Area students in grades 7 and 8 will learn more about the career opportunities available in Tuscarawas County during the weeklong Dale Lauren Foland Manufacturing Camp that runs from July 15th through July 19th. (Dale Lauren Foland Manufacturing Camp)

NEW PHILADELPHIA  - Area businesses are teaming up again to give students entering the seventh and eighth grades opportunities to learn about the career opportunities available locally in manufacturing.

The Dale Lauren Foland Manufacturing Camp returns July 16th through 19th for five full days of visits to Tuscarawas County-based manufacturing facilities spread throughout Tuscarawas County. Camp spokesman Mike Hovan says they've held the camp for four years now, and it’s always a lot of fun for everyone involved (including the students and the workers).

"We’re expecting another great year for this. It’s a really great event. The kids have a blast, and the manufacturers have a good time with it as well," he says.

The camp will feature stops at Cooper Standard, Belden Brick, Boltaron, ProVia, Dover Chemical, Allied Machine & Engineering, and other area manufacturing facilities. Hovan says it’s a great way for students to learn about these companies and how they contribute to the national and local economies.

"Manufacturing, as you well know, is a staple of the industry here in Tuscarawas County. It represents about 10 percent of the GDP across all of the U.S., at least direct manufacturing, and then in addition to that there’s about a 1.4 multiplier on top of that that it brings to the area," he says.

Tuscarawas County Commissioner Chris Abbuhl says the camp fits right in with local educational institutions’ efforts to make the area a hub for advanced manufacturing training. 

"It ties so well into the advanced manufacturing. That’s kind of the goal, to get young people interested in manufacturing and what Kent State and Buckeye have put together and to be able to help that move forward is tremendous also," he says.

Hovan says the weeklong event will culminate with a manufacturing festival that Saturday at Tuscora Park on July 20th that’s free to attend and open to the public.

"It’s kind of a carnival-type atmosphere where the companies that were sponsors of the camp as well as Buckeye Career Center and KSU, we have tents set up over in the practice football field at Tuscora Park and that’s our kind of outreach to the community for members of the community to come and see what the manufacturers do," he says.

The cost to attend the camp is $50 per student with financial assistance available to those who qualify. People can reserve a spot for their student by calling Buckeye Career Center at 330-339-2288 extension 1207. Hovan says the signup deadline is this Friday, although they should be able to take some late registrations. 

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