EXPO Reveals the Truth About Manufacturing Jobs

They came with robots, 3D printers, and advanced machinery of all types: manufacturers from across Coastal Virginia arrived at ECPI University ready to change some minds. It was all part of a nationwide event called Manufacturing Day Expo, held on October 3. Sponsored by a coalition of professional associations and leading manufacturers, it was one of many such events held simultaneously at cities around the nation, all with one purpose in mind: to dispel the outdated myths associated with manufacturing jobs.

“It’s nothing like it used to be,” says ECPI University Virginia Beach Campus President Kevin Paveglio. “People who work in manufacturing operate in a more automated and rewarding environment. They use technical skills to troubleshoot, set-up and program components like robots, automated systems and computers.”

Yet, this message has failed to reach a large sector of American job seekers. “Young people continue to believe in the old paradigm,” says Paveglio who spent 27 years in the advanced manufacturing sector. “They still think it’s a dead end, that is labor intensive, dirty, dark and dingy. If they see and understand what modern manufacturing really looks like today, it will no doubt cause them to take a second look.”

More than 200 area high school students spent several hours going from booth to booth, interacting with machinery, attending workshops, and learning about such things as computer numerical controls, solid 3D modeling, pneumatic controls, and data communications.