The Mack team is at it again celebrating the holidays with its annual tree lighting and of course a new carol for 2016 – “Have a Holly Jolly Mackmas!”
Mack’s Made in Vermont Days Introduces Students to Manufacturing Careers
From Oct. 24-28, 2016, Mack hosted its biennial Made in Vermont Days at its Arlington, Vt., Headquarters – bringing local high school juniors and seniors into the Company’s manufacturing space to learn about manufacturing and engineering careers through tours, workshops and presentations.
The program is designed to reach students looking to go to a four year school, as well as certification and technical programs, and those who may wish to enter the workforce directly. This year Mack welcomed four schools – Arlington Memorial High School, Southwest Vermont Career Development Center, Long Trail and Burr & Burton Academy, as well as local home school students. In all, nearly 50 students, educators and parents participated.
Students toured the Company’s HQ through the lens of one particular product manufactured there that incorporates virtually Mack’s entire vertical integration of services. Following the tour students participated in a competitive workshop introducing the theory behind manufacturing flow before learning about careers available to them with the Company’s Director of Human Resources, hearing business insights from the HQ Plant Manager and an open Q&A with these key staff members. Students also were given the opportunity to sign-up for more in-depth workshops to be held at a later date in the following disciplines: Injection Molding, Machining, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Manufacturing and Engineering.
By hosting the event in October, Mack is able to leverage the power and name recognition of Manufacturing Day and Manufacturing Month, creating additional pull through while increasing access to supportive resources. Additionally, Mack benefited from its relationship with the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC), whose team trained some of the Company’s up and coming employees to conduct the manufacturing flow workshop featured during the event, which proved fun and informative for students, putting some context behind what they had seen on the manufacturing floor.
Mack’s Made in Vermont Days represent just one facet of the Company’s outreach efforts to cultivate the next generation of talent needed to drive manufacturing in the Northeastern United States. With a goal of building a sustainable workforce by encouraging the next generation of engineers, technicians and professionals, Mack regularly brings in middle and high school students, sends engineers into the classroom and has even had programs for children as young as kindergarten. In addition to Made in Vermont Days, Mack’s high point in this effort is an internship program that has hosted close to 100 interns from schools like UVM, WPI, RPI and RIT. The Company is now starting to recognize the fruits of its labor with a record number of interns – six – joining Mack as full-time employees in 2016.
Mack Brings Real Life Science Into the Classroom
On Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, Mack Business Unit Director Dwalin DeBoer went back to school, but this time she was the teacher – if only for an hour.
DeBoer was the Scientist of the Month at Fisher Elementary School in Arlington, Vt. Invited by Fourth Grade Teacher Charlie Cummings, DeBoer was asked to inspire students with her knowledge of chemical engineering, as well as her experience of being an engineer at Mack.
DeBoer – who worked with GE’s then plastics division before joining Mack as a manufacturing engineer in 2000 – covered everything from atoms and molecules to the periodic table and scientific method. She even conducted an experiment in which a hard-boiled egg was pulled into a beaker, providing demonstrative proof that air molecules are in motion.
Using science, first-hand experience and a little humor, her lessons reinforced the curriculum students are covering in the classroom while boosting their understanding of the types of jobs available to them right in their Vermont hometown if they stay interested in science and engineering.
Mack’s Cavendish Plant Honored for Energy Saving Efforts
Congratulations are in order for Mack’s Cavendish facility, which was recently honored by Efficiency Vermont with the organization’s Employee Engagement Project of the Year Award at the fifth annual Best Practices Exchange. Cavendish Facilities Manager Ed Garrow was on hand to accept the award from Efficiency Vermont Director Liz Gamache.
This award was presented to acknowledge the impressive energy savings from the Kaizens and a “shut it off” campaign at Cavendish, which have resulted in an electric usage reduction of 1.2 million kWh annually from 2012 to 2016. That includes an estimated reduction of 500,000 kWh annually since 2014.
“The Best Practices Exchange is a great opportunity for large businesses in Vermont to learn from each other about effective strategies for reducing energy use and, ultimately, improving their bottom lines,” Gamache said in a press release about the event. “The energy that our commercial and industrial customers save is significant and helps reduce Vermont’s overall demand for energy, while returning those saved energy dollars back into the local economy.”
More than 150 people representing some of Vermont’s largest commercial, industrial and institutional businesses gathered at Killington Grand Resort Hotel on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016, to participate in Efficiency Vermont’s Best Practices Exchange, where they networked, learned and shared the best approaches to energy efficiency investments and energy management.
Efficiency Vermont was created by the Vermont Legislature and the Vermont Public Service Board to help all Vermonters reduce energy costs, strengthen the economy, and protect Vermont’s environment. It partners with commercial customers throughout the state to help them move their businesses forward by working to identify savings opportunities, recommending efficient technologies, and providing incentives and financing tools to reduce energy costs. To learn more, visit www.efficiencyvermont.com/business-forward.
Mack is committed to the concept of sustainable manufacturing, in which environmental protection, as well as workplace wellness and safety, are integral to Mack’s success. The company’s Environmental Policy is based on compliance, risk reduction and prevention, resource management, and communication. We also subscribe to an Environmental Purchasing Policy that gives preference to suppliers whose products have environmentally friendly attributes.
To reinforce these policies, Mack has developed an environmental management system that systematically and comprehensively tracks and reduces environmental impacts in all business operations. Mack’s specific goals for FY16-17 in the areas of energy conservation, waste reduction, land preservation & management, and environmental education & awareness are available on the Company’s website. Vermont has rewarded these efforts by designating Mack an Environmental Leader.
Oracle Apprenticeship
Last fall Mack hosted two new Oracle employees as part of that company’s special Mechanical Apprenticeship Program – this is the story of how this unique experience helped foster personal and professional growth in two organizations!
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