative of The Manufacturing Institute, with the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association as a founding partner. The official date is the first Friday in October, but events continue throughout the rest of the month.
According to a website set up by local event organizers, “MFG (Manufacturing) Day is an initiative to raise awareness for the many opportunities in modern manufacturing. On MFG Day, manufacturers open their doors to open minds about well-paying, rewarding and productive careers that give the next generation the chance to create the future using tomorrow’s technologies today.”
In addition to the main event on Oct. 7, partners also held an open house at T+Rex on Oct. 6, said Cutrell. Adults, parents, and “children of any age,” especially those in middle school, were invited to attend. The event acted as a preview for the high school experience and promised to provide a “glimpse into manufacturing career fields.”
Additionally, there were three sessions of panel discussions held at Columbus North High School on Oct. 5, where representatives from each company discussed their respective career paths in manufacturing.
