COLUMBUS, OH - September 19, 2012 - How important is manufacturing in Ohio?  So important that more than one million vehicles are produced in the state each year, more than 1/6 of total U.S. output.  Ohio is also the undisputed leader in American aircraft engine production with 17 percent of the total U.S. employment in aviation and aerospace located in Ohio. And did you know that the state's food and beverage manufacturing industry shipped $24 billion in products last year?

To showcase the importance of manufacturing in Ohio, various industry leaders have developed a series of activities in October highlight the industry.  From plant tours to career workshops to a live interactive telecast being made available to high schools and middle schools statewide, October will be celebrated as Manufacturing Month in Ohio.

"National Manufacturing Day takes place October 5, but with the level of interest from various groups, we felt one day just wasn't enough to pay tribute to the thousands of manufacturing companies, hundreds of thousands of workers in Ohio's manufacturing industry and the billions of dollars in revenue and income generated by manufacturing in Ohio each year," said Dan Berry, President and Chief Executive Officer of MAGNET, the
Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network.  "We're delighted that there will be activities taking place throughout Ohio in October that recognize manufacturing's critical importance to our economy."

Ohio is still the third largest state in manufacturing as a percent of Gross State Product, ranking only behind the much larger states of California and Texas.  Some 600,000 Ohioans are employed in manufacturing, nearly 13% of Ohio's total employment.

While 80 percent of Americans believe manufacturing is important to the country's economic prosperity, standard of living and national security, only 30 percent encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career.  For that reason, a primary objective of Manufacturing Month in Ohio is to have middle and high school students tour a manufacturing facility in their own community to see the high tech opportunities of modern, advanced manufacturing and the well-paying careers available to them in manufacturing.  Most students will no doubt be surprised to learn that wages in
manufacturing are 9 percent higher than the state's economy-wide average.

While it may not be possible for all schools to tour a local plant, all middle and high schools in Ohio will be able to take part in live, interactive telecast into their own school buildings on Thursday morning, October 11 featuring three young manufacturing employees---a research chemist and two engineers---talking about why manufacturing was their career choice.

Ohio schools that would like to receive the October 11 telecast need to have distance learning equipment that will enable them to connect to the State of Ohio IP Network.  Schools already participating in the distance learning programming scheduled through eTech Ohio should have no problem participating in the October 11 program.  Schools with questions about the telecast can contact John Ramicone at 216.916.6360 or
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All the activities and event related to Manufacturing Month in Ohio can be seen and searched at: www.ohiomanufacturingmonth.com.

The sponsors of Manufacturing Month in Ohio include the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Ohio Development Services Agency, The Ohio Department of Education, Oh! Manufacturing, CIFT, TechSolve, MAGNET, the Dayton Region Manufacturers Association, EWI and The Columbus Region.