Shaw Industries Celebrates Manufacturing Day With Cartersville Students

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- Shaw Industries Group joined companies across the U.S. in celebrating the growing field of manufacturing on Manufacturing Day on Friday, Oct. 7.

The leading flooring manufacturer partnered with Cartersville High School to host a variety of insightful workforce development educational presentations made available to the school’s roughly 1,200 students during the celebratory recognition day.

“Manufacturing Day provides a great opportunity to educate students about the rewarding careers available in manufacturing,” said Brian Cooksey, director of operations training and development at Shaw Industries. “Together, we are engaging students in programs that illustrate the diverse careers available in manufacturing from engineers and electricians to designers and data scientists. By showcasing the potential, we hope to provide students with a better understanding of how they can apply their skills and interests within a manufacturing company.”

Shaw also will participate in Cartersville High School’s annual Career Day Expo on Oct. 19 in conjunction with the school’s Work Based Learning Program.

These and other activities in which Shaw is engaged in support of Manufacturing Day have been created for students to learn more about careers in manufacturing, including the areas of automotive, business, engineering, design, automation and video broadcasting.

These Manufacturing Day events, though, are just one part of the company’s comprehensive and ongoing efforts to enhance workforce development.

Shaw is involved in a variety of meaningful educational projects. The company’s unique partnerships have been specially designed to provide students from early education through college with the skills needed to become dynamic leaders within the manufacturing field.

A few highlights of Shaw’s future workforce development partnerships include STEM-focused programs, such as:

• Camp D.E.M. (Design, Engineering & Manufacturing), an annual, week-long summer camp for middle school students that educates about career opportunities in manufacturing through hands-on learning.
• Great Promise Partnership, which helps high school students earn their diplomas through paid, on-the-job training while emphasizing real-world skills, mentoring and goal setting
• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology and provides students the opportunity to compete at a local, state and national/international level.

Supported by a group of industry sponsors and co-producers, Manufacturing Day is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges.

By working together during and after the day, manufacturers will begin to address the skilled labor shortage they face, connect with future generations, take charge of the public image of manufacturing, and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry.

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Photo: Schmarcos Broughton from Shaw Industries provides a chemistry demonstration to Cartersville High School students to show how the company converts raw materials into finished goods such as turf. Credit: Shaw Industries Group