More than 1,500 students from across nine counties explored careers in manufacturing during Greater Lafayette Commerce’s 13th annual Manufacturing Week, continuing a regional workforce initiative that has now reached more than 25,000 students since it began in 2014.
This year, 602 elementary students and 920 middle school students participated in hands-on activities designed to introduce them to the technology, skills and careers behind one of Greater Lafayette’s largest industries.
Manufacturing Week serves students from 27 public school districts across nine counties, connecting schools directly with regional employers and career opportunities close to home.
The program began as Manufacturing Day in 2014, when 300 students toured local manufacturing facilities. Since then, it has grown into a weeklong regional initiative. From 2014 through 2026, GLC’s manufacturing programming has served 25,372 students through facility tours, workshops, expos, hands-on activities and virtual programming.
That work is increasingly important in a region where roughly 35,500 people work in manufacturing. About 18,800 of those workers are in Tippecanoe County alone. At the same time, the skills employers need are changing as manufacturing becomes more reliant on automation, robotics, data, engineering and other advanced technologies.
“Manufacturing Week is about reaching students before they’ve decided what a manufacturing career is or isn’t,” said Kara Webb, director of workforce development at Greater Lafayette Commerce. “The jobs our employers are trying to fill increasingly require technical skills, critical thinking and problem-solving. Those skills develop over time, which is why giving students exposure to these careers early is important.”
Throughout the week, students worked with regional manufacturers, STEM educators and community volunteers. Elementary students participated in hands-on activities with local employers, while middle school students rotated through interactive career experiences designed to connect what they learn in the classroom with how those skills are used in the workplace.
The goal extends beyond introducing students to a list of occupations. Students see how products are designed and built, work with technology used in modern manufacturing and meet people who have built careers in the industry.
Manufacturing Week is one part of a broader workforce strategy GLC has developed to connect education more closely with regional employers. Greater Lafayette Career+, GLC’s K-12 workforce program, connected more than 31,000 students with employers and career pathways through more than 61,500 interactions last school year, including employer tours, skills boot camps and work-based learning opportunities.
“We’re not going to solve a workforce challenge by waiting until someone is ready to apply for a job,” said Mikel Berger, president and CEO of Greater Lafayette Commerce. “It starts much earlier. Manufacturing Week is part of a workforce strategy that introduces students to these careers early, keeps employers connected to education and builds clearer pathways into an industry that already employs about 35,000 people across our region.”
The approach reflects a workforce challenge facing manufacturers locally and nationally. Modern manufacturing increasingly requires workers who can operate sophisticated equipment, diagnose problems, work with technology and adapt as production systems change. Those capabilities take time to develop, making early career exposure one piece of a longer workforce pipeline.
GLC’s manufacturing workforce programming now stretches from elementary school into adulthood. In addition to Manufacturing Week, the organization operates Robotics in Manufacturing Camp for first- through eighth-grade students and works with employers, educators and training providers on career pathways, credentials and customized workforce programs.
Manufacturing Week itself has evolved with those needs. When COVID-19 disrupted inperson programming in 2020, GLC moved Manufacturing Month online and reached 4,160 students, the largest single-year participation in the program’s history. In-person programming returned in 2021 and has continued to expand its connections between schools and employers.
