Happy Campers Learn About Good Jobs in Manufacturing

SUGARCREEK, Ohio, August 11, 2016 – ProVia recently sponsored the first annual Dale Foland Manufacturing Camp held in the company’s hometown of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. As a main sponsor of the four-day event ProVia taught a class then hosted the group of seventh and eighth grade students for a company tour and presentation. The goal for the Manufacturing Camp was to help area students understand that manufacturing can be a rewarding career path and good jobs are offered by prominent local companies.

The camp covers many of the core competencies used in everyday manufacturing, and ProVia was selected to do a presentation on the topic of “Quality.” Students were taught about the importance of quality in the manufacturing process and were able to experience this firsthand in a Lab Project. According to Mike Yoder, ProVia’s Director of Performance Excellence, “When you deal with young students, the goal is to capture their attention and spark their imagination. They really enjoy the hands-on activities, so we created a Lab Project to help them experience the quality process for themselves.” As a practice project, the students formed small groups and glazed glass into small frames. Some of the students did the “manufacturing” work while others served as Quality Assurance inspectors.

Based on feedback from the students, the event successfully reached its goals. In a survey before the camp, only 34% said they would have considered a career in manufacturing. However, after the camp 81% said they would consider a career in manufacturing. Plans are underway for next year’s event.