Manufacturing is a fundamental cornerstone of the American economy. 12 million Americans (8.8% of the overall workforce) are employed in the manufacturing sector. Although the manufacturing sector is not what it was twenty years ago, it still provides plenty of opportunity for new members of the work force.
Since manufacturing is so important a new holiday is being observed- National Manufacturing Day. It is observed every year on the first Friday of October and its purpose is to promote interest in manufacturing jobs. What better way is there to do this than to visit an actual manufacturing plant?

That’s exactly what Alden High School students did. Twenty-five students recently took a field trip to Greatbatch Medical Clarence Facility in Clarence, New York.

Greatbatch is a manufacturing plant which specializes in producing medical equipment.

Wilson Greatbatch, the company’s founder, is accredited with designing the first implantable pacemaker back in 1962. Today a wide array of workers are employed by his company. Students looking to become machine operators, engineers or customer service representatives got an excellent taste of what their future careers might look like.

This was a great opportunity for everyone in attendance. Students got to tour Greatbatch’s facilities, explore career opportunities, have an open Q&A session with Greatbatch representatives, and see different skills at work. The students who visited the plant were curious about a lot of things. They were asked to come up with questions beforehand. Based on their questions, a common area of concern was education. Students wanted to know what courses are the most optimal to take in high school, what positions demand a college degree, if big companies tend to help potential employees pay their college tuition. The answers they got were more than encouraging.

A student can take all kinds of courses before leaving High School. The representatives at Greatbatch advised them to load their schedules with math and science courses. Physics, Applied Physics, Chemistry, College Chemistry, and any upper level math courses would be the most helpful, especially for aspiring engineers. Any manufacturing job requires vast knowledge and skill. Finding a high-tech job without a degree is unlikely. However, there are other positions available that only require a high school diploma, and many big manufacturing plants are willing to pay the college tuitions of their full-time employees. As Mr. Turton, who supervised the trip, explained, “It sounds nontraditional and scary… to take a kid with a 93% average and have him sweeping floors, trying to balance work and school… but when you’re 23, 24, no debt, making sixty-grand a year, you’re golden.”