MCCTC event builds interest in manufacturing careers

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Neighbors | Submitted.Cutting Edge Manufacturing, a two day event at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, brought together the community and more than 500 students throughout Mahoning County to teach them about careers in the growing field of manufacturing. Pictured is Jeremy Bout of Edge Factor speaking to students.

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Neighbors | Submitted.Cutting Edge Manufacturing, a two day event at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, brought together the community and more than 500 students throughout Mahoning County to teach them about careers in the growing field of manufacturing. Pictured is Jackie Kuffel of MCCTC speaking to students at the event.

Cutting Edge Manufacturing, a two-day event at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, brought together the community and more than 500 students throughout Mahoning County to teach them about careers in the growing field of manufacturing.

The two-day event featured keynote speaker Jeremy Bout of Edge Factor. Bout is a former machinist who now produces films and documentaries about manufacturing geared at changing the perceptions of this vast industry. During his sessions with the students he told them, “Everything we see around us has an engineer, a machinist, a person behind it. When I realized this, it opened my eyes to this invisible world around me that no one talked about.”

Through his films he’s able to share eye-opening stories of individuals and companies creating successful careers in manufacturing. Whether it’s a groundbreaking biomedical product or the story of how an American machining company helped to rescue miners with the drill it produces, for Bout it is about sharing stories that students, parents and teachers can connect with.

In addition to producing films, Bout also travels the country speaking with schools and communities to change the perception of this field.

After hearing from Bout, the students took part in an interactive Job Jeopardy game where they answered questions about the manufacturing industry in the five-county region. The students also visited manufacturing-related labs throughout MCCTC to meet with industry professionals from machining, hydraulics, engineering and welding to work on a group project. The groups were tasked with building a balloon pump and taking what they learned from each professional to build it the fastest and blow up a balloon.

“Events like these are vitally important to our local industry and economy,” Jackie Kuffel, Career Development Supervisor and event organizer said. “The manufacturing industry generates $2.6 billion in revenue for our five-county area and is home to nearly 1,200 manufacturing companies. With figures like this, it is important that we expose students at a young age to successful career pathways in the manufacturing field,” she said.

MCCTC also hosted a special community night for parents, students and individuals interested in careers in manufacturing to hear from Bout and meet with a host of local manufacturers.

The event was presented by the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center and Oh-Penn Pathways to Competitiveness Project, a project funded by a US DOL Workforce Innovation Fund grant administered by West Central Job Partnership.

For more information, please contact Jacqueline Kuffel, Career Development Supervisor, at 330-729-4120.