BUSINESS

Influencing future makers and shakers

Blackstone Valley students get look inside local manufacturing sites

Susan Gonsalves, Correspondent
Interstate Specialty Products business specialist Jaclyn Skagerlind, left, shows a sample of a product to Thomas Yuris, 15. Uxbridge students toured Interstate Specialty Products in Sutton Thursday, part of a series of events to celebrate National Manufacturing Day in Massachusetts. T&G Staff/Christine Peterson

SUTTON — Uxbridge High School senior Jeremy Lorenzo is interested in engineering. A morning comprised of tours of local manufacturing companies only cemented that affinity.

“This place (Interstate Specialty Products in Sutton) is my favorite,” he said of the last stop. “We gained insight on how the business is run from the inside and got a sense of how small things work to make the final product.”

Of the experience overall, the student said, “I loved it. It helped a lot. Engineering … making things … it is what I want to do.”

Jeremy’s reaction is likely music to the ears of Blackstone Valley’s Chamber of Commerce and Education Foundation, which has partnered to identify students in public schools who are leaning toward technical careers but who are among the hundreds of kids unable to attend Blackstone Valley Technical High School because of a long waiting list.

The program brings awareness to students about the opportunities available in manufacturing across Central Massachusetts, according to Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer and President Jeannie Hebert.

In addition to possible internships and job placement for interested students in the future, the organizations are involved in professional development training for guidance counselors and teachers to assist students in acquiring necessary 21st century workforce skills.

The effort, involving 11 local high schools, is designed to help fill the skilled workforce gap.

Paul Lynskey, executive director of the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation, added that a program is running concurrently at the middle school level with the same goals in mind.

John Savickas, president of Interstate Specialty Products, was pleased to welcome the half dozen Uxbridge High students to his die-cut components and custom-cutting services company.

Started by his father 50 years ago, Interstate Specialty Products has 2,500 customers world-wide and a large portion of its business caters to life science and medical-related products.

“We’re trying to show students and young people that manufacturing is cool and that the types of products our customers have really affect people’s lives,” Mr. Savickas said.

A large part of Interstate Specialty Products is its commitment to lean manufacturing initiatives and teamwork. Employees emphasized both factors to students during the tour.

Interstate Business Manager April White said that she’d worked for the company for 31 years, and it is a great environment to learn something new and partake in “forward thinking.”

By participating in this program with students, Interstate Specialty Products employees want to wipe out stereotypes of manufacturing companies as dark, cold, rigid factories where an employee is locked into doing one task hour after hour.

Steve Giza, who has been the company's operations manager for 16 years, pointed out that employees are not “stuck in one niche,” and can instead operate different machinery, depending on their cross-training.

“There are a lot of great manufacturers in the U.S., and despite the excitement of automation, there still is a great need for people to get into this industry,” Giza said.

Business specialist Jaclyn Skagerlind described a number of Interstate’s business practices, including daily morning meetings where the team discusses topics, suggestions and solutions to problems so that everyone is clear about what has to be done and that the most productivity is achieved.

In addition, an effort is underway to streamline and store materials in an orderly manner for better productivity and easy access.

In response to a question with students, Interstate Specialty Products employees identified good communication skills, reliability, respect for co-workers and math/measurement ability as the most important qualifications they looked for in an employee.

Sophomore Thomas Yuras said he learned about how manufacturing is moving more toward using automated systems, which he said could be “a good or bad thing."

“I liked that they showed us in a hands-on way,” and explained in detail how a manufacturing company operates, he said. “I’m most interested in the engineering part of things.”

Earlier the tour included stops at Lampin Corp. in Uxbridge, a critical component manufacturer and assembler of right-angle gear drives, spur gear and mechanical assemblies; as well as Package Steel Systems in Sutton, a 50-year-old operation that manufactures custom-engineered steel buildings.

The event was part of a series of planned events to promote National Manufacturing Day and manufacturing in Central Massachusetts, both as a career for young adults and as a viable part of the region's economy. Other events planned for the month include the Blackstone Valley STEM conference, at Tufts University in Grafton on Oct. 22; Quinsigamond Community College celebrates manufacturing, at the Charles Larned Memorial Library in Oxford on Oct. 22; and tours of OFS in Sturbridge on Oct. 24, Schott Lighting & IMaging in Southbridge on Oct. 25, Karl Storz Endovision on Oct. 25, and the machine shop at Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School on Oct. 27.

For more information, visit worcesterchamber.org/national-manufacturing-day/