MFG Day Builds Excitement About Manufacturing Careers

School districts in St. Lawrence County recently celebrated North Country Manufacturing Day (MFG Day), an event designed to showcase the modern manufacturing industry and inspire the next generation of innovators in a field where creativity, technology and problem-solving come together.

With coordinated efforts by St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Career and Tech Education (“CTE”), SLL BOCES Adult Education, and the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, over 300 students from 11 component school districts in St. Lawrence County toured 16 local manufacturing businesses as part of MFG Day 2025.  Participating school districts include Brasher Falls, Canton, Clifton-Fine, Colton, Edwards-Knox, Gouverneur, Lisbon, Massena, Morristown, Parishville-Hopkinton, and Potsdam Central School.

By participating in MFG Day tours, students meet the workers behind our local products and see how their classroom learning applies in real-world scenarios. Patrick Kelly, CEO of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency states, “Manufacturing Day provides high school students, our future workforce, the opportunity to get a first-hand look at modern manufacturing facilities, see how world-class products are manufactured locally, and learn about the variety of career progression opportunities available in manufacturing”.

Thank you to the businesses that opened their doors to offer students this unique opportunity.  They include Alcoa, AmTech Yarns, Arconic, Bestway Lumber, Cives Steel, Corning Inc., Curran Renewable Energy, Empire State Mines, Five Mile Farm, Heidelberg Quarry, Kinney Drugs (Warehouse and Central Fill), Pepsi Cola Ogdensburg Bottlers, Potsdam Specialty Paper Inc., St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and Structural Wood. This experience helps to ignite a vital collaboration between academia and local manufacturers!