“What’s So Cool?” Lehigh Valley Awards Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2021
Contact: Kim Plyler
kim@sahlcomm.com
484-554-5582
“What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Announces 2021 Lehigh Valley Awards
Online Votes Select the Viewers Choice Award and Manufacturers and Schools Finish Program Despite the Pandemic
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. – April 26, 2021 – The Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) is proud to announce the award recipients for the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) Lehigh Valley student video contest awards. The awards show was broadcast on WFMZ, thanks to the generous contributions from the project’s community sponsors and WFMZ-TV in partnership with Manufacturers Resource Center and teaming partners eMediaWorks, Sahl Communications Inc, and EmpowerStar Marketing. The WSCM program, created by Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in 2013, received 206,137 votes over the three-day voting period despite pandemic restrictions.
Platinum Sponsors include Workforce Board Lehigh Valley (Platinum Technology), Air Products (Platinum Event), ATAS International, Capital BlueCross and Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
The video with the most votes received the “Viewers Choice Award.” The videos were also reviewed by a panel of judges for awards in six other categories, including Outstanding Outreach Plan and Outstanding Creativity.
The WSCM contest, presented by MRC, partners students from 20 schools in Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties with 20 local manufacturers. Each student team scripts, shoots, edits and promotes a short video that documents their experience, highlighting what is “cool” about manufacturing. “This was a great contest and the hard work of the students, teachers and manufacturers is really evident,” said Rich Hobbs, President and CEO at MRC. “Being able to broadcast the awards means the results of that hard work have reached so much deeper into the community to raise awareness about manufacturing career opportunities.”
This year’s awards are as followed:
1. Outstanding Overall Program: Northeast Middle School – Kitchen Magic
2. Outstanding Creativity: Lower Macungie Middle School – Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
3. Outstanding Cool: Raub Middle School – C.F.Martin & Co., Inc.
4. Outstanding Team Spirit: TIE Bangor Area Middle School – B. Braun Medical Inc.
5. Outstanding Team Spirit: TIE Northern Lehigh Middle School – FMI
6. Viewers Choice: Wind Gap Middle School – Bio Med Sciences Inc.
7. Outstanding Outreach Plan: Wilson Area Intermediate School – Bosch Rexroth Corporation
8. Outstanding Career Pathway: Springhouse Middle School – Innovative
Visit WhatsSoCool.org for more information and resources and follow on Facebook.com/wscmlv and Twitter @wscmlv.
View WSCM 2021 Lehigh Valley videos and Awards Show: https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/lehigh-valley/
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About “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing”:
Developed by Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), the WSCM program is a video based educational tool that increases awareness of career paths in manufacturing. MRC developed this innovative career awareness program, which at its core is “peer marketing” (kids telling kids what’s so cool about manufacturing jobs). The contest is showcased on the What’s So Cool Website, https://www.whatssocool.org and shared nationally through the Manufacturing Institute and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership platforms. The contest is expanding across the Commonwealth and the country. The WSCM Video Library was created as a digital resource housing more than 800 student-created videos showcasing 500 Pennsylvania manufacturers, https://www.whatssocool.org/video-library/. This contest gives students the opportunity to connect with local manufacturers, document their experiences and present them in an educational and “cool” way. The contest was created to generate excitement that draws students towards manufacturing career paths and CTE and STEM education.
About Manufacturers Resource Center:
For over 30 years, Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) has helped small and mid-sized manufacturers become more competitive, adopt lean and agile processes, strategically grow their companies and invest more effectively in their existing human capital. MRC is a nonprofit organization partially funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s NIST-MEP program, as well as the State of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development. MRC is dedicated to creating jobs and economic opportunity in eastern Pennsylvania’s Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties.