Syracuse, NY – Did you ever wonder what it would be like to build a computer from scratch? Over 100 high school students had that very opportunity on Tuesday as participants in the first ever Manufacturer’s Day.
The event, sponsored by the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) and Partners for Education and Business Inc., allowed students the opportunity to see the ins and outs of what it would be like to work in a manufacturing setting. Several local businesses and educators have come together to stress the importance of educating young people about the appeal of working as a manufacturer. Throughout this week, several local businesses will open their doors to students including:
Randy Wolken, President of MACNY, is thrilled this program is getting off of the ground. “One of the most important things we’ll do today, and throughout the rest of this week and into the year is expose young people to manufacturing careers,” said Wolken. “It’s not the careers they may have assumed they were. It’s high tech. Both in terms in skill level and in terms of pay, they are outstanding jobs to have.
In fact, in terms of pay the average manufacturing job in this community is $57,000 a year plus benefits. And there’s all types of careers. Everything from marketing, to sales, to accounting, to assembly, to welding. Everyone from those that have a high school education to those with PhD’s.
They’ll get that opportunity over the next couple of days so we’re excited to have multiple school districts and many advanced manufacturers involved.”
Manufacturing Opportunities
During the day students had the chance to dabble in several different areas of manufacturing. Doug Falso, Vice President of Contract Sales at Seneca, gave students a full hands on experience in a manufacturing plant.
“We give them a tour of the facilities and watch the product flow,” said Falso. “Then they put on anti-static heel straps, pick up a screw driver, and work with one of the production superviors and they build a computer. They mount the motherboard, go through the steps, and complete a finished product.”
Wolken also believes that there are a tremendous amount of diverse opportunities in manufacturing.
“They can do everything from production work, which is really sophisticated, high-tech work today,” said Wolken. “You’re normally operating multi-million dollar machinery with very tight tolerances. You can be in the sales process using the great tools today involving the web and viral marketing. You can be involved in accounting and financial work making sure businesses are operating properly. There’s such a broad range of skill sets and opportunites available today in manufacturing.”
“Most people don’t realize that New York state is still the 6th largest manufacturing state in the United States and the United States is still the number one manufacturing country in the world,” Wolken continued. “About a half a million jobs are in the manufacturing sector directly. Obviously if you do the multiplier, it’s 1.5 million jobs.
That’s a lot of families being supported. It’s a big sector.
It doesn’t often get the attention that it needs but some fantastic jobs and careers, but young people will hopefully see the opportunity, direct themselves to take more science and math, and prepare themselves for careers in this sector because the jobs will be there.”
Baby boomers creating new jobs?
With an entire generation continuing to near the end of their working careers, many jobs are opening for new hires throughout the manufacturing industry. Wolken thinks now is the perfect time if you’re looking for a new career path.
“For a long period of time there wasn’t the opportunity,” said Wolken. “There weren’t a lot of job openings because the current generation was occupying those positions. But the baby boomers are retiring and over the next 3-5 years we’re seeing significant opportunity and openings. So I think it’s a new opportunity for young people to move into these careers. And they can do so by preparing themselves with the basics: math, science, engineering, technology. What’s called STEM.”
“It’s a unique window in time where high skilled workers are needed and if we don’t provide them and the community doesn’t take advantage of them, these companies will have to move or they will grow some place else in other parts of the country or other parts of the world,” said Wolken. “So we have this unique window to educate young people on some really exciting jobs out there.”
Moving Forward
Wolken is excited about the programs in place to promote manufacturing jobs to young people.
“This is just the first of multiple events that we’ll be doing,” said Wolken. “We believe it’s important for business leaders, and educators, and teachers, and parents to start working together to understand careers. Young people today don’t choose jobs, they choose careers. They need to find careers that allow them to be prosperous. Manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing, is one of them. We’re very excited about that.”
In addition to manufacturer’s day, the MACNY and Syracuse schools have announced that they will team up for Construction Career Day on Thursday, October 21st.
Leave a Reply