Karen Buck is Promoted to Director, Workforce Initiatives
and Manufacturing Leadership Institute (MLI) at MRC
For Immediate Release
Manufacturers Resource Center
7200A Windsor Drive | Allentown, PA 18106
October 4, 2022
Allentown, PA – The Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) is pleased to announce the promotion of Karen Buck of Emmaus, PA to the position of Director, Workforce Initiatives including the Center’s Manufacturing Leadership Institute (MLI), our signature leadership course for executives and emerging leaders. Karen is responsible for program development and delivery of MRC’s STEM initiatives that include the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Student Video Contest and the Pennsylvania Dream Team Ambassador Program for young manufacturing professionals. Karen spearheads the expansion of both programs in Pennsylvania. She is a frequent speaker to school districts, industry consortiums, and government relations, and speaks at conferences on the topics of STEM education, manufacturing, and workforce programs. To date, Karen has worked with more than 100 regional school districts, 100 local companies, and over 5,000 regional students.
Karen Buck, Director of Workforce Initiatives & Manufacturing Leadership Institute
“Karen is highly organized and has a magnetic personality. She has taken the vision of the Lehigh Valley “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” phenomenon and grew it to achieve statewide and national implementation. Karen is an outstanding talent and continues to invest her skills in the next generation creating and managing awareness programs about manufacturing careers in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding county school districts.” Says Rich Hobbs, President, and CEO of the Manufacturers Resource Center. “Karen is a born leader and her passion for students and careers in manufacturing is evident in everything she undertakes at MRC, including as Director of our MLI Leadership Program.”
Karen is a Mechanical Engineer with industry experience in a manufacturing environment at Bosch Rexroth coupled with twelve years of experience in non-profit fundraising, direct work with high school and college students, and leadership training. Karen received her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.
Manufacturers are invited to contact Karen at (610) 628-4626 or karen.buck@mrcpa.org if they wish to sponsor or team with a school district for the next “What’s So Cool” student video contest. For manufacturers wanting to become an exceptional leader, enrollment is open for the next MLI Class of 2023.
MRC is a non-profit and helps drive regional economic development through services that help manufacturers compete and grow through technology acceleration and innovation, operational excellence, revenue growth, strategic finance, succession planning and executive leadership. MRC is partially funded by NIST MEP and PA DCED. We are an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and one of seven Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Centers (IRCs) that serve manufacturers. MRC is also a member of the Lehigh Valley Partnership for Regional Economic Performance (PREP), a consortia of economic development service providers governed by the PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED). For more information about MRC and its services, please visit: www.mrcpa.org.
Contact Information :
Patricia Felise | Media Relations
Manufacturers Resource Center
pat.felise@mrcpa.org | (610) 628-4640 ###