Students Entering Manufacturing Thank Their Corporate Partners
On Manufacturing Day, SkillsUSA recognized industry partners that help students succeed as entry-level manufacturing employees.
Posted: October 7, 2014
In honor of Manufacturing Day on October 3, SkillsUSA recognized the role its manufacturing partners play in helping to meet its mission to empower its student members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.
Among its nearly 300,000 career and technical high school and college student members nationwide, thousands are studying careers in the trades and specifically for manufacturing careers. Many more are studying curricula related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which often lead to careers in the manufacturing sector.
These business and industry partners help to define the skills and competencies needed to succeed as an entry-level employee. Technical skills, honed through industry-designed and judged competitions and authentic assessments, complemented by employability and leadership skills training, make SkillsUSA students career-ready, productive and promotable on the job. In this way, this organization is one of the answers to the nation’s growing “skills gap” that compromises our economic vitality and security.
Partnerships with business, industry and organized labor are SkillsUSA’s lifeblood. More than 600 partners support the organization at the national level with financial donations and/or in-kind contributions of contest equipment, supplies and prizes, volunteer time and talent. Thousands more partnerships operate at the local and state levels.
Manufacturers whose 2014 investments in mission-related national programs and events qualify for SkillsUSA Official Sponsor status include:
- 3M Company
- Aggreko, LLC
- Air Products
- Alcoa Foundation
- AMT — The Association for Manufacturing Technology
- Axalta Coating Systems
- Robert Bosch Tool Corp.
- Calculated Industries
- Carhartt Industries
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Chrysler Group LLC
- Deere & Company
- GE Appliances
- Harley-Davidson Motor Co.
- Hewlett-Packard Company
- Hypertherm, Inc.
- Intelitek, Inc.
- Interstate Batteries, Inc.
- IRWIN Industrial Tools
- Lincoln Electric Co.
- Miller Electric Mfg. Co., Inc./Hobart
- Panduit Corporation
- Praxair Inc.
- Sandvik Coromant
- SawStop, LLC
- Snap-on Incorporated
- Toyota Motor Sales, USA
“Throughout our 50-year history, U.S. manufacturers have provided the financial investments and volunteer leadership that have had a dynamic, positive effect on our students’ lives and careers,” said Kelly Persons, the SkillsUSA’s director of business partnerships and development. “The U.S. manufacturing sector is the world’s eighth-largest economy and provides more than 12 million jobs, almost all of which require increasing levels of technical expertise and ability to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We salute our manufacturing partners — who are exemplary corporate citizens — for their continued commitment to us as we prepare the skilled workforce that will sustain our nation’s global economic leadership.”
SkillsUSA helps students discover and grow their career passions. As a nationwide partnership of students, instructors and industry working together, the organization works to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It helps every student excel.
Over 11 million people have been annual members of this organization since its founding as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America in on May 8, 1965. These programs teach leadership, citizenship and character development to complement technical skill training. The organization emphasizes respect for the dignity of work, ethics, workmanship, scholarship and safety.
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