Manufacturers & Stakeholders Invited to Participate in 2013 Manufacturing Day

TAMPA, Fla. - July 24, 2013 - PRLog -- As part of national Manufacturing Day on October 4, 2103, Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE), the National Science (NSF) Center of Excellence in Manufacturing at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Brandon, FL, is inviting all regional manufacturers associations and manufacturing stakeholders throughout Florida to participate and demonstrate the strength of the manufacturing community in Florida. Manufacturers and educational institutions in Florida can participate in a number of local and regionally-based “Manufacturing Day” events. Partners in Florida can participate in the following ways:

Schools/districts can provide transportation and chaperones for students
Manufacturing companies can offer tours and lunch for student groups
Manufacturing related professional organization can cover costs for manufacturing day regional t-shirts for students
FLATE is matching school and companies’ contributions for arranging media events, designing and delivering t-shirts, and surveying students to assess impact on students locally and regionally throughout Florida
FLATE will assist industry partners and schools by matching schools and soliciting support for student lunches and t-shirts.

Manufacturing Day is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges. It addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors, showcase and define, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is and what it isn’t. “The recent legislative gains for manufacturers in the state of Florida can be attributed to the strong and vocal collaboration between industry and education” said Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE.  The Center’s overarching goal in reaching out to manufacturers across the state “is to express the necessity of building a strong, high-tech manufacturing workforce throughout Florida” Barger said.

Hosting a tour or an open house provides manufacturers an opportunity to tell their company’s story, dispel outdated myths about manufacturing, inspire a new generation of manufacturers, and connect with their communities. Providing lunch and t-shirts to the students provides them with an incentive for turning in the necessary paperwork in order to take the tour, and “serves as a tangle reminder of the significance of manufacturing in Florida.” By working together during and after manufacturing day, manufacturers will begin to address the skilled labor shortage they face, connect with future generations, redefine the public image of manufacturing, and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry.

To host a tour, provide student lunches, or to sponsor t-shirt sales for student participants, please sign up at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/mfgday2013, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org/813.259.6578, and Desh Bagley, outreach manager at bagley@fl-ate.org/813.253.7838.  

FLATE is a National Science Foundation Regional Center of Excellence, committed to ensuring Florida has a well prepared workforce for advanced and emerging technologies. Created in 2004, FLATE is one of 46 Advanced Technological Education Centers in the United States funded by the National Science Foundation focused on improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and training to meet the needs of American advanced technology industries. For more information visit www.fl-ate.org.