FlexTrades Events Archives

Educators at universities and colleges across the country, in just about every field, invite employers into their classrooms to give presentations to students. Employers embrace the opportunity to show students the work, pay, and benefits their company offers. Some employers take it further and provide tools that will help graduates get their first job and be successful.

When FlexTrades does a ReTool Employer Presentation for students, we show that we offer a rewarding career in the trades with excellent benefits. But we also understand that many students have other companies in mind, have already accepted jobs, or have plans to put their education to work elsewhere. Half of our presentation is catered to ANY job seeker, even if they aren’t interested in FlexTrades at the moment.

Below is an outline of the script for our ReTool Employer Presentation.

Act 1: About FlexTrades

The first act of a FlexTrades employer presentation is shamelessly, and genuinely, promoting the opportunities our company offers. We name drop some of our clients who are among the nation’s largest manufacturers in heavy agriculture, aerospace, consumer products, and more. We talk about our need for skilled technicians throughout every step of the manufacturing process.

The pay and benefits FlexTrades offers to employees are competitive nationwide. We talk about travel and how many of our technicians see travel as another benefit; seeing the country and enjoying hobbies and activities they can’t do at home. To close Act 1, we talk about the many opportunities for growth within the company and how to get started pursuing a career with us.

Act 2: Career Tips & Advice

Degrees, certifications, and hundreds of hours of time-on-tool get you a baseline of knowledge to do the job. But a resume must get you an interview, and that interview must go well before you ever get paid for those skills.

Our longest slide in the entire presentation is called “Resume & Interview Tips.” We share tips and advice that apply to anyone listening, whether they’re interested in FlexTrades or not. For example, calling out your skills and certifications correctly on a resume can determine whether you even get a chance to interview. Preparing for an interview by researching the company and practicing your responses to tough questions is equally important.

Act 2 answers one of the most important questions we should ask: What’s ahead in manufacturing? We talk about Industry 4.0 and what it means. You’ll need to hear our presentation for the full answer, but (spoiler alert) robots are not coming to take our jobs! Skilled tradespeople will always be needed, but we will need to adapt and continue to learn new skills.

Act 3: Questions & Answers

We place a lot of information in our ReTool Employer Presentation, so we always open it up to questions after the slideshow. Many students are curious to hear more about travel, where they might get to go, and how we get them there. Some students ask what tools they need to bring on a project (hint: very few). We are often asked what an apprentice-level ReTool employee can expect on their first few projects.

Instructors usually jump in to ask questions, too. They know their students better than we do, so they often anticipate questions students haven’t thought of yet. Some instructors even ask about how they can work on a FlexTrades project over summer break, or once they’ve retired from teaching.

We’re always excited to dig deeper into any of the topics we cover!

Conclusion

We understand that we aren’t the only employer out there, but we might be the perfect fit for a student who hasn’t found the right job yet. Or we might be a better fit when they’re looking for a change later in their career. Some of the students we speak to will go on to manage a facility or start their own company and may need FlexTrades technicians to get the job done.

We genuinely care about the next generation of skilled tradespeople and the world of manufacturing that they are entering. We want to encourage students in trade school programs to stay on the path and start a great career. If you’re an educator or instructor at a trade school, we would love to show you and your students our ReTool Employer Presentation live!

Ever since COVID-19, virtual presentations have become extremely popular. To book a ReTool Virtual Employer Presentation for your class, just click here to pick a time that works best for you!

If you’d like us to make an in-person presentation, or if you have any questions, please reach out to marketing@flextrades.com. If you or someone you know is looking for work, resumes can also be sent to marketing@flextrades.com.

We appreciate your time today, and look forward to working with you and your team soon.

The year is almost halfway done, but there is still time to take advantage of the knowledge, technology, and value that manufacturing trade shows and expos bring to US manufacturing for both employers and employees.

The Shows You Missed:

The Shows You Can Still Attend:

Design-2-Part

Design-2-Part has many shows throughout the year (in spring and fall) and across the US, so find one near you! The greatest thing about Design-2-Part is the story behind Founder, Ben Edwards and how he began Design-2-Part shows.

Safety Conference & Expo

Start planning now because this one is happening in Denver, CO August 7-9^th in 2024. In fact, 2024 will be the 63^rd annual show! Put on by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the goal of this show is to bring together safety professionals for three days of educational sessions. There also are educational exhibits regarding the safety profession as well as safety innovation in the workplace. It’s called “the conference that’s by safety professionals, for safety professionals”.

Advanced Manufacturing Expo

Happening August 9 and 10, 2023, in Grand Rapids, MI, you could join 3000 manufacturers and manufacturing experts to explore all things automation, metalworking, or mechanical. If there is one to go to in 2023, this might be it!

PACK Expo

PACK Expo is a show with multiple events across the United States (as well as the world). At these shows, it’s all about packaging and processing solutions. Join Pack Expo Las Vegas from September 11^th through the 13^th this year!

FABTECH

This one is all about metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing. It runs from September 11^th through the 14^th in Chicago, IL.

Injection Mold & Design Expo

During this two-day FREE expo, you’ll find a multitude of suppliers with expertise in molding machines and auxiliary equipment, equipment parts, molds and runners, design & molding software, and many other support services. Get to Novi, MI to experience this event on September 20 and 21 of 2023.

Industrial Transformation USA

Coming to Indianapolis during the fall of 2023 (October 10-12), are the big thinkers thinking about IIoT, 5G, cobots, and other Industry 4.0 technology as it relates to all types of manufacturing industries. You’ll find a little bit of everything related to automation, robotics, industrial data, AI, supply chain software, IIoT, as well as smart infrastructure.

NBAA – BACE (National Business Aviation Association)

From October 17-19, top manufacturers and businesses from the aviation industry will come together in Las Vegas to showcase the best of the best in aviation technology and aircraft.

Southtec / Westtec

Southtec is one of four Manufacturing Technology Series events and it’s happening in Greenville, SC from October 24-26^th. Westec is another one of the four series events only it’s happening in Long Beach, CA from November 7-9, 2023. Houstex and Eastec have already come and gone in 2023 but don’t worry, all four will be back in full for 2024 because this one is backed by some of the biggest industry advocates, The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and

Rockwell Automation Fair

In Boston MA this year, you’ll find the future of manufacturing technology with this automation fair happening November 6^th through the 9^th.

2024 Trade Shows and Expos:

Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS)

We just missed this one for 2023 (it was April 18-20^th) but they are already planning for 2025 (in Cleveland, OH) and so should you. This is the place to be when it comes to precision machining and precision machined components.

Skills USA National Leadership & Skills Conference

Skills USA is a great event with a different goal than most manufacturing expos. This one is about bringing together workers, leaders, students, and teachers to promote careers in trade and technical occupations. This one wrapped up June 23^rd of this year, but they’ll be back again next year!

NPE

With over 1 million square feet of exhibit space, this expo is the largest plastics tradeshow in America. Make it a point to register in 2023 for the five-day event happening in Orlando, FL from May 6-10, 2024.

Modex

The Modex Show is happening March 11-14 in Atlanta GA next year (2024). Promat is show similar to Modex that has come and gone for 2023. However, both are shows put on by MHI (The Material Handling Industry) with the goal of connecting professionals in the supply chain industry.

That’s a Wrap:

Find one you like and give it a whirl. You’ll likely meet great industry contacts, be able to talk about yourself and your products, as well as learn a little (or a lot) something new!

We all have odd habits and silly traditions. These things are different for all of us. Some seek fun or nostalgia. Others are after comfort or excitement. The truly great traditions in life seem to check all those boxes though and many here at FlexTrades have found just such a thing with the Polar Plunge! Our participation started on a whim – coworkers supporting coworkers, looking to have some fun, do some good, and check off an essential bucket list item of life in the North. By our second year, in 2019, Team FlexTrades had officially become a thing and an annual event had been born.

This year marked a milestone for us, with our 5th consecutive event, and we wanted to celebrate it appropriately. How, though? Well, by doing what FlexTrades always does – setting a goal and smashing it!

What is the Polar Plunge?

The Polar Plunge is an annual event that occurs in many states across the northern US. Some places it’s called the Polar Bear Plunge. Regardless of what it’s called or where it happens, the plunge supports Special Olympics. These events normally happen with the assistance of local law enforcement associations to coordinate, prepare sites, and run events. Money raised is then directed to local Special Olympics organizations to help fund all their activities throughout the year. The financial impact of these events is more than significant – they’re outright critical. For example, all plunges in Minnesota this year have already raised almost $3.5 MILLION for Special Olympics Minnesota!

What Do You Actually Do?

An event can get elaborate, depending on location, but the act of plunging itself is straight-forward. First, volunteers cut a giant hole in a frozen lake then setup a giant inflatable polar bear tunnel and some grandstands. Next a local radio or TV station sends out someone to act as MC and host to guide the spectators (which can be anywhere from dozens to hundreds depending on the event) through the day’s activities. Finally, people with very warm hearts jump into very cold water for a great cause. Then they get out as quickly as they can and head for heated tents to change and celebrate! If this sounds like something you’d like to see or do, there are still events scheduled throughout the month of March and they’re totally free to attend!

How Did Team FlexTrades Do?

In our first four years our plunge team raised over $16,000 dollars total and was consistently among the top fundraising corporations at our event – despite being a very small team in comparison to most others. This made us want to shoot big, so we did. We pushed hard to grow our team and ended up with our largest group of participants, 24 plungers, ever! We had some team members that had participated in every plunge and some who were going to their first. We even had some attend in their first year with FlexTrades. Current FlexTrades teammates, former coworkers, parents, children – this year was a collective representation of a true “work family.” Then we started raising funds. Based on the commitments individual team participants made at registration, Team FlexTrades was aiming to raise $4k but we set a stretch goal of $5k and a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of $6,000. By plunge day we had exceeded all of them! Raising a final total of $6,087 made this our best plunge yet!

When it was all said and done, we had our most fundraisers ever, most individual donations ever, highest number of plungers into the water ever, most kids participating ever, raised our annual average to over $5k per year, AND had a great time!

What Happens to All That Money?

This Special Olympics Minnesota makes a little go a long way and every dollar raised via a Polar Plunge is redirected back to SOMN organizations to do just that! From providing medals for athletes to paying for meals to forming new SOMN delegations and covering travel expenses to state, national, and international games – plunge dollars help fund everything that’s necessary for the Special Olympics. Team FlexTrades couldn’t be prouder to be a small part of that!

More Information

If you want to learn more about the when and why behind the start of Team FlexTrades and our Polar Plunge participation, read our previous blog about it. If you have questions about the plunge, Special Olympics, donating/participating, or FlexTrades’ involvement, please send them to our Writing Team to get answers! And never forget the creed all Special Olympic Athletes live and compete by, “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? How about the most charitable? Here at PMG, we like to combine the two answers every year when we Polar Plunge! Don’t know what that is or what it supports? Well then, let me tell you a little bit about it.

The Polar Plunge is a series of events, in many states across the country, where otherwise right-thinking people jump into freezing water in support of Special Olympics. Since all 14,000+ lakes here in Minnesota (bet you thought we only had 10k, huh?) freeze over each winter, we plunge. What do we mean by plunge? We cut a hole in the ice and jump in – pretty straightforward. It’s every bit as cold as it sounds but also so much fun!

About the Special Olympics

The Special Olympics began in the backyard of a Kennedy when Eunice Kennedy Shriver started her annual, “Camp Shriver” on the grounds of her Maryland home in 1962. This camp was aimed at providing summer engagement and physical activity for those with intellectual impairment who were, at that time, still barred from participating in more mainstream programs. It would become an annual event that grew each year. Eventually, Camp Shriver morphed into the International Special Olympics Summer Games. The first event under that name occurred in Chicago on July 20, 1968. Over a thousand athletes from the USA and Canada participated. Today, the inclusive movement that began that day touches more than 5 million children and adults, spread across over 170 countries.

My Polar Plunge Inspiration

It’s an easy mission to support and my personal connection with Special Olympics began with a birth, but it wasn’t mine. My cousin Joey was born with Down’s Syndrome in 1960. This was a time in our history when special needs children were still regularly separated from their families and institutionalized. “Mainstreaming” was not a concept in American society yet but trailblazers like Joey’s parents and Eunice Kennedy Shriver were beginning the ground swell of change that would eventually lead to reforms and progress like the Special Olympics and the Americans with Disabilities Act. By the time I came along in the early 1980s, Joey was already a young adult with more than a decade of Special Olympics experience under his belt. He would go on to accumulate another decade more, eventually competing in over two dozen Minnesota state games and a handful of national competitions.

The skills, confidence, and joy Joey gained from this career were a source of pride for the rest of his life and he applied lessons he learned from competition to his “regular” life daily. Multiple generations of our family gladly provided financial support to Special Olympics and shared in Joey’s experiences.

When I was looking for a more hands-on way to get involved with my support of the mission, I found it right around the time I started my career with PMG in early 2017. This was when I participated in my first Polar Plunge with friends.

PMG Supports Special Olympics

Everything about the experience was positive, exhilarating, inspiring, and uplifting. I couldn’t stop talking about it when I returned to work the following Monday – or for months to come! By the time 2018 was knocking on our door, several of my coworkers had agreed to participate with me and our first PMG Team was ready to take the plunge! Since then, we’ve raised over $14,000 to support Special Olympics programs across our home state. To put that amount in perspective, every $500 raised can provide the funding to start a new Special Olympics of Minnesota (SOMN) delegation. This organization can make a little go a long way!

Support a 2022 Polar Plunge

Today, as we prepare for our 5th Annual Polar Plunge, we’d like to share the fun with you too! You don’t need to be in Minnesota, or even willing to jump into a lake, to participate with us. Thanks to the internet and COVID, there are now a lot of ways you can partake or support us.

Our event takes place on February 19, 2022, in Prior Lake, Minnesota. You can participate with us by doing any of the following:

Plunge virtually (or throwing a rubber chicken into the lake rather than yourself). I’m also offering to personally create a corresponding “Freeze Your Beard” video for every virtual plunger we get registered with our PMG Team!
Donate to support our team. If you’re not interested in getting cold and wet. Register or donate to our team with this link.
Come out and support the team in person on the ice. Spectators are welcome and encouraged!
Cheer on our team on social media – some of us will need the extra boost to take the plunge!

More Information

Don’t forget, you can find a plunge event anywhere in the world and create your own team too! As much as we’d love your support, we want you to support Special Olympics even more. If you have questions about the plunge, Special Olympics, donating/participating, or PMG’s involvement please send them to our Writing Team to get answers! And never forget the creed all Special Olympic Athletes live and compete by, “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Act 1: About FlexTrades

Act 2: Career Tips & Advice

Act 3: Questions & Answers

Conclusion

The Shows You Missed:

The Shows You Can Still Attend:

Southtec / Westtec

2024 Trade Shows and Expos:

Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS)

That’s a Wrap:

What is the Polar Plunge?

What Do You Actually Do?

How Did Team FlexTrades Do?

What Happens to All That Money?

More Information

About the Special Olympics

My Polar Plunge Inspiration

PMG Supports Special Olympics

Support a 2022 Polar Plunge

More Information

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