How to Get Involved on Manufacturing Day

To some, every day may feel manufacturing day, but it's also a yearly celebration of modern manufacturing meant to attract and inspire the next generation of manufacturers. Only a week away, the 4th Annual Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) will take place on October 2, 2015.

What is Manufacturing Day?

Manufacturing Day is an annual event that takes place on the first Friday of October. All across the country, organizations open their doors to showcase the potential of modern manufacturing and foster interest in manufacturing careers. In just 3 years, National Manufacturing Day has achieved more than 1,600 manufacturing plant tours and events with an estimated 100,000+ attending, according to NIST.

So how can you or your company get involved? Here are a few ideas:

1. Host an Event

If you're interested in hosting an event this year or in future years, check out MFG Day's website for a number of resources to help with your planning, including guides, toolkits, logos, marketing flyers and more. By hosting an event, you not only can showcase the amazing work your company is doing, but also educate students, community and policymakers on how integral manufacturing is to our economy. You could also consider teaming up with other manufacturers in your area to host a larger-scale event such as a job fair or educational fair.

Examples of MFG Day Events:

Plant tours
Manufacturing community events and expos
Job fairs
Educational fairs
Celebrations of the manufacturing community

2. Attend an Event

If hosting an event isn't an option, consider attending one. Right now, there are 1,764 MFG Day events planned in 2015. Search for a MFG Day event here. If you already have plans for October 2nd, don't worry...there are a number of events that take place later on in the year.

3. Become a Sponsor

If you're a manufacturing business owner (or the owner of a business closely tied to manufacturing) and you're looking for ways to promote your company while helping support U.S. manufacturing industry, consider a Manufacturing Day sponsorship. It's probably too late to be a 2015 sponsor, but it's not too early to start planning for 2016.

4. Simply Share Your Manufacturing Story

You don't need to host a big event or pay for a sponsorship to get involved. If you have a company blog or you're active on social media, consider just sharing YOUR story. How has manufacturing impacted your life, your career, your company? How did you get where you are? You never know who you will inspire.

If you need a few tips on how to get started with your story, check out this "Share Your Story" resource from the MFG Day website.

If you missed the boat this year and couldn't plan an event for your company in time, there's always next year. It's not too early to start thinking about MFG Day 2016.

Be sure to let us know if your company is planning anything to celebrate...and we'll help spread the word!

Visit the official MFG Day website.