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Fuller sees need for MFG Day amid modernization
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Courtesy photo “Martin” keeps busy loading cases of finished Fuller Industries products onto a pallet recently. Fuller supports MFG Day 2024 as a way to attract young people to the many jobs available in manufacturing.

On Friday, Oct. 4, Fuller Industries Inc. joined the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce and others in the Barton County manufacturing community to mark MFG Day 2024, organized nationally by the Manufacturing Institute to focus youthful attention on the myriad careers available.

“This event is a chance to inspire the next generation, positively shift perceptions about our industry, and build the foundation for the manufacturing workforce of the future,” said Joe Mann, Fuller general manager and vice president. “It empowers manufacturers to come together to address their collective challenges so they can help their communities and future generations thrive. Amid record job openings in manufacturing, our collective efforts are as important now as ever.”

Fuller, a local manufacturer of industrial products primarily focused on commercial janitorial products with a global reach, wholeheartedly supports MFG Day, Mann said. As the legacy company continues to expand, modernize and grow its lines of environmentally sustainable products, it needs the very same young people the annual observation hopes to reach. 

By November, the facility will have finished integrating the operations of a sister plant in Canada into the Great Bend location. In addition, they are adding new product lines, as well as more automation and robotics.

“We are like so many other businesses,” Mann said. “Finding employees has been challenging, especially as we move towards more high-tech manufacturing technologies that need smart folks with specialized skill sets.”

This is where MFG Day comes into the frame, he said. “It introduces young people to manufacturing and the opportunities it holds for quality jobs. This helps all of us in industry to find the staffing matches we need.”

Fuller is not alone. According to the Manufacturing Institute, over the next decade, 3.8 million new manufacturing workers will need to be hired in the US. “There are millions of new modern manufacturing jobs coming online in the next decade—opportunities to create, contribute and connect,” Mann said.

Since 2012, MFG Day has helped students discover financially rewarding job opportunities. MFG Day is more than a single event. It is a series of grassroots events hosted around the country.

Visit fullerindustriesinc.com or see #MFGDay24!, MFGDay.com, #CreatorsWanted or MFGDay.com.