Florida Manufacturers Brace for Statewide Industry Tours & Events for Manufacturing Month

October 7 marked the official kick off for Manufacturing Day/Month. Here in Florida,

manufacturers across the state are hosting a number of events targeted to put a spotlight on Florida’s diverse manufacturing sectors. Counties and cities across Florida issued proclamations marking October as MFG Month. Hundreds of students and educators from schools across Florida are set to participate in industry tours geared to showcase products that are “Made in Florida” as well as get an up-close look at opportunities for high-skilled, high-wage careers offered through Florida’s approximately 19,000 manufacturing companies.

Outlined below are a snapshot of some regional tours and events. A full listing of events, including survey data from MFG Day/Month tours will be highlighted in the November and December editions of the FLATE Focus. So stay tuned!

County	Industry Tours	Contact Information
Hillsborough County	Southern Manufacturing Technologies, Pro-Tools, EMS, SignStar, Chromalloy, Measurement Supply, Tampa Bay Steel, Lockheed Martin	Bay Area Manufacturers Association Rick Concotelli, rick.concotelli@lmco.com   Becky Burton, becky@bama.org Upper Tampa Bay Manufacturers Association (UTBMA) Jerry Custin JCustin@utbchamber.com School District of Hillsborough County Lauren Walden,   Lauren.Walden@sdhc.k12.fl.us FLATE Marilyn Barger, barger@fl-ate.org Janice Mukhia, mukhia@fl-ate.org Jesse Kokotek, kokotek@fl-ate.org
Central Florida (Orange, Brevard, Seminole, Lake, Osceola counties)	Rowe Manufacturing, Mercury Marine, Regal Marine, Nautique Boat Company, .decimal, Custom Metal Designs, Ashalnd Technologies, Inc., Victory Tailgate, Knights Armament, Vac-Tron, Metal Essence, Inc., Central Florida Box, Mitsubishi Hitachi	Manufacturers Association of Central Florida Sherry Reeves, sherry.reeves@macf.biz Amanda Markusky, amanda.marcusky@macf.biz Paul Wahnish, paul_wahnish@scps.k12.fl.us Orange County Public Schools Kenneth Bush, kenneth.bush@ocps.net Brevard County Schools Dennis Solobesky. Soboleski.Dennis@Brevardschools.org Lake County Schools Adam Sumner, asumner@lakecountyfl.gov Osceola County Schools Timothy Burdette, burdett@osceola.k12.fl.us
Mid-Florida (Marion, Levy, Citrus, Sumter counties)	Golden Flake, Winco, Cardinal Glass, Townley, Hale, E-One, SPX, Admiral Furniture, Closet Maid, ABCO Transport, Krausz, A & N (Levy), VacTron, Kmart Distributions, College of Central Florida, City of Ocala Utilities	Marion Schools Sara Lefils, sara.lefils@marion.k12.fl.us Mid-FL Regional Manufacturers Association Rob Adamaik, mrma.email@gmail.com
Northwest Florida  (Escambia, City of Pensacola, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty County Santa Rosa, Walton, Okaloosa, and Bay Counties)	American Elite Molding (Bay State Cable Ties), Ascend, GE, Gulf Power, Eastman, Ft Walton Machining, MERRICK, Rex Lumber (Bristol), CEREX, Maritech, West Point, Certified Manufacturing, Gelato, DRS, Strand Core Career Fairs: Escambia-Santa Rosa, Bay County, Okaloosa-Walton, Chipola)	Northwest Florida Manufacturers Council Cindy Anderson, cindy@nwfmc.org
Pasco & Hernando Counties	Pasco AdamsArms, Amskills (Marchman), Bay-Tech Industries, Pharmaworks, SeaWay Plastics, Oldcastle Coastal, Clark Dietrich, Nestle Waters, Manitowac Food Hernando Alumi-Guard, West Coast Classic, Cemex, Accuform, Flagstone Pavers, Amskills, Qorvo, ICTC, Intrepid, Sparton, Artix, Florida National Guard	Florida TRADE at Pasco Hernando State College Margie Burnham, burnham@phsc.edu Jessica Ball, ballj@phsc.edu AMSkills Tom Mudano, tmudano@amskills.org Jady Vargas, jvargas@amskills.org
Pinellas County	Lockheed Martin, MasterCut, Bausch & Lomb, American Tool & Mold, Conmed, Sign-Age, H&S Swansons, Honeywell, Molex, Hydrodyne	Bay Area Manufacturers Association Becky Burton becky@bama.org Upper Tampa Bay Manufacturers Association Jerry Custin JCustin@utbchamber.com Pinellas Schools Greg Taylor, taylorgr@pcsb.org Marti Giancola, Giancolam@pcsb.org Bob Hawkins, hawkinsr@pcsb.org FLATE Marilyn Barger, barger@fl-ate.org Janice Mukhia, mukhia@fl-ate.org Jesse Kokotek, kokotek@fl-ate.org
Polk County	JC Machine, PCA-Packaging Corp.of  America, Kegel, Inc, Rockford-Ettco Procunier, Coca-Cola, Givaudan Flavors Corp, Pepperidge Farm, MaxPak, ITW Professional	Career Pathways at Polk State College Christopher Yannes, cyannes@polk.edu Howard Drake, hdrake@polk.edu
Sarasota-Manatee Counties	SunHydraulics, KHS USA INC, Cavanaugh Company -  Black Diamond Strings, PGT Industries, ASO LLC, Manatee Technical College	SAMA Peter Straw pdstrawpds@comcast.net Sarasota County Schools Career & Technical Education Martha Proulx Martha.Proulx@sarasotacountyschools.net Manatee County Schools Doug Wagner, wagnerd@manateeschools.net Carol Lewis, lewisc@manateeschools.net  Manatee County Schools Danielly Orozco, orozco@fl-ate.org
South Florida	Hoerbiger Corporation, Atlantic Technical College: ACR Electronics	Hoerbiger David Gonzalez, david.gonzalez@hoerbiger.com  Atlantic Technical Center Kevin Finan, kevin.finan@browardschools.com
SouthWest Florida	S4J Manufacturing, I Love Oils, Trilogy Laboratories, The Smart Companies, Mermaid Manufacturing	Peter Bagwell, peter.bagwell@gmail.com SRMA Max Dean. max@srma.net Goodwill Industries Tim Goodman, timgoodman@goodwillswfl.org Lee Schools, Chelsea Gamache, ChelseaG@LeeSchools.net

For a listing of 2016 Florida’s Manufacturing Day news and events, visit the Florida Manufacturing Day page at http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day, or contact your local Regional Manufacturers Association. In addition, many of Florida’s events are also listed on the national MFG Day website here; you can also visit the Manufacturing Day in Florida website at www.mfgday-fl.com. Manufacturers and others will be sharing news about manufacturing month using the hashtags #MFGDay16 and #FLMfgMonth16. For information on other national manufacturing day events and tours visit www.mfgday.com, or contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org.