8th Grade Career Carnival

On March 23^rd SVAM and member companies Steel Fab, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, and Scholle IPN Packaging attended Virginia Highlands Community College’s Career Carnival. The Career Carnival’s purpose is to expose 8^th grade students in the area to various career opportunities that are available to them. The hope is to open their eyes to new possibilities.

Students walked around a the very full Grand Hall at Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center viewing various career and talking with representatives for each booth. Our member companies spoke about what they manufacturer and the types of careers available at their companies. At the SVAM booth, students learned about the presence of manufacturing across southwest Virginia. SVAM staff talked about the common myths associated with manufacturing and explained that in southwest Virginia there are over 500 companies employing over 22,000 people who make, on average, $10,000 more a year than people working in other fields. Several items were on display showcasing what is made in southwest Virginia such as a Pepsi (made in Wytheville, Virginia), carpet (made in Bristol, Virginia), a Tempur-Pedic pillow (made in Duffield Virginia), an airplane (parts made in Marion, Virginia), and a small Utility Trailer tractor trailer (made in Atkins and Glade Spring, Virginia). SVAM staff also talked about the diversity of careers available in manufacturing from the administrative side to the technical side and even careers most people don’t think of such as seamstresses and chemists.

Each student who visited the SVAM booth received a ticket for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Cinemark movie theaters. 1 student from each of the four groups took home a gift certificate.