Manufacturing Day 2014 smashes all participation goals

Manufacturing Day 2014 exceeded all expectations, with events extending far beyond Oct. 3 to officially wrap up on Dec. 12.

A total of 1,679 events were held across North America, in all 50 states, three Canadian provinces and Puerto Rico. For the first time this year, more than a dozen virtual events were held, allowing participants to join in from anywhere. Discovery Education and Alcoa hosted the largest virtual event – with more than 100,000 students participating. Based on data collected from host company evaluations, more than 260,000 people participated in live events. This brings the total number of individuals involved with Manufacturing Day activities to nearly 400,000.

President Barack Obama attended his first Manufacturing Day event, an open house at Millennium Steel Service in Princeton, Ind. Official proclamations were issued across the country celebrating Manufacturing Day, Manufacturing Week and Manufacturing Month. When declaring October 3, 2014, as Manufacturing Day in the U.S., Obama said, “With ingenuity and a determined spirit, hardworking Americans are creating products and unlocking new technologies that will shape our Nation and grow our economy. On National Manufacturing Day we celebrate all those who proudly stand behind our goods and services made in America, and we renew our commitment to winning the race for the jobs of tomorrow.”

“The co-producers of Manufacturing Day could not be more pleased with the results of the 2014 celebration,” said Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA), one of the co-producing organizations. “Our goal, when we created Manufacturing Day just three years ago, was to bring manufacturing into the mainstream. We wanted to showcase this important sector of the American economy and make it possible for people who were not acquainted with the many contributions of this sector to learn about it and for young people to be introduced to the career options available in manufacturing and the exciting work environments manufacturing offers.”

“Manufacturers are working with leaders in Washington to ensure we have the workforce needed to succeed in a fiercely competitive global economy, but we’re not waiting for solutions,” said Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), another co-producing organization. “With successful efforts like Manufacturing Day, we’re acting now to take the promise of a career in manufacturing directly to communities across the country. By opening our shop floors to the best and brightest young minds, we are able to showcase modern manufacturing for what it is – a technology-driven industry that offers secure, good-paying jobs and the ability to develop products that will change the world.”

Manufacturing Day 2014 was supported by more than 20 sponsoring companies and organizations. The sponsor list was headed by Platinum sponsor, Shell Lubricants and Gold sponsor, Alliance for American Manufacturing. More than 120 organizations endorsed Manufacturing Day and served as the conduit through which information about the event was disseminated.

Manufacturing Day is an annual national event, executed at the local level by more than a thousand manufacturers across North America that host students, teachers, parents, job seekers and other local community members at open houses designed to showcase modern manufacturing technology and careers. A panel of co-producers including the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing Institute (MI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and guest producer Industrial Strength Marketing (ISM) provide the centralized support necessary to coordinate this nationwide array of simultaneous events. The national media partners for the event are the Science Channel and Edge Factor, and the national movie partner is American Made Movie.