Post: Sep. 19, 2019
The Council of Industry recently launched a podcast! In this episode Harold King from the Council of Industry interviews Aaron Hopmayer, Principal of Pine Bush High School.
Episode 2:Pine Bush High School, Integrating Education and Career Readiness at the Highest Level
Aaron Hopmayer, affectionately known as “HOP” talked about Pine Bush High School’s success in integrating STEAM into all disciplines and the booming enrollment in their summer enrichment academies (including their newest summer academy for Advanced Manufacturing).
You can learn more about Pine Bush’s Summer Enrichment Academies here:
• STEM Academy
• Advanced Manufacturing Academy
Hop shares his experience overcoming obstacles, building engagement and generally doing whatever it takes because “its good for kids”. Pine Bush High School will also be hosting an Advanced Manufacturing and STEAM Careers Night on October 2nd from 5pm – 8:30pm designed for students with interests ranging from entry level positions to Engineers. All are welcome for an opportunity to meet with local manufacturers, colleges and trade schools. There will also be a chance to tour Pine Bush High School’s Innovation Center and Fabrication Labs.
For more information on Pine Bush High School’s 2019 Manufacturing Day contact Aaron Hopmayer at: (845) 744-2031 ext. 3601
Aaron Hopmayer was also featured as the Leadership Profile in the Spring 2018 issue of HV Mfg Magazine
For more Council of Industry podcasts follow our SoundCloud station here.
You can also listen to Episode 1: MPI, At the intersection of manufacturing, innovation and family business here. In this episode Harold King and Johnnieanne Hansen from the Council of Industry interview Bruce and Aaron Phipps of Poughkeepsie based manufacturing company, MPI. Bruce and Aaron Phipps talk about what its like to grow up in a family owned business and now work together as contemporaries tackling the challenges and celebrating the successes with their MPI family.
Post: Sep. 10, 2019
In an effort to expand our reach and spread the word about manufacturing in the region, The Council of Industry is launching a podcast. We’ve been working behind the scenes to bring our members and the community an inside look into the people of Hudson Valley manufacturing.
The podcast space has grown expansively in the US with over 40% increase in awareness since 2017. According to Edison Research, 62 million Americans have listened to podcasts in the past week.
Our mission is to support our members and promote their success. One important way we do that is to help people get to know all about manufacturing in the Hudson Valley; the companies, the products, the technologies, and the people – as well as its economic importance to the region. As technology evolves, opportunities to communicate that message change. In the 1930s, we introduced the CI newsletter, followed by www.councilofindustry.org in 1991, and the introduction of HV MFG, The Council of Industry’s Magazine, in 2013. Over the last few years, we added a K-12 outreach resource www.gomakeit.org, expanded our YouTube Channel and formed a 501(c)3, (Hudson Valley Manufacturing Workforce Center); simultaneously weaving our message with the purpose of increasing awareness and promoting the success of our members.
The staff at CI already get to talk to fascinating, impactful people daily – now we can share those stories. Adding the podcast medium will help us broaden our reach and help us share insights, best practices and hopefully some laughs, with a wider audience. Perhaps the podcast will help bring the already supportive manufacturing community even closer together.
Here’s a Taste of What’s to Come:
Episode 1: Bruce and Aaron Phipps, MPI
Aaron and Bruce share details about what it is like to grow up in a family-owned business and now work together as contemporaries tackling the challenges and celebrating the successes with their MPI family. Aaron is heavily involved at SUNY New Paltz on their advisory board and mentoring interns. They speak about the importance of engagement at that level, training and building the next generation of workforce. Aaron and Bruce are fun to talk to and we’re thankful they agreed to be our tester podcast.
Listen to Episode 1: MPI, At the intersection of manufacturing, innovation and family business
Episode 2: Aaron Hopmayer, Principal, Pine Bush High School
Aaron Hopmayer, affectionately known as “HOP” is top-notch. We talked with Aaron and Kenny Marshall about their success in integrating STEAM into all disciplines, the booming enrollment in their summer enrichment academies (including their newest summer academy for Advanced Manufacturing). Hop shares his experience overcoming obstacles, building engagement and generally doing whatever it takes because “its good for kids”. Big shout out to Kenny Marshall, STEAM Coach for helping us work through the podcast flow and his patience for working with Harold and me, amateurs that we are. Kenny is a transformational teacher and coach; he was also one of our 2018 Manufacturing Champions. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Kenny in our podcast world.
Episode 3: Julian Stauffer, PTI
We truly enjoyed talking with Julian. He talked about his family history and the changes in leadership over the last several decades. He shared some insight about the importance of an adaptable, diverse workplace and what’s ahead for this growing company in Westchester. Julian and his brother Oliver are gracious hosts and the epitome of leadership in advanced manufacturing. We barely scratched the surface in this podcast, I look forward to chatting with Julian, and Oliver again in the near future.
Episode 4: Joe & Jimmy Ferrara and Stephanie Melick, ELNA Magnetics
Not only were we able to chat with Joe, Jimmy and Steph in episode 4, they are also going to be featured in our upcoming edition of HV Mfg. Magazine. We laughed a little too much while preparing for this podcast and then worked out our jitters together. We talked about the culture at Elna, their efforts to tackle workforce development challenges and the future of the business. This was a fun conversation – hopefully, some of the content actually makes it to the ‘podcast’.
Still to come:
Jenny Clark, Global Foundries
Gretchen Zierick, Zierick’s 100-year anniversary
Meaghan Taylor, Regional Director, Empire State Development
This podcast launches in conjunction with other CI activities including our latest video featuring an Electro-Mechanical Technician Apprentice, Forrest (sponsored by Tompkins Mahopac Bank) and the upcoming edition of the HV Mfg Magazine due out in October.
We are always looking for great content; if you are interested in joining us for a podcast episode or know someone who is particularly interesting, please reach out to jhansen@councilofindustry.org.
Post: May. 3, 2019
Manufacturing companies all over the Hudson Valley are eager to recruit and train the next generation of young men and women to continue the legacy of building quality products used across the nation and overseas. Thanks to the efforts of a high school principal and technology teacher, this process is going to become easier. Aaron Hopmayer has been the principal of Pine Bush High School for almost 18 years. Throughout those years, Mr. Hopmayer has created several programs aimed at students interested in pursuing a trade.
HV MFG sat down with Mr. Hopmayer back in 2018 to discuss the progress made over the years. Growing up, Mr. Hopmayer was not fully sure what he wanted to pursue as a career. After graduating high school, he joined the Army and served in Iraq and various other places. After serving, Mr. Hopmayer came back to the Hudson Valley and became a student at SUNY New Paltz where he majored in Secondary Education/Social Studies and eventually earned a masters in Special Education. His first teaching job was in Fallsburg where he learned what it takes to support both students and teachers while meeting state education requirements.
After working at Fallsburg, Mr. Hopmayer began working at Pine Bush High School which houses around 1,800 students in grades 9 through 12. The high school is home to a diverse community that is continuing to grow with a district budget of $115 million. From the very first day, Mr. Hopmayer said the main focus of the school is the children and making sure the faculty/staff is doing everything possible to ensure they will develop into successful adults. One of the initiatives started is called Summer Academies, which range from 1-4 weeks in duration and teach kids various subjects. Currently, there are 6 different disciplines including Leadership and Law, Aviation, Performing Arts, Science, Horsepower & Engineering, and Medical. Each program is taught by district teachers as well as community leader who specialize in the given field. The program is so successful that students are even able to earn SUNY Orange Community College Credit in some classes. In addition, STEM Academy was created to help incoming high schoolers gain exposure to manufacturing programs.
Mr. Hopmayer contributes many of the successes to the excellent staff he works with that always show enthusiasm and energy towards the students. Over the past few years, Pine Bush High School has seen fewer fights thanks to programs designed to help students find their passions. With many manufacturers across the Hudson Valley looking to hire new talents, the hard work that Mr. Hopmayer, the faculty, and the students have put into these programs will soon pay off.
The full interview between HV MFG and Mr. Hopmayer can be viewed here.
