October 18, 2022 — The first Friday in October is Manufacturing (MFG) Day, a day created to “empower manufacturers to come together to address their collective challenges so they can help their communities and future generations thrive.”
Last week, the V3CONNECT Roadshow team ventured to Columbus, Indiana, by invitation of Ivy Tech Columbus, to participate in their MFG Day celebration.
Skilled manufacturers are currently in incredibly high demand. Deloitte’s 2022 Manufacturing Industry Outlook predicts a shortage of 2.1 million skilled manufacturers by 2030. This is a figure we are actively working to change, starting in the state of Indiana.
With the launch of V3CONNECT, our team has created a solution to the workforce shortage through Virtual Reality (VR). Our $80M initiative seeks to place VR Career Labs in every high school, community college and university in Indiana by 2025, followed by plans for national program expansion.
With this level of access, students across the nation will gain actionable insight into the manufacturing industry, experience first-hand what a day in the life is like at top manufacturing companies, and engage with educational programs that can help them excel toward a future in manufacturing
Students from Ivy Tech Columbus, Center Grove High School and Bartholomew County Schools were invited to test out the V3CONNECT experience during the MFG Day celebration.
“That’s dope,” one Center Grove student said, which was music to our ears!
We were among great company throughout the MFG Day event with a variety of sponsors and employers onsite, including Toyota, Forvia, Cummins, Purdue PolyTechnic, ServiceMyRestaurant, Lindal, and more.
We’ll be back in Columbus later this month (Oct. 25) for Tech Tuesday! Stop by and see us on the Ivy Tech Columbus campus to demo V3CONNECT for yourself.