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News and Video Archive | Bullard-Havens cuts manufacturing | | | |
Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT) - May 18, 2007 BRIDGEPORT - Manufacturing and business leaders in the region disagree over whether it makes sense to close Bullard-Havens Technical High School's manufacturing shop. Paula Chapla, a manufacturing manager at Sikorsky Aircraft, said Thursday she found the decision confusing because companies like hers and its suppliers need workers now and in the future. "It's not like you can plant seeds and get workers," she said. "I commend the vo-tech system for having the courage to look at the program to see if the taxpayer's money was being well spent," Lorch said. "We should be promoting what Bullard-Havens does well." Lorch said Bullard-Havens is a fine school and has developed strong programs in Web design, while Platt has developed an excellent program for machine manufacturing and O'Brien one for plastics molding. Students from Bridgeport may apply to either O'Brien or Platt if they are interested in the programs there, and Lorch said she has interns from Bridgeport who have done just that. Paul Timpanelli, president and chief executive officer of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, agreed with Lorch's position. He said it's a simple case of allocating resources where they will do the most good. Also, manufacturing isn't as big an employer as it once was, he said. According to the latest state Labor Department report, Connecticut factories employed 192,900 workers in April 2007, down from 194,200 in April 2006. Factory jobs are way down from April 1997, when 245,400 people worked in manufacturing in Connecticut, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. John Tirinzonie, a state Labor Department economist, said the numbers don't really tell the full story, because aerospace, machinery and metal fabrication shops added employees during the last year. He said the Bridgeport region in particular saw an increase of about 200 jobs in April 2007 compared to April 2006. The economist did not take a position on the Bullard-Havens matter. Rob Varnon, who covers business, can be reached at 330-6216.
(c) 2007 The Connecticut Post. All rights reserved.
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| Actor Focuses on The Nuts and Bolts | | | |
Ratzenberger Pushes Importance of Manufacturing to Student
Posted date: 4/16/2007
By Mark R. Madler
San Fernando Business Journal Everybody may know his name but less known about actor John Ratzenberger is his commitment to create a qualified labor pool for U.S. manufacturers.
Through the Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs Foundation based in Westlake Village, that he founded in November, Ratzenberger gets the word out that it is okay for students to consider careers working with their hands.
The foundation is a sponsor for 20 camps this summer pairing middle and high school-aged students in 13 states with a trade or technical school and manufacturers in their area for a close-up, hands-on look at making products.
“Every single industry starts with someone inventing something,” Ratzenberger said. “Every one of those inventors started out tinkering.”
Ratzenberger, who voices characters in Pixar films, can currently be seen on ABC Television’s “Dancing With the Stars” and the “Made in America” series on the Travel Channel but is best known as know-it-all mailman Cliff Clavin from the sitcom “Cheers.”
Ratzenberger is more than just a “flash and dash” celebrity when it comes to his interest in a manufacturing labor pool and instead is willing to do something creative to find a solution, said Kenn Phillips, director of education and workforce development for the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.
“This is not a guy who puts in $1,000 and walks away,” Phillips said. “He actively participates in many ways in identifying the importance of these careers.”
Among the early supporters of the organization has been the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation in Rockford, Ill., and the Gene Haas Foundation provided $100,000 to Nuts and Bolts for its programs. Haas is the president of Haas Automation in Oxnard.
“We really love manufacturing and would like to see more focus on it,” said Peter Zierhut, manager of the Gene Haas Foundation.
The message Ratzenberger preaches is not news to the manufacturers and workforce development officials in the San Fernando Valley. If there is a number one issue those in the industry face, especially the smaller machining job shops, it is the shortage of good employees.
Yet, despite that shortage Southern California remains the nation’s top manufacturing center when compared with other large cities, according to a study released in March by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
The study identified the Valley as the third largest concentration of manufacturing jobs in Los Angeles County with 76,300 jobs. The southeast area of the county and the South Bay had more.
As for specific job types, the county’s highest totals were in computer and electronic products (60,000 jobs), apparel (59,800 jobs) and transportation equipment (51,000 jobs).
No one finger can be pointed as to why young people no longer take an interest in the trades and working with their hands.
In visits to school districts to drum up support for his cause, Ratzenberger found an emphasis on graduates attending college. Schools eliminating shop classes, news reports of manufacturers cutting costs by leaving the U.S. for foreign countries and depictions of manufacturing as a dark and dingy enterprise contribute to the impression the trades are a dead end.
The day of the brick factory with the grimy smokestack, however, is an image of the past. Modern manufacturing uses robots and lasers requiring advanced math and science capabilities.
“If kids want high tech, manufacturing is the place for it,” said Terry Egan, director of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation.
Egan’s group is a co-sponsor with Nuts and Bolts for the summer camp program taking place this year. The two foundations envision growing the number of camps to 100 by next summer and to 400 by 2009.
The more memorable the camps can be, the better it is for those attending it, Egan said, and when they leave they will have something made of metal they can take home with them.
“We are talking about glamorizing again manufacturing, building things,” Egan said.
Filming the Travel Channel show puts Ratzenberger in contact with company executives who proudly display in their offices a coffee table or other items made when they took shop classes in high school.
Give that same opportunity to a younger child and they learn more about themselves, Ratzenberger said.
“If a child makes something with their hands that builds self-esteem,” Ratzenberger said. “They can point at something and say, ‘I made that.’”
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| Kids Set to Have a Sterling Summer | | | |
| Local groups team up to launch manufacturing camp for youth | By ROB VARNON
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Connecticut Post Online
STRATFORD — Bridgeport Fittings Inc. is the first factory signed up to help Sterling House develop its new manufacturing camp for kids, which kicks off this summer thanks to a grant from actor/author John Ratzenberger. Ratzenberger's Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation partnered with the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation to provide a $5,000 grant to start the program for 12- to 16-year-olds. A Bridgeport native, Ratzenberger has taken an active interest in promoting "the blue collar arts," better known as working with your hands. Lou Perno, Sterling House executive director, said registration for the camp will begin this spring, with activities to be held in the summer. Sterling House is still creating the program, he said, and lining up manufacturers to demonstrate and let kids learn about how things are made. He said Bridgeport Fittings is the first company that's expressed interest in being part of the program, but Sterling House is interested in hearing from other manufacturers. "We'll put our name on the list," said Tom Auray, executive vice president and co-owner of Stratford-based Bridgeport Fittings. "We like to be a good guy in the community." Bridgeport Fittings makes a variety of products used in the electrical and plumbing trades. Auray said he hopes to participate in the program, but because it's still being developed he understands things are not set in stone. Auray said the message behind the program is compelling — get kids interested in the process of manufacturing. He said he hopes to show children not just the physical side of how things get made, but also the thought process that goes into it. But Auray indicated it's not just about finding new workers for the future, it's about keeping America competitive. Factories producing goods sold around the globe were the mainstay of America's and Connecticut's economy, he said. "This is what put America on the map years ago." Manufacturers with interest in or ideas about the development of the Sterling House program can call Bill O'Brien at 378-2606, ext. 106. |
| Former 'Cheers' Star Named Grand Marshal of Bridgeport Parade | | | |
Posted: Monday, 26 March 2007 4:24PM BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- Actor John Ratzenberger, who played the know-it-all postman Cliff Claven on "Cheers,'' has agreed to lead this year's Barnum Festival Great Street Parade, organizers said Monday. Ratzenberger, a Bridgeport native who is a celebrity contestant on ABC's ``Dancing With the Stars,'' was named grand marshal of what organizers called the largest parade in Connecticut. "We are delighted to announce that this internationally known celebrity will be the honorary grand marshal of the Great Street Parade in Bridgeport on July 1st,'' said Larry Merriam, the festival's 59th Ringmaster. The Barnum Festival was created in 1949 to celebrate the life of circus promoter P.T. Barnum, who was born on July 5. The celebration includes parades, concerts, parties, drum corps and the fireworks extravaganza at Seaside Park. The parade will have more than 150 units, including military units, drum corps, bag pipers, floats, giant character balloons and clowns. Ratzenberger will ride a float in the parade entitled, "Made in Bridgeport -- Manufacturing Past and Present.'' On June 29, Ratzenberger will host a celebrity breakfast at Sterling House in Stratford, where he attended camp as a youth. "I am thrilled to return to my roots,'' Ratzenberger said in a statement. "One of my fondest memories of growing up in Bridgeport was to watch the Barnum Festival Parade as a child.'' Ratzenberger is host and producer "John Ratzenberger's Made in America'' on the Travel Channel. The mission of his new nonprofit organization, Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs Foundation, is to restore esteem and dignity to the manual and industrial arts, and introduce children to the joys of tinkering to inspire the next generation of American craftsman. As National Walk Chairman for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, he has helped raise more than $100 million. Ratzenberger was the only person to row a boat nonstop for more than 16 hours and 45 miles around Vashon Island in Washington State, raising funds and awareness for the Special Olympics. |
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Coosa Valley Tech Wins Manufacturing Grant |
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Rome News-Tribune.com - 3/2/07 ROCKFORD, Ill -- Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome, was named a winner of a 2007 manufacturing camp grant awarded jointly by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation (FMAF) and the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation (NBTF). The grants are given to not-for-profit organizations and educational institutions that offer overnight or day camp experiences that introduce young people ages 12 to 16 to careers in manufacturing and engineering.
Coosa Valley Technical College, which received a $2,500 award, is one of 19 recipients nationally announced at FMA headquarters in Rockford, Ill., on February 26, by John Ratzenberger, host of the Travel Channel’s “John Ratzenberger’s Made in America,” former Cheers star and founder of NBTF, a charitable organization dedicated to introducing young people to the pleasures of tinkering, creating the next generation of artisans, inventors, engineers, repairmen and skilled workers.
Assisting Ratzenberger in the presentation was Terrence Egan, director of the FMA Foundation, an educational, research and charitable organization that promotes metal forming and fabricating technology in manufacturing.
“Today, too few young people develop the kind of manual skills required by industries, workshops and engineering practices,” said Ratzenberger. “Through these grants, we strive to influence young people to the pleasures of tinkering that can lead to careers in production and manufacturing.”A demographic shift in the U.S. workforce caused by retiring baby boomers is occurring, and the manufacturing sector is already feeling the impact. There is an ever-increasing demand for highly skilled professionals who can design, program and operate technology, according to Ratzenberger.
“The purpose of the manufacturing camp grants is to provide a positive, hands-on experience so young people will consider manufacturing as a career option,” said Egan. “We’re making an investment in the workforce of tomorrow. This is critical to the economy of the cities where the camps occur and to the nation in general.” The camps target youth at the critical level of secondary education, exposing them to math, science and engineering principles, and giving them opportunities to see the technology being used in industry and the high level of skills that will be required from the workforce.
“These camps provide youth with the exposure to vocational and technical trades that no longer exist in all public education systems,” added Egan. “Inspiring young people to consider these trades will have a positive effect on graduation rates, increase the chance for them to earn a living wage, and create a more qualified workforce and community development in impoverished areas.” |
| Chamber Honors Progress in this Area Beloit Daily News - 2/28/07 Former ‘Cheers' star John Ratzenberger speaks about development, hands-on jobs A crowd of about 600 guests, a former mall that was converted to a convention center and a national television star were the highlights of the 80th Annual Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce Dinner Tuesday. The dinner had a new location this year - in the center court of the former Beloit Mall, which was renovated by owners Ken and Diane Hendricks. Chamber Executive Director Nancy Forbeck thanked the couple, owners of ABC Supply, for providing a great place for the dinner, which attracted about 200 more guests than it normally attracts. The featured speaker of the evening was John Ratzenberger, best known as the character Cliff Clavin on the television sitcom “Cheers,” but most recently host of the Travel Channel's “John Ratzenberger's Made In America.” He said he was impressed with the renovation of old buildings in Beloit, mostly thanks to the efforts of Ken and Diane Hendricks. “What you've done here is what most of the people across the country say can't be done,” he said. Earlier Tuesday, Ratzenberger had visited Beloit Memorial High School and was pleased to see there was an auto shop class offered there. “I had a wonderful time touring the high school and going to the auto shop. I don't know if you realize this, but there are no more shop classes in many schools,” he said. He noted many schools are dropping shop classes because of liability costs to the schools, because there is a risk that students will be injured in the classes. Ratzenberger is founder of the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation, which promotes giving young people exposure to careers in manual arts. He has asked Ken Hendricks to serve on the board of directors for the foundation. He said the average age of factory workers in America is 52. He said manual arts jobs are drying up, partly because the media portrays the plumbers, electricians and factory workers as dirty and undesirable jobs. His foundation hopes to change that image. He said he has visited about 160 factories in the four years he has hosted his “Made in America” show, and he feels it is time to honor the people who build things in America. He said there should be plaques on buildings with the names of everyone who helped build it. He said pride in our country is being minimized in recent years. “Sadly, to many kids today no longer learn pride in their country,” Ratzenberger said. “Self-loathing is a virus that is consuming America.” Following Ratzenberger's presentation, several awards were given to honor individuals and businesses in the Greater Beloit Area. Ken Hendricks accepted the award for Large Business of the Year for ABC Supply. He was noted for the renovation of many buildings in Beloit as well as the success of ABC Supply Company. Small Business of the Year went to Peter Gabriel, owner of Domenico's and La Casa Grande restaurants. The Community Spirit Award, which is given for those who work to better the community, was presented to Beloit 2020 for its plans for the Vision Center in downtown Beloit and its riverfront project. Greg Britton of Beloit Memorial Hospital, who sits on the Beloit 2020 board accepted the award. The Chairperson's Award went to Dale Hjerpe of Alcoa Wheel Products, who has previously served as chairman of the chamber board. Carla Swain was given the Chairperson's Gavel Award as the outgoing chamber board chair. Ambassador of the Year went to Terry Meyers, who has been a great help to the Ambassadors Club. Paulette Christiansen received the Ambassador's Gavel Award as the outgoing Ambassador Club Chairman. Swain noted the chamber had a successful year, helping raise more than $750,000 for the engineering program at the University of Wisconsin - Rock County and, along with the Midwest Food Processors Association, hosting the first Food Expo. |
| Workers focus for Ratzenberger | | | |
Beloit Daily News - 2/27/07 Former star of comedy serious about America “Cheers” actor John Ratzenberger may not know everyone's name at tonight's 80th Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce annual dinner and meeting, but the crowd is sure to know his. Most people will remember him as Cliff Clavin on the hit television series and the voices of “Toy Story,” “Monster's Inc.” and “Cars” characters, but it is unlikely he'll speak about his acting career. Over the years, Ratzenberger's passion has shifted to promoting American-made goods and the manual arts, which is fitting for the dinner's theme, “Made in America.” Since becoming host and producer of the Travel Channel show “John Ratzenberger's Made in America,” which highlights American companies and the importance of working men and women, Ratzenberger said he's been stopped on the street more about that rather than his acting work. “It touches more of a reality,” Ratzenberger said of the attention the show receives, noting “everyone's affected” by the manual arts. The manual arts, or work done by hand, is an important craft because it always takes precedent over the fine arts, he said, explaining someone had to build the ceiling before Michelangelo could paint on it. “Nothing happens until someone builds something,” Ratzenberger said. Unfortunately, Ratzenberger said, today's children aren't thinking about careers in the manual arts. Instead, they're focused on technology such as video games and television. That trend, he said, raises the question of what will happen once the current factory workers and laborers retire. “We're losing a workforce,” he said. Besides mentioning the diminishing crop of manual workers at the Chamber of Commerce dinner, Ratzenberger said he'll probably talk about some observations he's made while traveling the country. For example, he's noticed many journalists during World War II would refer to the soldiers as “our boys” or “we.” Now, Ratzenberger said, the media calls them “American troops.” Why do journalists feel the need to distance themselves from the very people who are fighting for their freedom of the press, he asked. Today won't be the first time Ratzenberger visits Beloit. He stayed in the Beloit Inn at the end of last October while he filmed a segment for “Made in America” elsewhere. He and his crew agreed the hotel was one of the finest they've stayed in, Ratzenberger said, but admitted he didn't get a chance to see much of the city. Before stopping in Beloit today, Ratzenberger announced the national winners of the manufacturing camp grants in Rockford Monday. The camp introduces youth aged 12 to 16 to careers in manufacturing. The 19 grants were jointly awarded by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation and the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation, which was co-founded by Ratzenberger. |
| | Ratzenberger To Hand Out Grants |  |  |  |
Beloit Daily News Stateline Area News
Posted: Saturday, Feb 24, 2007 - 02:09:48 am CST ROCKFORD - John Ratzenberger, host of the Travel Channel's “John
Ratzenberger's Made in American” and formerly of the TV sitcom “Cheers,”
will announce the winners of the Manufacturing Camp grants during a press
conference in Rockford at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Ratzenberger also will be the featured speaker on Tuesday at the Greater
Beloit Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner and Meeting to be held at the
former Beloit Mall.
A total of 19 grants, ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 will be awarded by the
Fabricators and Manufacturers Association Foundation and Nuts, Bolts and
Thingamajigs Foundation. The grants are being awarded to not-for-profit
organizations that offer overnight or day camp experiences that introduce
young people to careers in manufacturing. The ceremony will be held at FMA
Headquarters, 833 Feathersone Road, Rockford. |
| Ratzenberger Cheers U.S.- Made Products | | | |
Jan. 13, 2007 12:00 AM Ratzenberger on a crusade to increase the number of Americans can actually make things with their hands. |
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0113biz-buzz0113.html | | |
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