Not only is October National Manufacturing Month, but today we also celebrate National Manufacturing Day.

Greene County Economic Development Director Ken Paxton says Greene County is home to six major manufacturers with Scranton Manufacturing, B&D Manufacturing, Power Lift, American Athletic Incorporated/Spalding and Russell Athletic, Deere and Company and Bauer Built Manufacturing.  He says all six manufacturing companies started in the county and now have over 75 employees.  These employers continue to support community programs and work with the schools to keep graduates in the community.

Scranton Manufacturing is taking it one step further to help fulfill its need for employers, following a major expansion to their facility.  Vice-President of Operations Jim Ober says they are implementing an on-the-job training course to give anyone the opportunity to learn a skill trade, which Ober believes is a win-win for the individual and their company.

“You bring in a welder, maybe they’re skilled already, we bring them in and we run them through this course, they know our standards, they know our expectations versus just putting them out in the factory to start welding on garbage trucks.  They’re actually learning the processes that we expect from them, before we turn them loose.”

Paxton says manufacturing is the key to the continued growth of the county.