County students learn about opportunities in manufacturing
BUTLER TWP — There are 291 manufacturing establishments in Butler County offering many career opportunities, according to state data. Students from school districts around Butler County had the chance to learn about those opportunities at Butler Manufacturing Day.
The Manufacturer and Business Association and Butler County Manufacturing Consortium hosted the fourth annual Butler Manufacturing Day at Butler Intermediate High School on May 19. The event’s goal was to introduce middle school students from across Butler County to manufacturing careers.
The event continued to grow from last year. Five schools participated, which is a record for the event. In addition, the event had “several more manufacturers who are new this year,” according to Jezree Friend, Manufacturer and Business Association vice president of external relations. In total, 21 manufacturers participated in the event.
The event’s continued growth led to the event using a different format. Friend said, compared with last year, the event used more space in the school and split students into groups that explored eight Western Pennsylvania manufacturers together.
He said the new format “really maximizes the education volume for the students” and “maximizes the exposure for the manufacturers participating in it.”
Several manufacturers gave students the chance to learn about the manufacturing process hands on. For example, Oberg Industries demonstrated the skills needed in the manufacturing industry by asking students to work together to assemble an O shape out of Lego bricks that fit the blueprint and color chart within five minutes.
Melissa Cushey, an HR recruiter for Oberg Industries, said the challenge showed students the importance of teamwork in manufacturing. She said it showed “each one of them has a job to do, and without each one of them, you can’t get a quality part.”
Hands-on demonstrations like that interested many students in manufacturing. Hailey Palmer, an eighth-grade student from Butler, mentioned she was interested because she saw how small some manufacturers could make things.
She said, “There’s machines that can measure nanograms and it’s super duper small. So I thought that was really cool.”
That interest in manufacturing was exactly what the event’s coordinators wanted to foster.
Manufacturing is a key part of Butler County’s economy. Manufacturing establishments employ 12.2% of Butler County workers, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
According to Friend, “it’s a no-brainer” to introduce students to manufacturing at a younger age and “increase their education on what manufacturing looks like.”
With the manufacturing workforce in Pennsylvania aging, increasing interest in manufacturing is becoming even more important. Friend said many older manufacturing workers were “looking to retire, get out of the workforce.”
“We don’t even have, let alone the skills, we don’t have the physical numbers to replace those existing ones,” because of those retirements, he added.
Employers also recognize the need for more young people in manufacturing.
Merle Smith, a production supervisor at Kiski Precision Industries, said, “I’ve been in manufacturing for almost 40 years and one day, I’m going to turn to dust and someone else is gonna have to do this when I’m gone.”
One of the opportunities discussed at Manufacturing Day was defense manufacturing, which, according to Friend, is an area with major potential.
Friend said, “Right now, the federal administration that exists has upped or is continuing to try to up their investments into infrastructure and defense contracts.”
Friend then went on to discuss how the proposed Gem City Shipbuilding yard in Erie could help Western Pennsylvania manufacturers. He said that an “anchor institution” like the proposed shipyard would benefit manufacturers both big and small.
Butler County manufacturers could reap the benefits of a new shipyard. For example, Teledyne and Luxfer Magtech, both of which had booths at Manufacturing Day, make products for the military and could benefit.
Students at the event were excited about defense manufacturing, too. Colin Stefaniak, an eighth-grade student from Butler, said the most interesting thing he learned at Manufacturing Day was that Ellwood Group “made stuff for the Navy.”
David Hockenberry, an advanced manufacturing and robotics technology instructor at the Butler County Vocational-Technical School, pointed out the range of opportunities in manufacturing, saying “there’s room for everybody” in manufacturing.
