Manufacturing Month 2025 at Barron Industries
Inspiring the Next Generation
October is Manufacturing Month, and once again, Barron Industries was proud to open our doors to local students for an inside look at today’s advanced manufacturing.
This year, twenty seniors from Clarkston High School’s mechanical engineering class toured our Oxford, Michigan facility to experience how precision castings and assemblies are made for the aerospace, defense, space, and commercial industries. Students saw the entire process firsthand — from design and additive manufacturing to industrial robotics, metalcasting, CNC machining, quality control, and non-destructive testing.
Each student made their own metal keychain as a keepsake — a small but memorable symbol of their day in modern manufacturing.
We’re especially grateful to our partners — Oakland County Michigan Works!, Oakland County Government, Oakland Schools, and Oakland Community College — for coordinating such a meaningful experience and helping raise awareness of manufacturing career opportunities in our region. Barron is honored to be featured in the 2025 Manufacturing Day video, showcasing Michigan’s critical role in advanced manufacturing.
Building the Workforce of Tomorrow
Manufacturing Month isn’t just a single-day celebration — it’s part of a broader effort to address the growing skilled workforce shortage impacting manufacturers across Michigan and the nation.
According to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, skilled trade positions will account for 47,000 annual job openings in Michigan through 2028. Nationally, a report by the Skilled Careers Coalition projects 2.4 million unfilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S. by 2028.
When we invite students onto our shop floor, it’s more than a tour — it’s an investment in people. By exposing high schoolers to cutting-edge manufacturing, we help break outdated stereotypes, spark curiosity, and highlight high-paying, high-tech career pathways that don’t always require a four-year degree.
Closing the gap between need and talent requires more than recruitment — it demands commitment. Manufacturers must train, mentor, and build pipelines to develop the next generation of makers, engineers, and innovators.
The challenge is large, but together, we can build a stronger, more skilled manufacturing future — here in Michigan and beyond.