Florida Manufacturers Gear Up for National Manufacturing Day on Oct. 4, 2013!

TAMPA, Fla. - Sept. 10, 2013 - PRLog -- It’s not too late to sign up for  national Manufacturing Day (http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/) events in Florida. FLATE (http://www.fl-ate.org/), the National Science Foundation Center of Excellence at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon and the Manufacturers Association of Florida are working with Regional Manufacturing Associations, industry partners, and educators across the state to make a big, statewide splash for students on Manufacturing Day (http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/) which is on Oct. 4, 2013. This event is the perfect opportunity to expand knowledge about and improve perception about high-tech careers & educational pathways in manufacturing in Florida.

Many local manufacturers and schools have already signed up to host high-tech tours in the area. In Hillsborough County Greco Middle School will tour Chromalloy in Tampa, McLane Middle School will tour Vulcan Machine in Tampa. King High School and Young Middle School will tour Sypris Electronics in Tampa, and Tomlin Middle School in Plant City will tour Plastipak Holdings, Inc. in Tampa. Bayshore High School and Lakewood Ranch High School in Tampa will tour the high-tech manufacturing facilities of Sun Hydraulics in Sarasota. Southern Manufacturing Technologies in Tampa is also hosting a number of tours at their facility.

In Pinellas County Bausch & Lomb, Jabil Circuit, DRS Technologies, and H & S Swansons’ Tool Co., and DRS Technologies Inc. have signed up to host tours. In Marion County SPX Flow Technology, E-One, Quality Banner, Winco, ClosetMaid and Lockheed Martin have taken the lead in hosting tours at their facilities. Outside the greater Tampa Bay region, Saft America Inc. in Jacksonville, PGT Industries in Venice, Hoerbiger Corporation of America in Pompano Beach, Nipro Diagnostics in Ft. Lauderdale  have also signed up to host tours. In the pan handle region, Gulf Power Company, Ascend Performance Materials, Taminco, Fort Walton Machining, Exelis in Panama City, and Merrick Industries are joining FLATE’s efforts to host industry tours for students in the region, with many more similar tours being organized locally and across the state.

Manufacturers and stakeholders across the state are strongly urged to participate, organize a regional team of manufacturers, schools, other community groups, and join in the celebrations in a number of ways.

Have your County Commission Proclaim (http://madeinflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Manuf...) “Florida Manufacturing Day”

Schools/districts can provide transportation and chaperones for students
Manufacturers can host a “Made in Florida” tour, and provide lunch for student groups. To sign up to host a National Manufacturing Day event, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WR8NBBT
Regional manufacturers can support the costs for Manufacturing Day regional t-shirts for students. To sponsor and/or have your organization’s logo imprinted on the t-shirts sign up at https://foundation.hccfl.edu/sslpage.aspx?pid=298
Organize a regional team of manufacturers, schools, other community groups
Send any adopted school information to Dream It! Do It! (jwolfe@sfma.org)

FLATE is also arranging media publicity, surveying students to assess the impact on students in specific regions as well as the overall impact on all participating students, working with regional “Manufacturing Day teams,” to connect schools with local companies, and designing and delivering t-shirts. “The t-shirts will serve as a tangible and long-time reminder of the significance of Manufacturing in Florida” said Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE. And, of course, it all helps put the “fun” in manufacturing.

The official guide to organizing Manufacturing Day open houses is available atwww.MfgDay.com (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001BWpp2xm0R0fS9froQ8PhTNgPx6abpyWQkcEMlBREfdLsPQYSpuRxvw3jZQO3cw5d-HMp6c7F1i7MpvKRj5x1AVmXKbSx-J0mJqWtjLF6tbPTUGeQAVcfOw). For local/Florida based manufacturing day events, visit the “Made in Florida (http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/)” site at www.madeinflorida.org. Here you can access resources that answer common questions and outline steps that every Manufacturing Day host will find useful, such as:

Joining FLATE’s “Made in Florida” tours letter (http://madeinflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/MAN-Day-email-07-25-13.docx)

“Made in Florida” Industry Tours for Students – Sign Up and Information Request Form (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WR8NBBT)
Florida Manufacturing Day Flyer (http://madeinflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/MFG-Day-FLATE-2013-mif-tours4.pptx)
SAMPLE county commission proclamation for Manufacturing Day (http://madeinflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Manufacturing-Day-Proclamation-HILLSBOROUGH.doc)
FLATE student tour resources (http://www.flate.pbwiki.com/)

FLATE will recognize participating companies and organizations on this webpage. If your company can host a tour, provide student lunches, or assist with purchasing t-shirts for student participants, publicity support, please up at www.surveymonkey.com/s/WR8NBB, or contact Desh Bagley, FLATE outreach manager at bagley@fl-ate.org or (813) 253-7838 and Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org/813.259.6578.

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.