Exploring the marvels of manufacturing contest launching

From The Bradford Era

ERIE — Manufacturing Day occurs each year on the first Friday of October (this year Oct. 2) to celebrate modern manufacturing and inspire the next generation.

Now many celebrate as Manufacturing Month, so NWIRC along with numerous community partners are launching a career exploration program to run throughout October. The activity is for students in grades 6-12 within 14 counties of northwestern PA.

Teachers can use as a class project or students can participate on their own. The program includes having the student sharing a story about how manufacturing has touched their life and also and answering a few questions after watching three short What’s So Cool About Manufacturing videos, previously created by middle school students about companies in their own backyard.

Students submit their entry via an online portal to be entered into a random drawing for some prizes from Oct. 1-31, 2020. Prizes include things like Amazon Gift Cards, Drones, AirPods, 3D Pens, Robot Maker Kits, and more. Program sponsors are: Edinboro University, Northwest Bank, NWIRC, NWPA-NTMA, NEFF, and ABB.

The program is for students in Cameron, Clearfield, Clarion, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren counties of Pennsylvania. “We’re hoping to have thousands of students across northwestern PA exploring the marvels of manufacturing and future career opportunities throughout the month of October,” said Laurie Knoll, marketing specialist at NWIRC.

Other regional partners include: Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit (IU5), Riverview Intermediate Unit (IU6), Workforce Solutions, NWPA JobConnect, West Central Job Partnership, Career Street, Crawford County K-12 Career Education Alliance, and Steel Valley Authority.

All of the details, program materials, and submission portal can be found at: www.nwirc.org/mfgmonth.