It’s a question I’m sure everyone in the industry has had to answer once or twice. “What’s so cool about manufacturing?”
Instead of responding to the question yourself, now there are some nifty videos to assist. Better yet, they’re all made by students. Nineteen teams of eighth graders, from schools all over Berks and Schuylkill Counties in Pennsylvania, were paired with 19 area companies as a way for students to explore careers in manufacturing.
It is estimated the skills gap will lead to approximately 2 million manufacturing jobs to go unfilled over the next decade. Programs like this one, which show industrial facilities and factories in a fun and creative light, are a great way to show the future workforce that manufacturing is changing. As part of the Dream It Do It program, students were given the video equipment needed to film a short video that would discuss a little about the company, describe the manufacturing process and encourage the younger generations to consider manufacturing as a viable career choice.
According to the Manufacturing Institute, the Dream It. Do It. “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” video contest is a program designed by trade organizations, employers and educators to help improve the image of manufacturing as a career choice, and to recruit more young people into the industry.
In early March, the videos were posted online and the community was asked to vote for their favorites. More than 64,000 votes were cast for the Viewers’ Choice Award, which was Tamaqua Area Middle School’s profile of Highwood USA, a company that manufactures outdoor furniture and accessories made from synthetic wood material.
You can check out the video about Highwood, as well as the other winning videos below. The complete list of the contest videos can be seen here. Which video is your favorite?