Northwest Florida Manufacturing News Monthly
Florida Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence Awards Finalists
The Florida Sterling Council and FloridaMakes announced that 27 manufacturing companies have been named as finalists for the second Florida Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence Awards. The winners, chosen from the finalists, will be announced at the 2018 Governor's Sterling Awards Banquet at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes on June 1 in Orlando.

The Florida Sterling Council and FloridaMakes collaborated on these statewide awards to recognize the state’s high-performing manufacturers. Companies were judged on the following criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customers, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce, and operations.  Among the finalists are Ascend Performance Materials and L3 Crestview Aerospace. A complete list of finalists can be found on the FloridaMakes website.

FloridaMakes is a great resource and can help your company address current challenges, create new opportunities for growth and achieve measurable results. To learn how FloridaMakes’ services can unlock growth opportunities and cost savings for your company, contact your FloridaMakes’ Business Advisor Daniel Krug at dkrug@uwf.edu or at (850) 612-5895.
Worlds of Possibilities
On April 30 and May 1, the Eighth Annual SkillsUSA Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo was held at the Pensacola Bay Center. Daniel Krug, University of West Florida/FloridaMakes Business Advisor, manned the Northwest Florida Manufacturers Council booth located in the World of Manufacturing. SkillsUSA is a nationally-recognized program that serves as a partnership between students, teachers and industry to ensure that America has a skilled workforce. This collaboration provides students with opportunities to practice and apply quality work to their prospective fields. SkillsUSA promotes teamwork, leadership, citizenship and character development to more than 300,000 students nationwide. The program builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitude and communication skills. Additionally, it emphasizes total quality at work, including high ethical standards, superior work skills, life-long education and pride in the dignity of work.

The NWFMC is instrumental in student engagement throughout the Florida Panhandle. Skilled training is available in the Manufacturing Academies across the 10-county region, leading students to the available job opportunities in today's highly-technical manufacturing career fields.

From left: Daniel Krug, UWF/FloridaMakes, and Kristie Kelley, Gulf Power and NWFMC Talent Committee Chair
Pryor Middle School SolidWorks Certification Success
Curt Palermo, iDesign instructor at Pryor Middle School, has reported that 22 out of 25 students have received SolidWorks certifications. "That’s an 88% pass rate," said Palermo. "And just think all these students have four more years to get even better!"
FIRST LEGO League Junior Expo
On April 24, students from S.S. Dixon Primary and S.S. Dixon Intermediate schools participated in the FIRST LEGO League Junior expo, held at the Sea3D Additive Manufacturing Laboratory within the Museum of Commerce. Teams were tasked with developing solutions to real-life problems.
Calendar
Project Management Professional
Tuesday, June 5 - Thursday, June 7
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
UWF Fort Walton Beach
Have an event you would like to add? 
Email information to ktouchstone@uwf.edu
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, June 21
1 - 2:30 p.m.
UWF Fort Walton Beach

Strategies for Supervisory Success
Wednesday, Aug. 22 and Wednesday, Sept. 19
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
UWF Fort Walton Beach

News
This newsletter was developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida.