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West Michigan program wants to show high schoolers a new kind of manufacturing job

Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit high school graduates into manufacturing careers in West Michigan.
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Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit high school graduates into manufacturing careers in West Michigan.

Stateside’s conversation with Jay Dunwell and Junior Aguilar of Wolverine Coil Spring Company.

Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit high school graduates into manufacturing careers in West Michigan.
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Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit high school graduates into manufacturing careers in West Michigan.

This year's high school graduates have walked across the stage and received their diplomas. Now it's time to decide: what comes next?

The manufacturing industry is hoping that at least some of those students will decide heading straight from high school into a four-year-college program is not the only path to a successful life and a well-paying job.

Discover Manufacturing is a West Michigan program working to close the talent gap, get rid of old stereotypes of a "factory job,” and help students pursue careers in manufacturing.

Stateside talked to Jay Dunwell, the president of Wolverine Coil Spring Company in Grand Rapids, and Junior Aguilar, a technician at Wolverine Coil Spring and a graduate of Union High School in Grand Rapids.  

Listen above to hear about misconceptions still lingering about the manufacturing sector; how Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit large numbers of high school graduates; and the need for more workers in the manufacturing industry.

Copyright 2021 Michigan Radio. To see more, visit Michigan Radio.

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