EK的动态

Transcript

Welcome to the 40th episode of the Ek Podcast. I'm Troy Smith, and I'm Emily Weinberger, and we have a repeat guest with us today. So welcome back, Melissa. Thanks for having me. I hope you all loved our new little sound intro that we're practicing with. But today we are going to be talking a little bit about International Women's Day. So that's coming up here. By the time we post that, it'll probably have been passed just by a couple days. But we want to talk a little bit more about women in manufacturing. So Melissa, if you want to kick us off by telling us why do you love Ek and why do you think other women should love Ek? Well, First off, you know, as I said the last time, I love the people that we get to work with here. But I also love the opportunities that Ek gives all of us employees for growth. I think as we can see on the the social media pages, we've had tons of promotions within in the last couple weeks here and it just there. They provide so many opportunities for us to expand our knowledge and and grow within the company. I definitely agree, including not even just promotions, but including like continuing education. Type things. I personally did tuition reimbursement when I first started and now I'm doing another leadership class that they encouraged me to do and are sending me to, so that's awesome. OK, Melissa, what advice would you have for women in manufacturing? I think that the research shows that women may not intentionally choose a career in manufacturing as their field of choice, but once they're in it, they're very satisfied with their careers and their ability to be a voice for change. Currently, only 30% of all employees in manufacturing are female, and only 23% of leaders in manufacturing are female. So it's kind of interesting when you look at the numbers like that. I think the goal of the industry overall is to reach 35% by 2030. So hopefully we can continue to push those numbers up. Yeah, five years we can do it. And I think you know the key to. To doing that is getting the K through 12 schools involved and recruit more for like internships and apprenticeships and before they go to college so they can consider these careers in engineering or project management or whatever it is but I'm just getting that introduction and then, you know, women who are currently in manufacturing. I think that it's important to remember to be the mentor to the entry level positions you know to to. Kind of grab their hand and pull them up with you and make sure that. They're enjoying their career. It's it's a fulfilling career for them. Yeah, I definitely agree. Earlier this week, we had a a a tour come through of high school students. And I was talking to one of the teachers who had mentioned that two of the female students were doing better in welding than some of the male students, which I just always find interesting because I think there's obviously a misconception of like, oh, it's for boys. They're the ones who do this type of job. And that's not the case. Like we have very successful. Women welders and women in a lot of positions here. Ek Exactly. So last year you were able to go to a woman's and manufacturing event in Boston. And this year it is in Chicago and it sounds like both you and I are going to get to go to that this year. So tell us maybe just like a little bit about that and what you learned and what you're kind of excited for coming up this year. That that's the other thing. You know, women who are in in the industry and may not have that mentorship in their industry. There are groups available out there and women in manufacturing is one that I've turned to. I did attend the summit in Boston last year and it was just such an empowering. Encouraging event, being surrounded by, I think there were 2000 women in the industry at that event and hearing the speakers up there and how they got to their positions and the advice that they gave. It just I took a lot away from that event and super excited to attend again this year. So you and I were actually talking earlier this week and you recently told me that you started a nonprofit, correct, which is entails manufacturing. So tell us a little bit about what that is and. I started a it's called Next Generation Trades. It's a newly formed 501C3 nonprofit. And the reason I started this was because I have two boys who went through a small school district for high school. And I saw when they took the technology education courses, there was such a lack for funding in the school that they, the students were required to buy their own tools and materials and to complete the coursework and so. My goal for this nonprofit is to raise money to support the rural school districts by raising money and providing the tools, materials, resources, intern that'll foster the creativity, critical thinking, and practical skill developments to prepare these students for future careers in the trade. So I think it's so important to give them everything they need to to introduce them to these things, especially in the rural settings where budgets may not. Allow for that top initially and I think like a lot of times in school, they push ohh, when you're done with high school, you go to a four year college and you graduate and you go get a job. And well, yes, we do need those people. We also need people who want to go into the trades or those smaller type programs where you can be done in two years or you can do an apprenticeship where you're working at the same time. Obviously the world needs a little bit of everybody to keep on turning, so that's awesome. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us? You know, I just, I kind of want to just thank the team for. The the one big project I had right now we're just wrapping up and just wanna show my appreciation or share my appreciation for everything that everybody here at Ek has done to make that a successful project. Awesome. Yes, definitely. I always kind of bittersweet, but also exciting to see project go through and fully be completed. Exactly. Thanks for joining us today, Melissa. Thanks.