FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2021
Contact: Kim Plyler
kim@sahlcomm.com
484-554-5582
“What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?”
Sponsors are a Veritable
Who’s Who in Lehigh Valley Manufacturing
MRC Adapts Manufacturing Career Awareness Student Video Contest in Year Eight
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. – March 17, 2021 – The Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) is proud to announce sponsors for the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) student video contest for year eight in the region. Dedicated sponsorship by community partners has helped the program continue during the pandemic. With the impacts of a pandemic affecting many educational programing, WSCM has pushed through the changes and adapted the program to meet the needs of students, teachers, manufacturers, and school districts. This year’s awards program will be a hybrid program and will taped in advance and aired on WFMZ, our Gold Media Partner, TV station.
WSCM continues to expand in popularity, with regional Pennsylvania manufacturers partnering with student teams this year. The contest format, created by MRC here in the Lehigh Valley in 2013, has been adopted by groups in 14 other states.
“The level of support and participation we are seeing, from manufacturers, from our sponsors and from area schools, signifies this program is really heightening community awareness about manufacturing career opportunities,” said Rich Hobbs, President and CEO at MRC. “The fact that our program can have this level of impact, not just in the Lehigh Valley, but everywhere it is being utilized, is a net positive for the future needs of manufacturing in Pennsylvania.”
The WSCM contest, presented by MRC, partners students from 20 middle schools in Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties with 20 local manufacturers. Each student team will script, shoot, edit and promote a short video that documents their experience, highlighting what is “cool” about manufacturing. The videos will compete, regionally, for 7 awards.
Partnering with MRC for the project are eMediaWorks, Sahl Communications, Inc., and EmpowerStar Marketing. Educational media resources, digital assets, professional media technology training from eMediaWorks, materials, and project costs were funded and made possible by the following: Platinum Technology Sponsor; Workforce Board Lehigh Valley Platinum Event Sponsor; Air Products Platinum Sponsor; ATAS International, Capital BlueCross, Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. Gold Sponsors; Aerotek, Ametek, Inc., B. Braun Medical Inc., Bracalente Manufacturing Group, Crayola LLC, eMediaWorks, EmpowerStar Marketing, Fulton Bank, Insulation Company of America, LLC, Lehigh University, Lehigh Valley Health Network, M &T Bank, Mack Trucks, Northampton Community College, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc, PNC Bank, PPL Electric Utilities, RETTEW, Riverview Bank, Sahl Communications, Inc., and WFMZ-TV Gold Networking Sponsor; Venture X Bethlehem Silver Sponsors; BRD Noise and Vibration Control, Inc., C. F. Martin & Co., Inc., Eastern Surfaces, ESPI, FMI, Fromm Electric, HMK Insurance, Just Born Quality Confections, Lehigh County, Lehigh Carbon Community College, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, Penn State Lehigh Valley, ProtoCAM LLC, Bronze Sponsors; Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School, Bio Med Sciences, Carbon Career & Technical Institute, Carbon Chamber & Economic Development Corporation, Career Institute of Technology, County of Northampton, Express Employment Professionals, Gross McGinley, LLP, Lehigh Career & Technical Institute Media Sponsors include; 99.9 The Hawk, Lehigh Valley Business Journal and WFMZ-News
Original funding for “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” was furnished by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) in 2013.
Public Voting for the Lehigh Valley “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Student Videos will be available April 7th-9th, on the What’s So Cool website, WhatsSoCool.org.
This year’s awards event will be broadcast on WFMZ-TV, the program’s Gold Sponsor and will air on April 26th.
Visit WhatsSoCool.org for more information and resources and follow on Facebook.com/wscmlv and Twitter @wscmlv.
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Developed by Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), WSCM program is a video based educational tool that increases awareness of career paths and technology in manufacturing. MRC developed this innovative career awareness program that at its core is “peer marketing” (kids telling kids what’s so cool about manufacturing jobs). The contest is showcased on the What’s So Cool Website, and shared nationally through the Manufacturing Institute and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership platforms. The Lehigh Valley contest has expanded across the Commonwealth and the country. The WSCM Video Library was created as a digital resource showcasing more than 500 Pennsylvania manufacturers, https://www.whatssocool.org/video- library/.