Industrial Extension Service
www.ies.ncsu.edu
Centennial Campus
Campus Box 7902
Raleigh, NC 27695-7902
P: 919.515.2358
Not Your Grandfather’s Manufacturing Industry
NC State Brings Technology, Teachers, Students, Manufacturers and Politicians Together for
Manufacturing Day 2013
Last October, NC State’s Industrial Extension
Service (IES) participated in the second
annual National Manufacturing Day, a
federally-organized effort to recognize and
support manufacturing across all fifty states.
As the North Carolina Manufacturing
Extension Partnership, IES assumed the lead
role in promoting participation throughout the
state, which held over twenty different local
events. Partnering with NC community
colleges, state governmental officials,
manufacturers, and schools to spread the
word and host events, IES created one of the
most successful events in the nation and laid
the groundwork for continued statewide cooperation for future Manufacturing Days.
The flagship event was held at the high-tech James B. Hunt, Jr. library on the NC State University
Centennial Campus. Throughout the day, hundreds of attendees - manufacturers, students,
educators and policy makers - visited the library to hear VIP speakers, including Chancellor Randy
Woodson and Vice President of Governmental Affairs at the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce
Gary Salamido. State Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker who revealed a proclamation by
Governor Pat McCrory declaring October 3rd as North Carolina’s official Manufacturing Day.
Meanwhile, at the Cape Fear Community College in the eastern part of the state, the Governor
simultaneously announced four new manufacturing
plant expansion deals slated to bring a combined 370
new jobs and $100 million in investments to the state.
In the spirit of NC State’s mission to both ‘think’ and
‘do’, participants were also invited to join guided tours
of various manufacturing-related departments and
laboratories at NC State.
No wonder IES Director of Client and Market
Development, Cheryl Smith, described the event as a
chance for students across the state to see that that
manufacturing of today is “not from your grandfather’s
era.” She points out that “Today’s manufacturers are
high-tech operations that require strong math, science
and technology skills.”
The IES is already busily leading planning efforts for this year’s Manufacturing Day - and this time,
they are engaging an even wider range of partners, both new and established. They want to expand
the scope of the event to reflect the wide range of sectors - from textiles to agriculture to computer
hardware - touched by manufacturing.
This will strengthen ties between the manufacturing industry and universities and colleges. And it will
make clear the importance of continuing to build a STEM-educated workforce in North Carolina. NC
State is committed to being a technology-forward institution and to providing the highest quality
education.
Registrations for Manufacturing Day 2014 have already begun and a directed informational campaign
is underway to inform the state about the upcoming event.