2000 Students to Tour 66 High-Tech MFG Facilities as Part of National Manufacturing Day in FL

TAMPA, Fla. - Sept. 23, 2013 - PRLog -- On Oct. 4, as part of national manufacturing day (http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/) in Florida, 2000 students will tour 66 high-tech manufacturing facilities across Florida. The Made in Florida (http://www.madeinflorida.org/) industry tours are made possible by FLATE (http://www.fl-ate.org/) (Florida Advanced Technological Education), the National Science Foundation Center of Excellence at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon, the Manufacturers Association of Florida, Regional Manufacturing Associations, and manufacturers/educators across the state. The tours celebrate the state’s more than 14,000 high-tech manufacturers across Florida, and will serve as an educational opportunity for students to expand knowledge about and improve perception about high-tech careers & educational pathways in manufacturing, in Florida.

Industry tours for  Greater Tampa Bay region include:

Hillsborough County

Tampa Bay Tech to TAW
Gaither & East Lake High School to Southern Manufacturing Technologies
Greco Middle School to Chromalloy
McLane Middle School to Vulcan Machines
Robinson & King high schools to Sypris Electronics
Tomlin Middle School to Plastipak Holdings, Inc.
Middleton High School to Heat Pipe Technology Inc.

Pinellas County

Meadowlawn Middle School to Jabil
Northeast High School to DRS Laurel Technologies
Calvary Christian School to Bausch and Lomb
Osceola High School to H. & S. Swansons’ Tools Company
East Lake High School to Southern Manufacturing Technologies, ConMed Linvatec, American Tool & Machine, Ventel Plastics and ValPak
St Pete College Forum on Oct. 3rd, 2013: Open to the Public

Sarasota /Manatee County

Lakewood Ranch and Bayshore high schools to Sun Hydraulics
Booker High School to PGT Industries

In Pasco and Hernando counties, Accuform Signs, Emery Thompson, Alumi-Guard, PharmaWorks, Micro Matic, and Bauer have joined FLATE to organize tours in the region. In Marion County SPX Flow Technology, E-One, Quality Banner, Winco, Goldenflake, ClosetMaid and Townley have taken the lead in hosting tours for local students at their facilities.


Outside the greater Tampa bay region, several companies have signed up to host industry tours for students in their respective counties. These include:

Northwest Florida
General Dynamic for Walton & Bay Counties
Merrick – Bay County
Gulf Power in Escambia and Bay Counties
Taminco in Santa Rosa
Ascend & General Electric in Escambia County
ITT Exelis in Bay County

Additionally, the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center is taking a lead in hosting a forum at Tallhassee Community College on Oct. 3 which is open to the public.

Northeast FLORIDA
Soler Palau
Vac-Con
Vistakon
Johnson Controls
JAXPORT- (Blount Island)
Main Recycling
Safariland
Gerdau
SAFT
FL Machine Works

Central & West Central Florida
Valencia College will host a forum that is open to the public on Oct. 4 at Valencia College West Campus.

South Florida
Hoerbiger
Nipro Diagnostics
Sonny’s Enterprises

The official guide to organizing Manufacturing Day open houses is available at www.MfgDay.com (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001BWpp2xm0R0fS9froQ8PhTNgPx6...). For information, or to schedule an interview on statewide Manufacturing Day activities visit the “Made in Florida (http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/)” site at www.madeinflorida.org, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE at barger@fl-ate.org/813.259.6578, and Desh Bagley, FLATE outreach manager at bagley@fl-ate.org or (813) 253-7838.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Marilyn, executive director of FLATE, Desh Bagley, outreach manager, Nina Stokes, FESC project manager and Danielly Orozco, curriculum coordinator will be available for interviews. Opportunity for photo and video coverage will also be available.