Manufacturing Day is October 4. Sign up NOW!

It’s not too late to sign up for Manufacturing Day in Florida. FLATE, the National Science Foundation Center of Excellence at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon and the Manufacturers Association of Florida are working with industry partners and educators across the state to make a big, statewide splash for students on Manufacturing Day which is on Oct. 4, 2013. This event is the perfect opportunity to expand knowledge about and improve public's perception of manufacturing careers.

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.

• Schools/districts can provide transportation and chaperones for students
• Manufacturers can host a “Made in Florida” tour, and provide lunch for student groups. If you have not signed up to host an event, please do so here
• Regional manufacturers can support the cost for Manufacturing Day regional t-shirts for students. If you’d like to sponsor and/or have your organization’s logo imprinted on the t-shirts please sign up here
• Organize a regional team of manufacturers, schools, other community groups
• Send any adopted school information to Dream It! Do It!  at jwolfe@sfma.org
• Have your County Commission Proclaim Florida Manufacturing Day

FLATE is also working with regional “Manufacturing Day teams,” helping to connect schools with

local companies, arranging media publicity, designing and delivering t-shirts, and surveying students to assess the impact on students in specific regions as well as the overall impact on all participating students. The t-shirts also serve as a tangible and long-time reminder of the significance of Manufacturing in Florida. And, of course, it all helps put the “fun” in manufacturing.

The official guide to organizing Manufacturing Day open houses, the most frequent type of Manufacturing Day event, is available at www.MfgDay.com. For local/Florida based manufacturing day events, visit the “Made in Florida” site. 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
• “Made in Florida” Industry Tours for Students—Sign Up and Information Request Form
• Florida Manufacturing Day Flyer
• Sample county commission proclamation for Manufacturing Day
• FLATE student tour resources

FLATE will recognize participating companies and organizations on this webpage. If your company can host a tour and provide student lunches, or your assist with purchasing t-shirts for the student participants, publicity support, or anything else, please sign up here, or contact Desh Bagley, FLATE outreach manager at bagley@fl-ate.org or (813) 253-7838. Desh will follow up with all participants with additional information regarding statewide manufacturing day events. 

We look forward to everyone’s participation in Manufacturing Day celebrations in Florida.