Last week, Omaha hosted 10 educators from high schools, middle schools, Metropolitan Community College, and Nebraska Jobs for American Graduates. The two-and-a-half-day Educator Externship was an opportunity for the group to learn more about manufacturing and career paths at Lozier.
The program has been hosted for more than 10 years, providing an inside look of Lozier to educators to share with their students. More than 105,000 people work in manufacturing across the state of Nebraska, meaning that some of the students the educators work with will likely take part in a career in the manufacturing industry.
On the first day of the program, the educators were greeted by Andy Lozier, Chief People Officer Tammy Carlson, Director of Marketing & Communications Hannah Bolte, Community Outreach & Engagement Manager Ralph Kleinsmith and various other employees and members of the Executive team to officially welcome them to the program.
After lunch with members of the Human Resources and Learning and Development teams, the educators learned more about Lozier’s products and history in Omaha’s Showroom from Design Concept Manager Scott Muller. In the afternoon, the group toured the North Plant with Plant Manager Linn Kroeger and Operations Manager Darryl Sparr and the Distribution Center with DC Manager Matt Banker to receive an inside look at current operations. The educators were introduced to several employees in the plant who spoke about their journeys at Lozier.
Day two began with the Airplane exercise where the educators worked as a team to solve challenges with product flow and throughput time with the guidance of Senior Training and Development Specialist Joe Collins. After the exercise, Product Engineering Manager Tyler Holm spoke with the group about Engineering and answered questions. Additionally, the group learned more about Lozier’s marketing and communications efforts from Hannah Bolte, Brand Manager Josh Gear and Marketing Strategist Maddie Randby.
In the afternoon, the educators took part in an activity called the Red Bead experiment. Brand Manager Josh Gear hosted the activity, originally created by Dr. W Edwards Deming. The simulation showcases that a work environment can become unhealthy if the measurements of performance are uncontrollable. To wrap up the day, the visitors were spit into groups for their Pick a Career Track activities for Engineering, Quality, Skilled Trades, Information Technology and Procurement.
Day three continued with more Pick a Career Track workshops with Engineering, Operations, Skilled Trades, Information Technology, and Product Design/Drafting. The morning concluded with a panel discussion of several professionals from various pathways of success. The panelists included Product Engineer I Lauren Berke, Human Resources Generalist II Jill Huff, Learning & Development Intern Ava LaSure, Production/Operations Supervisor Marquevis Finley, Sponsorship for the Trades Electrical Mechanical Technician Tyler McQuinn and Inventory Coordinator Hannah Martinez.
Organized and executed by Community Outreach & Engagement Manager Ralph Kleinsmith, the program brought excellent reviews from the educators who participated in the event this year. Workshops such as the Red Bead experiment, Airplane Exercise, Panel Discussion and Pick a Career Track proved to be memorable experiences that the educators plan to discuss with their students in the near future.