Manufacturing Day Tour Highlights Spokane Industry

On Friday, October 7th, the Center of Excellence celebrated Manufacturing Day by hosting a tour for Spokane-area high school students. In partnership with the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium and the Spokane Valley Chamber, more than 25 area juniors and seniors visited Acme Manufacturing, Altek and Wagstaff.

With a rented bus and a videographer in tow, the group first visited Acme Manufacturing Incorporated. CEO Dennis Kubica spoke with students about the opportunities in the industry, highlighting the recent re-shoring efforts to bring manufacturing back from China. Dennis is seeing manufacturing return, with his shop fulfilling orders for shorter, more specialized runs. But he provided a cautious word, "This business is cyclical, it always is." Dennis shared his expectations for employees and fielded questions from students about safety, materials and the processes Acme uses.

Next, students visited Altek, an east valley manufacturer with a 40-year history in the area. As Altek Vice President Rick Taylor said to KXLY earlier this year, people are "amazed to find out we build aircraft laboratories, heart defibrillators, ultrasound machines and things being launched into space." They also build drone and robotics kits through an on-site subsidiary, providing kits and curriculum for school-based projects across the country.

After pizza was provided by the Spokane Valley Chamber, students visited Wagstaff, makers of direct chill casting equipment essential to the manufacture of aluminum cans, aerospace bodies, building facades and much more. The scale of the site was impressive, with casting machines and other large-scale industrial equipment available for testing and research. Wagstaff's commitment to professionalism and safety was evident throughout the tour, making a compelling case for students to consider joining Wagstaff in the future.

Watch the day's video, learn more about Manufacturing Day and visit our partners INWAC and the Spokane Valley Chamber. Thank you all for a great day!