Bauch + Lomb & St. Petersburg College Tie for 1st: 2024 FLATE Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award Winners

The Winners for the Most Innovative Manufacturing Month Student Event Award, both from the Tampa Bay area, were honored at the Bay Area Manufacturers Association Annual Banquet on June 20th.

Congratulations to our winners who tied for 1st place:

• Bausch + Lomb: 2023 Manufacturing Month Student Industry Tours in Tampa.

• St. Petersburg College: 2023 Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, and Architecture Expo (MECCA) Discovery Day” in Clearwater.

Bauch + Lomb, in partnership with Workforce Development Partners (Hillsborough County), Future Career Academy, and the Bay Area Manufacturers Association (BAMA), held multiple Manufacturing Month Tours. Students from King High School, Freedom High School and Buchanan Middle School visited Bauch + Lomb Pharmaceuticals in Tamp and gave them exposure to production operations and different job levels along with information on salary and benefits. Students were excited and eager to learn more when surveyed. 

Click here to watch news coverage of the King High School visit to Bausch + Lomb Pharmaceuticals in Tampa. 

St. Petersburg College (SPC) holds their annual Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, and Architecture Expo (MECCA) Discovery Day Expo in the Spring. This event aims to inform and excite middle, high, and postsecondary students to understand that there are career options they can pursue that they may not hear about at home, an opportunity for all students to explore and experience career opportunities in these growth industries: manufacturing, building arts, engineering, and architecture and other related fields.  The goal is to reach underrepresented and underserved students to have them realize that there are career choices for them. 

Discovery Day includes a variety of opportunities for our SPC employees to gain personal and professional skills as well as team-building activities to complement SPC’s year-round focus on enriching the lives of both full-time and part- time employees. Panel discussions will focus on the opportunities seen by our corporate leaders and also look to learn from students what their desires are from the workplace.  Local companies attend to inform students about their company and products, and why they would want to work in manufacturing.

Their 2023 event was held on April 4, 2023 with 42 manufacturing employees from 22 manufacturers from the Tampa Bay area participating including:

• AD Morgan
• Draper
• Manpower Group
• Infento
• Technical Training Aids
• Polypack
• Formulated Solutions
• EEI manufacturing Services
• Plasma Therm
• Homeless Empowernment Group
• Moss Construction
• Ultimate, 3D printing
• TSE Industries
• Creative Contractors
• Fastenal McCormick Stevenson, Smith Fence
• Publix

These companies shared information on local career opportunities with over 250 students from seven (7) Pinellas County middle and high schools, many homeschool association students and postsecondary students.  St. Petersburg College received over 100 thank you notes, and the students described how their knowledge increased about manufacturing and the types of jobs that could be performed.

Don't forget: Manufacturing Month student tours and events can be held any time through the year, not just in October! For information on getting started with your event, go to http://madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day.