Happy Manufacturing Day, Oregon!
2016 marked Oregon’s largest manufacturing day yet! We say that every year, but every year this fantastic series of events continues to increase in participation and influence. 2016 marks the 5th anniversary of National Manufacturing Day, and Oregon manufacturers showed up in a big way!
- 2,365 students / participants
- 75 Schools
- 135 manufacturing companies
- 7 community colleges
- 10 proclamations across the state
- 75% of participants who were surveyed are now more aware of manufacturing jobs
- 95% are now open to considering manufacturing as a career!
Nationally, Manufacturing day was a great success as well, boasting nearly 2,700 events nationwide. You can read highlights here.
Calling All Manufacturers: We Need Your Help with MFG Day 2017! Learn More
2016 Oregon Manufacturing Day Highlights
Makers Gone Pro
On Thursday evening, October 6th, students from the Center for Advanced Learning (CAL) and other organizations celebrated Manufacturing Day with a large career fair style event. To kick off the event, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker led a panel discussion with former students who chose manufacturing careers. They talked about what drove them to pursue their particular career path, what it is like to work in their manufacturing field, and more.
Through fun and engaging hands-on activities, this event provided students and community members an opportunity to understand and learn about the world of making things, and how these activities relate to the Portland region’s robust manufacturing sector. Activities included a flight simulator, robotics, 3d printers, rocket launchers, CNC machining and more! This initiative was part of a regional MFG Day coordinating effort that includes Workforce Investment Boards, Community Colleges and the School-to-Work Consortium.
Lam Research Kick Off
The following morning, October 7, Lam Research hosted the Secretary who presented to students from Tualatin, Tigard and Sherwood High Schools, as well as a number of local representatives. After listening to the Secretary of Commerce’s remarks, students attended live demonstrations with presentations given by Lam Research staff, and concluded by touring the large facility.
Secretary Pritzker summed up nicely the crucial importance of manufacturing and of Manufacturing Day for students. We will share a few of her words:
“Let me be frank with you. For too many students, teachers, and parents, the word “manufacturing” conjures up images of the assembly line jobs of the past instead of the high-tech jobs of the future. That is a real problem, especially because it is wrong.
Manufacturing today is constantly changing. And the success of this sector depends on talented, flexible, and imaginative young people like you pursuing careers in cutting-edge fields like engineering, computer programming, and industrial design.
Without your generation’s participation in manufacturing, we cannot maintain America’s place as the world leader in innovation. That is why we partnered with companies across the country to hold Manufacturing Day and show you what this fast-changing sector looks like in the 21st century.
Just look at Lam Research. The chips inside our smartphones, tablets, and computers grow twice as powerful every 18 months. But that does not happen on its own. These incredible advancements are made possible by the software engineers, semiconductor experts, and robotics technicians at Lam Research. Lam employees are proud that there is not a smartphone on the market that does not run on chips built by their equipment.
But, this is a fast-moving industry. To stay ahead of the competition, manufacturers like Lam Research constantly need new talent and creative ideas. Simply put: they need you.”
McMinnville | MADE
Celebrating McMinnville Economic Development Partnership’s 10th year in conjunction with National Manufacturing Day made for an exciting event. McMinnville MADE students, elected officials, business leaders and more toured 5 manufacturing facilitites, enjoyed a fabulous lunch and celebrated at an awards ceremony. Read their fantastic summary here.
Lane County
The Eugene Chamber of Commerce and Lane Community college teamed up for their first ever manufacturing day event! Tours were offered to two schools in Eugene. They visited Peterson Pacific and Johnson Crushers International. This kicked off events for the entire school year. Each school will tour one manufacturer a month, and 8 industry partners have already stepped up to offer their facilities.
Redmond MADE
High school students, business leaders and elected officials attended tours of 4 manufacturing facilities in the Redmond area. Students were delighted to see former classmates working at the manufacturing companies they toured.
Celebrating Innovation
OMEP invited all Oregon Manufacturing day host companies, community partners and sponsors to attend a celebration event. Representatives from each county gave a report out on their 2016 MFG Day events. It was a delight to hear stories from across the state.
OMEP’s manufacturing day sponsors KeyBank, AKT, Vigilant, and Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt awarded Betty Lou’s, Hampton Affiliates, Columbia Industries and Leupold & Stevens awards for their exemplary participation.
Along the way we learned some valuable lessons from event hosts and partners:
- Students love hands on activities! The more you can give them while they are visiting your facility the more they connect and remember.
- Manufacturers can use MFG Day as a valuable learning experience to connect with potential future employees, and build on their participation to offer internships in the future
- Manufacturing day is powerfully influential on students, particularly when they see former students from their schools working in their tour location
- Tours are not the only option! Many manufacturers and community partners have great success hosting career fair style events that involve the whole family
- Manufacturing day is all year long – we don’t have to limit ourselves to October!
Media Coverage
You can read a variety of fantastisc articles about this year’s events here which include a presidential Manufacturing Month proclamation, as well as a proclamation from Oregon’s Governor, Kate Brown.
Thank You
Many thanks to our sponsors and partners who made this event possible including:
Partners:
- All Hands Raised
- Center for Advanced Learning (CAL)
- Pathways to Manufacturing – Impact NW
- School To Career
- Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce
- Tualatin Chamber of Commerce
- Mt. Hood Community College
- Portland Community College
- Clackamas Community College
- Lane Community College
- Worksystems Inc.
- Worksource Oregon
- McMinnville Economic Development Partnership
- Pipeline to Jobs
- REDI
- SOREDI
- EDCO
- Eugene Chamber of Commerce
- OIT
- ADX
OMEP MFG Day Sponsors:
Third year Presenting Sponsor:
- Gold Sponsors:
Boeing
City of Gresham
Madden Industrial Craftsmen
Owens Corning
Portland Development Commission
Tosoh Quartz, Inc.
Vigor Industrial
Western Precision Products, Inc
