'American Made Movie' Tour Stops in North Whitehall

The “American Made Movie" tour stopped by the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute last week, one stop in a 32-city bus tour to highlight the documentary about the decline of America's manufacturing workforce and the impact on communities.

Filmmakers Vincent Vittorio and Nathaniel Thomas McGill met with LCTI administrators and course instructors, according to a release from the school,  to discuss a possible solution to a tough question: How to interest students in manufacturing jobs again?

 “The Lehigh Valley is still living in the shadow of Bethlehem Steel," said LCTI Executive Director Sandra Himes, in the release. "The old perception of manufacturing is that it is back-breaking, dirty labor. The people of the Lehigh Valley remember people lost their jobs and pensions.

"We first have to change that perception so they know that the jobs are here and that they are high-skilled, high-wage jobs,” she said.

In May, Gov. Tom Corbett Gov. came to LCTI to announce a $299,000 grant to train students for high-tech manufacturing jobs. Like Himes, Corbett said one of the biggest obstacles is in overcoming manufacturing's outdated image.

With Ocean Spray and other big-name companies expanding into the Lehigh Valley, LCTI has played an important role in training future workers.

"Companies are now reaching out to LCTI because they hear what we did for their neighbors and they want us to do the same for them,” said Jan Klevis, LCTI’s Director of Postsecondary and Workforce Education, in the release.

“This allows us to teach the exact technical skills to students to fill these jobs and to help the companies improve the skills of their incumbent workers.”

Vittorio and McGill briefly toured LCTI with their film crew, capturing footage for another documentary, the “American Made Movie Tour.”  The crew hopes to again visit LCTI for a documentary on education.

The filmmakers also stopped by the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown and EcoTech Marine in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, according to the "American Made Movie" Facebook page.

"American Made Movie" was screened at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema at Bethlehem’s Steel Stacks. The documentary will be released nationally Aug. 30.