As a parent of two graduates in the past two weeks, I have come to appreciate the learning that takes place within our educational institution not the least of which includes:  the professors who try to provoke thought, simulate reality and motivate our young to their careers of choice, those of us who volunteer through co-operatives or by way of mentorship, opening our buildings and experiences for them to build upon and lastly, but certainly not least, those who have donated their time, their funds, samples to learn from, or tools, computers and programs to help our learning stay current and relevant.

"Sandy", the first son graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours in Pyschology on June 11th, and he has been furthering his career as a third year law student.  During his Awards Presentation, we were delighted to have a gentleman with a strong background in Manufacturing speak to the Graduates.  He spoke of many things relating to manufacturing today in Canada and the difficulties all industries are undergoing with the present economy…  but the message he really wanted to leave with these Graduates dealt with creativity - never being afraid of learning from mistakes, of taking chances to try something new, of the importance of problem solving and stick-to-it-ness to succeed.  Our speaker suggested that we as business owners, managers, leaders and supervisors need to capture these ideas and enthusiasm in our manufacturing processes to build a stronger Canada.

On June 18th, 2009, we once again participated in Graduation Ceremonies…  this time for our second son, Brian.  Brian attended Fanshawe College and received his Architectural Technologist Certificate.  Our Guest Speaker at these Convocation Ceremonies was equally interesting and relevant but perhaps the part that made the most impression upon us was touring our son's classrooms and workshops.  As we glanced at the countless manuals, the samples of windows, doors, stairs, shingles, siding and so forth, the tools donated, the memorabilia from architectural classes past and the modern well-designed areas and computer programs for today, it was humbling to say the least.   Manufacturers of products well known to us and many of them EMC Members…  to know though, that those in industry, in manufacturing, in processing, in growing - are contributing in the classrooms for furthering education in all sectors by means of equipment, examples or tools or perhaps even the room or knowledge sharing itself is certainly the most humbling part from my perspective.

Manufacturers throughout Canada have worked hard at raising our profile from less appealing work environments.  The contribution made to our education system on your behalf is wonderful - and as a parent and a partner in working with you on a day-to-day basis, thank you for your donations to our educational institutions of samples, of mentorship and funds - but most of all, for encouraging creativity, for changing the face of industry, for inspiring our young to become involved not only in the skilled trades of our industries but also in the business operations and management, in purchasing and sales, in IT and engineering, in continuous improvement and quality, in shipping and receiving and, in Production.  The diversity of our industries, the technological advances at our hands, the understanding of the importance of networking and the creativity of our graduating youth promises to make our future interesting from product design, manufacturing and marketing in what will be a leaner, cleaner and greener environment and should lend to an extremely interesting journey ahead for our newly graduated and those of us who embrace an ever-changing and innovative world!