Manufacturers sponsor field trips to children's museum

Manufacturing companies and associations statewide are coming together to

sponsor school field trips to the Minnesota Children’s Museum exhibit “How

People Make Things.”

The exhibit has been designed to change the way kids

and parents think about Minnesota Manufacturing careers, in an effort to steadily

fill the current 10,000 workforce shortage gap. So far, the manufacturing industry

has spent over $65,000 on sponsoring and promoting the exhibit and an

estimated 174,000 people will visit the exhibit while it is here. The collaborative

effort is bringing over 2100 students and chaperones from St. Michael-Albertville,

St. Cloud, Kimball, Otsego, Miltona, Carlos, Woodland, Osakis, Ashby Hancock,

West Central, Lake Crystal, Mankato and Waseca.

“We are excited about this incredible opportunity to expose youth to

manufacturing processes,” said Jaime Nolan, executive director of the MPMA.

“We want students to be exposed to hands-on experiences, which allow them to

discover their potential aptitude and interest in manufacturing. This traveling

exhibit will allow children to learn about various types of work in our industry, with

the potential of sparking their interest at a young age.”

For some time now, manufacturers in west central Minnesota have been

concerned about finding the workers they’ll need to replace an aging/retiring

workforce in the region, Nolan said. Tri-State Manufacturers’ Association has engaged in a

number of efforts in recent years designed to change perceptions and help the

public understand the high tech, high skill jobs available in manufacturing today.

"We are excited to continue this effort with our sponsorship of 'How People Make

Things.' Knowing the reputation of the Minnesota Children’s Museum, this exhibit

has great potential to engage young people – and equally important – to allow

parents and other influencers increase their understanding of modern

manufacturing,” Nolan said.

Collaborators include the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association

(MPMA), Alexandria Packaging Machine Manufacturing Consortium, Alexandria

Technical and Community College, American Mold Builders Association – Twin

Cities Chapter, Arrowhead Manufacturing & Fabricators Association, Central

Minnesota Manufacturers Association, Minnesota Manufacturers Coalition,

Minnesota Center of Excellence for Manufacturing and Engineering (MNCEME),

Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Tri-State Manufacturers Association and 360

Manufacturing and Applied Engineering Center of Excellence.

For more information about the workforce development efforts of the

manufacturing industry, contact Luann Bartley with MPMA at (952) 564-3041 or

email Luann@mpma.com. Visit MCM.org and MPMA.com.

Tags: news, updates, manufacturing