Celebrating One of Florida’s and the Nation’s Key Industries on Manufacturing Day

October 3, 2014
Chandra Brown is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing.

There are more than 1,500 Manufacturing Day events taking place across the country today, highlighting the importance of the manufacturing industry to the U.S. economy, American jobs, and to global innovation.

I am in Tampa, Florida, to tour three manufacturing facilities and meet the local manufacturing community.

I will visit these businesses today with Sandra Campbell of Tampa’s Export Assistance Center, and we’ll join students, teachers, parents, job seekers and other local community members at open houses designed to showcase the innovation taking place in modern manufacturing and the professional opportunities that are available in the industry.

Touring manufacturing facilities, discovering their amazing abilities, and meeting the next generation of manufacturers are always the best parts of my job!

Today we’ll be visiting:

Microlumen is a major producer of surgical quality heart tubing and a major exporter: microlumen.com.
Southern Manufacturing Technologies is a leader in precision machined components and assemblies primarily for the aviation and aerospace industry: smt-tampa.com.
Lockheed Martin (Tampa Bay plant) specializes in metal forming, fabrication and assembly of components for many of the company’s major programs: lockheedmartin.com.

I’m especially looking forward to meeting with the local high school students to discuss the rewarding and challenging careers that manufacturing has to offer.

A few facts to remember on this important day:

Manufacturing supports 17.4 million U.S. jobs.
Manufacturing career opportunities include engineers, designers, machinists, and computer programmers.
The annual average salary of manufacturing workers is more than $77,000, which is approximately 17 percent more than similar workers employed in other sectors.
For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, the sector creates $1.32 for the U.S. economy.

If you’re not in Tampa Bay, there are plenty of other opportunities for you to connect to your local manufacturing community, and I hope you’ll do so today.