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THE AUTOMATION FEDERATION NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Infantino
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The Automation Federation and Piedmont Triad Partnership Host Another Successful Technology Career Days Event

Research Triangle Park, NC (23 November 2009) – The Automation Federation worked with the Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP) in organizing the Technology Career Days ‘09 event for high school students at Randolph Community College’s (RCC) Asheboro Campus, which took place 27 October 2009.

Sponsored by PTP through a U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant, the event was designed to provide high school students the opportunity to learn about rewarding careers in automation and technology fields.

Nearly 500 high school students representing eleven North Carolina counties—Alamance, Chatham, Davie, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin—took part in this two-day event.

During the event, North Carolina Lt. Governor Walter Dalton addressed the students, and stressed the importance the students’ career choices had to the region’s future.

In addition to hands-on workshops and demonstrations on technology ranging from automotive to machining to robotics, the students were able to connect with industry leaders like CJMW (an architectural firm), NASA, and FedEx Innovations Lab through video conferencing at the event. The North Carolina Community College System’s NC Mobile Career Launch Pad was also available for tours.

“This is a great event for getting students excited about technology and career paths,” said PTP Senior VP, Theresa Reynolds. “It exposes students to technology they would not have seen otherwise. The Piedmont Triad Partnership is very pleased with the results.”

Exhibitors at the event included professionals from the Piedmont region of North Carolina, such as ABCO (an automation company), The Timken Company, Steelcase, Banner, the NASCAR Technical Institute, North Carolina A&T’s College of Engineering, Forsyth Technical Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, and RCC.

Organizers hailed Technology Career Days a success. Bob Crigler, Automation Federation director for the PTP contract, said, “The Automation Federation is pleased to have coordinated a second successful Technology Career Days event with the Piedmont Triad Partnership. The Automation Federation hopes that more of these events will be held in North Carolina, across the United States of America, and across the world. And, that they continue to bring insight to our future workers about the many and exciting careers in automation.”

Kim Miller Dunn, Automation Federation president, said, “The Automation Federation recognizes that reaching out to students early, when they are exploring career paths, is vital to our workforce development initiatives. I am very pleased to have the Federation play a role in the success of the Technology Career Days events. These events benefit the students and the rest of the world by demonstrating to them the importance automation plays in our world.”

More information about the Automation Federation’s Workforce Development efforts can be found at www.automationfederation.org.

The Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP), one of seven regional economic development partnerships in North Carolina, is the economic development organization representing the 12-county Piedmont Triad region. The PTP is the lead organization for the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative, which supports the development of an integrated regional economic development and workforce development strategy for the Piedmont Triad. The Piedmont Triad, the nation's 37th-largest metro region with more than 1.5 million residents, includes the counties of Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin.

For more information about the PTP, visit www.piedmonttriadnc.com.

The Automation Federation manages the activities of the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Cluster Roundtable for PTP. The Automation Federation works with PTP to create new, high-skill, high-wage jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector.