Bloom Hosts 6th Annual Manufacturing Day

Dressed in blue suits, Bloom and Bloom Trail Ambassadors welcomed young guests to Bloom High School. Junior High students from different schools, came to learn about future jobs. It was Manufacturing Day at Bloom Township 206.

After greeting the students, Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez spoke about the future of manufacturing jobs in the city.

From the Illinois Department of Commerce, Robert Anderson the Northeast Regional Manager from the office of Regional economic Development, presented a proclamation from Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and presented to Bloom Township 206 District Superintendent, Dr. Lenell Navarre.

“ We are honored to have a manufacturing program to expose the 8th grade and high school students to the opportunities in manufacturing,” said Dr. Navarre.” I want to thank all the companies that allowed the students to tour their facilities.”

After a short assembly at Bloom High School, Junior High students boarded buses and headed out to various companies.

One stop, Bloom students toured TriALco located in Chicago Heights. “We believe it is very important for us to help teach the students about manufacturing,” said Jim Dee the Chief Financial Officer of TriALco. “ There are great companies within minutes of their homes and most of us have jobs available. By bringing them in for a visit we hope to dispel some of the stereotypes associated with manufacturing so they see there are meaningful career opportunities in our industry.”

Zach Armstrong, sales for TriALco showed the students how they use a hand held laser spectrometer. For TriALco, they accept potential employees that have a high school diploma.

“ We also need maintenance and other trades that would require some additional training at Prairie State College,” Dee said. . ‘The economy is strong and unemployment is low, so good jobs are available. We believe the United States Manufacturing sector will continue to grow for many years and job opportunities will be available as aging workers reach retirement age, adds Dee.

For Grant school students, a visit to local business gave them answers to what kind of work goes on in their own backyard. Do-Rite Die and Engineering in South Chicago Heights is a family business started it in 1953 by John Szymanski. Today his sons Alan and Edward run and own the business.

“It is important to show the students that there are exciting careers in manufacturing that do not require a four year degree at a university and huge college debt,” explains Alan. The business has updated their machinery to keep with the continued technology. “We have gone through the process of using all manually operated machine tool to the use of CNC machines programmed off line using CAM. The designs have gone from the drafting table to CAD systems using mold design packages. The prints no longer have to be 100% detailed but the details are now on three dimensional computer models. No longer does a mold maker make the complete job by himself. Now we are a team of employees each specialized in operating a certain piece of equipment required in the process of building a mold.”

After touring the companies, students were brought to Prairie State College to enjoy lunch then take a tour of classes at the college for manufacturing. Marilyn Bittner from Bloom District 206 was pleased with the success of Bloom’s Manufacturing Day.

“ Informing students regarding the future of manufacturing jobs is important because the field is diverse and incorporates all areas of expertise from robotics and engineering to finance,” said Bittner.” Jobs are plentiful and as the manufacturing industry expands, more jobs will be available to our emerging workforce.”

“ To prepare District 206 students as an emerging workforce in manufacturing, we provide safety training and certifications in multiple areas. We provide exposure to the manufacturing pathway through observations, industry tours, and job fairs,” Bittner added.

Companies that took part in Bloom Township 206 Manufacturing Day include; Behr Paint Distribution Center, JMI Machining, SET Enterprises, Winpak, Do-Rite Die & Engineering, Esmark Steel, Fed Ex Freight, FH Ayer Manufacturing, Morgan Li, Star Tool & Die Works, Triton Manufacturing, Arcelor Mittal, Proven IT, Lansing Sport Shop, Budding Polishing and Metal Finishing, Ed Miniat, Gallagher Asphalt, Integrated Power Services, Morrison Container Handling Solutions, TriALco and Ford Motor.