Every year in October Arizona manufacturers open their doors to students, educators, and legislators to showcase today’s manufacturing and the career opportunities available. The month-long celebration kicked off on October 3 with the 2019 Arizona Manufacturing Summit and Awards Luncheon and immediately followed by Manufacturing Day®. Celebrated on the first Friday in October, Manufacturing Day is a nationally recognized initiative designed to engage with the next generation of manufacturers. Through factory open houses, student tours, and job fairs, manufacturers show how technology, advanced skills, and creativity offer interesting and exciting career opportunities.
Manufacturing Summit
As part of the celebration, the Arizona Manufacturers Council and the Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) hosted the 2019 Arizona Manufacturing Summit and Awards Luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore Resort on October 3. In the first session during the Summit, attendees learned about the benefits of foreign trade zones in lowering taxes and duties on imports used in the manufacturing process. Next, a workforce development panel discussed the current state of career and technical education programs, the Arizona Career Readiness certificate, and workforce re-entry programs for former inmates.
Jeff DeWit, NASA’s chief financial officer and former Arizona state treasurer, gave a lively keynote highlighting NASA’s bold missions to go back to the moon in 2024 and the Mars 2020 rover mission. DeWit noted that it could not be possible to meet these aggressive timelines without the private-public partnerships NASA has with manufacturers of all sizes and types.
United States House of Representatives Paul Gosar (D4), David Schweikert (D6), Debbie Lesko (D8), and Greg Stanton (D9) also addressed the status of trade agreements, immigration reform, and the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) bank.
Immediately after the summit, the awards luncheon recognized outstanding manufacturers, legislator and advocates of the year. You can read about award recipients here.
Manufacturing Events Highlight Career Opportunities & New Technology
From Kingman to Tucson, Arizona manufacturers invited students and educators to tour their facilities, highlighting the career paths available in manufacturing. Local events were held at Barnes Aerospace Phoenix, Phoenix; Calgon Carbon Corp, Gila Bend; Consolidated Container Company, Phoenix; Kingman and Mohave Manufacturing Association, Kingman; ME Elecmetal; Tempe; and PSE Archery, Tucson.
In Phoenix, Pilgrim Aerospace Fasteners and In-Position Technologies hosted an open house to demonstrate the newest additions to Pilgrim’s manufacturing facility. A flexible, lightweight robotic arm is used to automate repetitive processing tasks, enabling the human operator to focus on more complex tasks. The MiR autonomous mobile robot was also on display. The MiR is designed to automate the transportation of pallets and heavy loads on the manufacturing floor.