“This is not your father’s manufacturing.” That’s according to St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce President Pat Lilly. 

National Manufacturing Day on Friday is a day to recognize the contributions and advancements that are made possible through manufacturing companies throughout the United States. 

Lilly said about two years ago, the chamber worked with companies in the community to identify issues and concerns. 

“The one concern that I would say is somewhat universal in St. Joseph and, frankly, probably around the country is the inability to attract a good workforce,” Lilly said. “More specifically, the inability of many companies to find people that have some basic skill levels or experience that allows them to be hired.” 

Lilly said one initiative they’re pursuing is to better inform people in the community about the manufacturing industry today. 

“This is not your father’s manufacturing or your grandfather’s manufacturing,” Lilly said. “If you step into a manufacturing plant today, I think most people would be very surprised about the technology that’s there, the cleanliness, just the nature of those jobs, good jobs in this community.” 

Lilly says numerous St. Joseph companies will be participating in Manufacturing with facility tours for students. 

“We have five or six companies here in town, companies like Altec, Herzog, Gray Manufacturing are participating in the day,” Lilly said. “We will be bringing in students from the local school district to tour those facilities to talk to some of the employees to really better understand and see what manufacturing is all about today. So this is our first opportunity to do this in the community and it’s something we look forward to doing in the future but it’s really all about getting young people in particular to better understand what manufacturing is today and what opportunities for careers in manufacturing are available.” 

Lilly says with economic changes in the U.S. over the past 20 years, the manufacturing sector today represents a great opportunity for young people to pursue long term careers with good salaries. 

“For so long we have simply discounted those kind of jobs in this country,” Lilly said. “In part, because many of those jobs left, in part, many of those jobs simply didn’t have the knowledge base and the technology to do the jobs of the future. But today, manufacturing is growing and in some cases coming back to the United States. As a consequence of that, kids today in school have an opportunity to pursue several different career paths.”

Manufacturing Day takes place Friday, October 7th, For more information go the Manufacturing Day’s website or click here.