NEPIRC

🎉Happy 9-year NEPIRC anniversary to Ray Kryeski, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering Specialist! 🎉 Ray specializes in helping clients develop, enhance, and maintain their quality management systems for quality (ISO 9001:2015), environmental (ISO 14001:2015) and aerospace management (AS9100D). He also holds two patents from the United States Patent Trademark Office. Working at NEPIRC gives Ray a great opportunity to see the many different products manufactured in our area and assist those places in growing their businesses. When Ray is not at work, he enjoys riding his motorcycle with his wife Kim and their friends. He also enjoys hunting, fishing and just enjoying the great outdoors! Ray, we appreciate all you do for NEPIRC and our clients! Please join us in congratulating Ray on this achievement. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #workanniversary🎉

Gertrude Hawk Chocolates is Manufacturer of the Month for January! Headquartered in Dunmore, PA, the company originated in 1936 when Gertrude (Jones) Hawk started making chocolate in her kitchen on Mark Avenue in the Poconos. Soon after, Gertrude and her son Elmer built their first large-scale manufacturing facility, as well as a retail store. In the early 1980s, the company invested in a one-shot shell molder, a new process for forming molded chocolates. Soon after this investment was made, the well-known Smidgen was born! Peanut Butter Smidgens quickly became the company's #1 selling chocolate and still remain so today. Presently, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates utilizes over 150,000 sq. ft. of modern production and distribution space to supply its customers with the products they have grown to love. Gertrude Hawk was also recently featured as part of WVIA's NEPA @ Work digital short series. Visit https://bit.ly/4fY5BB7 to watch the video and read the blog authored by DiscoverNEPA. Please consider Gertrude Hawk Chocolates when purchasing your Valentine's Day gifts and treats this upcoming season! If you'd like to be a featured as a Manufacturer of the Month, please email Chelsey@NEPIRC.com for more information. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #madeinpa #manufacturingspotlight

Did you register yet for NEPIRC's new no-cost webinar: Lean vs. Six Sigma? Taking place Tuesday, January 14 from 10 to 11 a.m. via MS Teams, you won't want to miss out. Mark Morgis, NEPIRC's Continuous Improvement Specialist, will discuss Lean and Six Sigma, which are two of the most prominent process improvement methodologies that organizations use across industries. Although they both have similar philosophies, understanding what makes them different will allow an organization to selectively use the correct tool and get the best benefit. Lean Sigma is perceived as a hybrid of the two but is most effective if each methodology is discreetly understood. Participants will learn the key similarities between Lean and Six Sigma, along with the theoretical and practical distinctions between them. The instructor will also provide an understanding of which is the best fit for attendees' respective organizations. Learn more and register today! Visit https://bit.ly/3DikW1r or www.NEPIRC.com/Training. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #leanmanufacturing

🎉Happy 2-year NEPIRC anniversary to Jenelle Osborne, Talent Stream Coordinator! 🎉 Jenelle originally joined NEPIRC as our part-time Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team Project Coordinator responsible for growing and overseeing NEPIRC's Dream Team. She conducted school outreach to book in-school presentation dates, arranged Dream Team involvement in career fairs and summer youth camps and coordinated Dream Team Ambassador schedules and events. As of March 2024, Jenelle accepted a full-time position as NEPIRC’s Talent Stream Coordinator. In addition to her Dream Team responsibilities, Jenelle's efforts now also include the attraction and retention of qualified talent for our local manufacturers. Jenelle's favorite aspect of working at NEPIRC is having the ability to connect with and help inform students of the many great manufacturing career opportunities that exist in our region. Jenelle has established close relationships with manufacturing professionals and school administrators who all work together to achieve the common goal of inspiring local youth to consider manufacturing and trade careers and realize that today's advanced manufacturing industry is safe, clean, technologically advanced and offers great opportunities. Jenelle's two sons are her world, so when not at work, her life revolves around them and their after school activities and events. Whether roller skating, bowling with friends or having family game nights, spending time with family and friends is most important to Jenelle. She also enjoy volunteering for various community organizations. Please join us in congratulating Jenelle on her work anniversary! #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #workanniversary🎉

Manufacturers! Register for the Sustainability Change Champion webinar series hosted by Catalyst Connection, NEPIRC's Pittsburgh-based sister Center. There is no cost to participate in any of the webinars in this series. The first webinar took place December 13th and looked at how to become a change agent within your organization. These webinars do not build upon each other, so if you missed the first one, you can still register for the subsequent events. The next webinar will be held on Friday, January 17th from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will observe how to make your organization resilient to complex and “wicked” problems. It will provide emerging leaders with practical tools and strategies to address the most challenging and complex problems their organizations face. Participants will learn how to approach these “wicked problems” by embracing flexibility, engaging with various stakeholders and developing strategies that adapt to changing circumstances. Visit https://bit.ly/3ZWPPAc or www.NEPIRC.com/CleanEnergy to learn more and register. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #cleanenergy #greenmanufacturing

Start 2025 on a safe note, and register today for NEPIRC's OSHA 30-Hour Training Course for General Industry. This class will be held weekly starting on Tuesday, January 7 to January 28 at NEPIRC's Hanover Twp. office. Each class will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Taught by Brian Matyjevich, NEPIRC’s Professional Safety Expert & Lean Specialist, this program will help participants ensure their workplace is up to date on the latest safety trends and solutions. To learn more and register, visit https://bit.ly/3ZmsCqL or www.NEPIRC.com/Training. NEPIRC is a proud member of the OSHA Alliance. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #workplacesafety #oshatraining

The NEPIRC team wishes our clients, partners, associates, and stakeholders a holiday season filled with joy, peace and love, and a healthy and prosperous new year! #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #happyholidays2024

NEPIRC's Manufacturing Ambassador Dream Team is closing out 2024 on a high note by participating in three great events this month: 1. Dream Team Ambassador Justin Price, Continuous Improvement Operations Manager at USHydrations, spoke to approximately 120 juniors and seniors over several class periods at Blue Ridge High School regarding his exciting career journey in manufacturing. 2. Dream Team Ambassador Zachary Mulhern, Materials Manager at Ashley Machine & Tool Co., shared his career experiences with a group of seniors at Riverside Jr. / Sr. High School. Jenelle Osborne, NEPIRC's Talent Stream Coordinator, and Zach are pictured with Vito Quaglia, Riverside's principal, who was Jenelle's and Zach's principal at Wyoming Area High School over 20 years ago. 3. Dream Team Ambassador Kimberly Smalley, Training Specialist at CANPACK Group, and Jenelle Osborne participated in Junior Achievement of NEPA's YES! Day at Carbondale High School, along with several other community volunteers. In total, NEPIRC's Dream Team participated in 64 speaking engagements and events connecting with over 11,000 students this year! We are so proud of our Dream Team and Jenelle Osborne, who ensures this initiative runs as smoothly and successfully as possible. As we close out 2024, we are looking forward to a wonderful 2025 - encouraging even more students to consider careers in manufacturing! #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #careerswithpurpose

Matthew Inniger, Program Manager at the Center for Innovative Food Technology (part of Ohio MEP), was recently a guest columnist in "Food Industry Executive" and authored an article entitled, "From Farm to Future: How Technology Is Heating Up the Food Industry." He shares five themes that significantly impact the food industry, including supply chain flexibility, digitization, autonomous systems/automation, increased consumer awareness of food sourcing/sustainability and operational sustainability requirements. Click https://bit.ly/4fpQuQr to read the complete article. #mepnationalnetwork #manufacturing #foodmanufacturing #supplychain

🎉NEPIRC would like to congratulate the group of Procter & Gamble employees who recently completed OSHA 30 training! 🎉 The OSHA 30-hour training course was designed by OSHA to help individuals who are responsible for enforcing workplace safety, so they can be educated on the basics of OSHA health and safety regulations. This program was taught by Brian Matyjevich, NEPIRC's Authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer and Professional Safety Expert. Jeff Ritter, Compliance Assistance Specialist with OSHA, assisted Brian with instructing the course. NEPIRC would like to wish our grads all the best in their workplace safety endeavors! If you're interested in OSHA 30 for yourself or your team, NEPIRC will offer a public class starting on Tuesday, January 7, which will be held weekly until January 28 at NEPIRC's Hanover Twp. office. Each class will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more and register, visit https://bit.ly/3ZmsCqL. NEPIRC is a proud member of the OSHA Alliance. #mepnationalnetwork #PADCED #manufacturing #manufacturingtraining #workplacesafety