Mainly clear skies. Low 49F. Winds light and variable..

Mainly clear skies. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.

Local high school students came to the event in search of future job opportunities and to learn more about local manufacturers and employers.

Mark Newman from Koester Metals talks to the students during Manufacturing Day activities on Friday.

Local high school students came to the event in search of future job opportunities and to learn more about local manufacturers and employers.

Mark Newman from Koester Metals talks to the students during Manufacturing Day activities on Friday.

ANGOLA — Made in Steuben invited the students of four local high schools and eight local manufacturers to meet and celebrate National Manufacturing Day that is held annually on the first Friday of October, said Jessica Christen with Steuben County Economic Development Corp., who helped organize the event.

Christen said that the event was held to show care to the local manufacturers and appreciate what they did in Steuben County and the impact they made to the world. The event is also an opportunity for the local high school students to explore careers within those organizations.

“All of the area high school students are invited — Angola, Fremont, Hamilton, and Prairie Heights,” said Christen. “Unfortunately, not all of them are able to attend, but they all are invited.”

Christen said that along with eight local manufacturers the EDC also invited the representative of Work One Northeast as a resource for job finding and career guidance.

All the companies present at the event said they have career opportunities for the current Steuben high school students and provide job training “for the right” individuals, as Mark Newman, who was representing Koester Metals at the event, put it.

“Individuals that can demonstrate good attendance, good attitude, and some hunger, the desire to help and contribute to the rest of the team,” he said, explaining what a right individual was.

The positions that are available with Koester Metals are welders, powder coaters, assemblers, and machine operators. He said that they were also trying to demonstrate some of the products they produce at their facility in Fremont and spread the word out.

“Just trying to get the word out to entice more people to come to our plant and join the workforce,” said Koester.

Triton Metal Products is another local metal producer that invites local talents to join them. Triton HR Generalist Beth Blotter said that some of their employees from the local students pool who came to work with Triton earlier are now qualified professionals.

“Just want to let them know of all the great opportunities we have at Triton,” said Blotter.

Berry Global, Inc. branch located in Fremont HR coordinator Whitney Arihood that was also present at the venue said that at their Fremont location they mainly produce five-gallon buckets, and those buckets were distributed to the local high school students at the event.

Ron Wilkinson, human resource specialist at Univertical that manufactures specialty copper products said that the plant offers partial college tuition reimbursement for their employees. Christy Pearson, human resources specialist from Vestil Manufacturing, said they have job openings in “just about every department.”

“We are always looking for new talents to come to our building, and this is a perfect opportunity to not only talk about what we do, but to meet people in the community,” said Phil Miller, HR manager at Flex-N-Gate car parts producer.

Recycling and scrap managing firm from Michigan Padnos HR Generalist Kelsey Morath said that their Fremont branch primarily handles plastic recycling and has available lab internships and full-time openings.

At 9 a.m. Friday morning they were mainly Prairie Heights High School students attending the event as part of their field trip. Katrina Collins, 15, said that she learned a lot about welding and building cars. Kat Walker, 18, said she came to see “what jobs are outside.”

“We came with our school for job opportunities, places to come work after high school or during high school,” said Riley Cearbugh, 16.

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