On October 4th, Hands-on Tompkins held its first ever event at Tompkins Cortland Community College in conjunction with National Manufacturing Day (Manufacturing Day is a project of and produced by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturing Institute). The Hands-on Tompkins event was coordinated by TST BOCES, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and Tompkins Workforce New York. Hands-on Tompkins was designed to help identify new career pathways that lead residents of our area into stable, family-supporting careers in manufacturing and was targeted to high school students in the TST BOCES region and students at Tompkins Cortland Community College. The purpose of Manufacturing Day events is to showcase the reality of modern manufacturing careers by encouraging thousands of companies and educational institutions around the nation to open their doors to students, parents, teachers, and community leaders.
TCAD helped promote the event and TCAD staff volunteered at the event. The businesses and organizations that participated in the event included Cargill, BorgWarner, Incodema 3D, Intertek, Transonic, Precision Filters, Challenge Workforce Solutions, The Wagner Companies, and UA Local 267. The students were guided in small groups to each manufacturer and encouraged to ask questions about educational requirements for jobs, what kinds of jobs each business had available, and career and educational advancements available at the business. Students and businesses were very engaged and it is was fascinating to learn more about the many products that are created in our region and the great job opportunities available.
The event was sponsored in part by Tompkins County Area Development (TCAD) and the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.
