This year's high school graduates have walked across the stage and received their diplomas. Now it's time to decide: what comes next?
The manufacturing industry is hoping that at least some of those students will decide heading straight from high school into a four-year-college program is not the only path to a successful life and a well-paying job.
Discover Manufacturing is a West Michigan program working to close the talent gap, get rid of old stereotypes of a "factory job,” and help students pursue careers in manufacturing.
Stateside talked to Jay Dunwell, the president of Wolverine Coil Spring Company in Grand Rapids, and Junior Aguilar, a technician at Wolverine Coil Spring and a graduate of Union High School in Grand Rapids.
Listen above to hear about misconceptions still lingering about the manufacturing sector; how Discovering Manufacturing is working to recruit large numbers of high school graduates; and the need for more workers in the manufacturing industry.
