Website to promote manufacturing industry
canfield
As part of an effort to recruit more people to manufacturing jobs, a website has been created to provide more information about the industry.
The site was discussed as part of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition meeting Friday at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. It is a combined effort of the MVMC, Oh-Penn Manufacturing Collaborative and the Industry Partners of Lawrence and Mercer Counties of Pennsylvania.
“This is the site we’re going to drive people to,” said Kyle Kiraly, a member of the MVMC’s outreach and marketing committee who works for Kiraly Tool and Die Inc. in Youngstown. “It’s got all the information that people need.”
The website is industryneedsyou.com. It has information for potential employees, students, parents, educators and employers about the manufacturing industry.
Visitors to the site can access information about skills needed for various jobs in manufacturing as well as salary ranges for area jobs and national averages.
The site has been active since January but has received only 1,200 unique visitors thus far, Kiraly said.
“The page is continually being updated and more information added,” he said.
The meeting also included information about the various internship programs that MVMC is promoting.
The high-school internship program is a great experience for both employers and the students, said Dale Foerster, vice president of Starr Manufacturing in Vienna.
Starr Manufacturing pays the interns $10 per hour and is reimbursed through the program for all but about $2.50 per hour, she said.
“I can’t encourage you enough to take advantage of this program,” Foerster said.
Starr Manfacturing plans to hire two of the three students who went through the program, she said.
MVMC also is involved in internship programs for college students and adult learners, said Matt Joing from Butech Bliss in Salem who serves on the coalition’s work-based-learning committee.
“We want to make sure students have a place to get a valuable internship,” she said.
The coalition also is working toward creating its own work-training program that will provide people with basic skills needed for a job in manufacturing, said Jessica Borza, sector partnership coordinator at Oh-Penn Manufacturing Collaborative.