Made in Florida MFG Month Industry Tours – 10 Years of Sharing Manufacturing Careers with Students

2021 was the 10-year anniversary of FLATE working with a network of organizations and partners to celebrate National Manufacturing (MFG) Day/Month in Florida. As part of the FloridaMakes network, FLATE continues to work with Florida’s Regional Manufacturing Associations (RMAs) to lead the Florida MFG Month campaign. Thank you to all the organizations and partners who have played a vital role in the statewide outreach campaign to promote manufacturing education in Florida, including industry/manufacturers, The Able Trust, CareerSource, state colleges, school districts and the community.

Made in Florida Manufacturing (MFG) Day/Month industry tours addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is, and positively change the public perception of modern manufacturing.

 

Preliminary Data

TSE Industries - October 22, 2021

Since some Manufacturing Day tours and events were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, any that take place by the end of the year will be included in our totals for 2021. And in 2022, we will begin celebrating Manufacturing Month on January 1st and continue throughout the year, whenever events can be rescheduled with schools and students.

However, preliminary data for Manufacturing Month 2021 shows success in getting students across the state exposed to Manufacturing Careers. As of November 16th, 2,438 middle and high school students from 101 schools, 171 educators, and 150 parents and chaperones participated in a Manufacturing Month student experience.

Some 2021 events were typical in-person student tours of manufacturing facilities, but there were also a variety of virtual student events, some localized to a community and some with students from all across the state. These are some of this year’s events:

In-Person Student Events

Many manufacturers and Regional Manufacturing Associations (RMAs) hosted in-person student or educator experiences for Manufacturing Month including:

• Seal Dynamics, Hillsborough, September 30 - Educator Tour
• MFG Month Design & Build Competition at Custom Metal Designs, Orange, October 15
• Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT), Hillsborough, October 19 & 20 - Student Tours
• JBT Aerotech, Orange, October 21 - Student Tour
• TSE Industries, Pinellas, October 22 - Student Tour
• Mitsubishi Power Systems, Orange, October 21 - Student Tour
• JBT Aerotech, Orange, November 2 - Student Tour
• Custom Metal Designs, Orange, November 4 - Student Tour
• Sy-Clone Internations, Duval, November 10 - Student Tour
• Datagraphics LLC, Orange, November 12 - Student Tour

FLATE at Roboticon - October 2

In some cases, the manufacturers went to the students to share information on their companies:

• Atlantic Technical High School
• Roboticon, October 1-3, 9-10, 16-7, 23-24, Manufacturer booths at Competition
• Johnson & Johnson, Duval, November 19 - Visits Englewood High School

Virtual Student Events

In many cases where in-person events were not possible, virtual manufacturing panel discussions brought Florida manufacturers to students and educators across Florida.  Some were recorded and are available on demand.

MFG Month Panel - October 1st

First Coast Manufacturers Association (FCMA), CareerSource NE Florida & Jax USA Earn Up

Students attended from Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Putnam & Baker Counties (91 students, 12 educators)

Manufacturers Presenting: BAE, Collins Aerospace, FRCSE & Vac-con

Click here to watch the Video on Demand.

Great Manufacturing Day Teach-In - October 19 & 21

MFG Month Teach-In

Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA)

Manufacturers provided a Plant Tour video of their facilities for students to watch before the event and then each manufacturer spoke to the students & was available for Q&A in a live virtual format on the day of the event.

Students from Hillsborough (nearly 200) & Pinellas (150) Counties

Hillsborough Manufacturers: Electrochemical Solutions (EMS), Seal Dynamics, Microlumen, Mettler Toledo, FCDI & AMRoC FAB Lab

Pinellas Manufacturers: CME, MasterCut Tool Corp, Molex, Monin, Omnicell and TSE Industries

Click here to see Manufacturer Virtual Plant Tours - Hillsborough

Click here to see Manufacturer Virtual Plant Tours - Pinellas

MFG Month & DEAM Virtual Panel - Discover Great Careers - October 28

FLATE, The Able Trust, High School High Tech

Students from 33 High School High Tech programs from across the state - 495 students

Manufacturers: Trividia Health, Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT), Seal Dynamics and JBT Aerotech.

Click here to Watch the Recording.

USF Stavros Center Global Literacy Series: How it's Made and How it can be Made Better

Two-part Series - October 4 & 11

Dr. Marilyn Barger of FLATE and local Florida businesses, Monin and Givaudan provided a window into “How it’s made” in Florida for Florida educators. Monin & Givaudan discussed the production process  as well as problems that their industries are trying to solve.

Recording coming soon for Part 1 - Monin.  

Click here for How it's Made in Florida - Givaudan

Save the dates for 2 Spring Sessions of "How it's Made in Florida" on February 28th and March 7th. 

Click here for information and registration for USF Stavros programs.

Polk County MFG Month Panel

Polk State College, Polk County Public Schools, FLATE

Students from 13 Polk County middle and high schools.

8 Manufacturers from Polk County

It's never too late to share the Manufacturing story with students!  Please keep us posted as you plan student events in 2022.  Email the FLATE team at events@flate.org.