Starting young: Rubber Division targets high schools to fill talent gap

CLEVELAND—In any industry, there needs to be a pipeline of new talent to develop.

The rubber industry is trying to start young.

The ACS Rubber Division recently leveraged its International Elastomer Conference in Cleveland to show off the industry to 135 high school students from five area schools—Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Field, Rootstown and Copley. The goal is to show kids that rubber is a viable career, getting them thinking about the possibilities so that when the time comes to choose a college, they know what path to take.

"Our goal at Rubber Division is to bridge the gap in the industry," said Nicole Neila, the Rubber Division's training and development manager. "We want to get kids interested, make it an option and make it a thought in their mind. We want to get them thinking rubber. The best way to do that is hands on."

This was the third such outreach program offered at the Rubber Expo, the other two also occurring at the Cleveland expos in 2015 and 2017. This time around, however, the division decided to put together a more hands-on approach.

It split the kids into two groups. They spent one hour conducting experiments in groups of eight with instructors from Akron Rubber Development Laboratory Inc., which had nine stations with three demos set up for kids to rotate in 20-minute blocks. The other hour was spent on the Rubber Expo floor where kids were given a passport listing 14 booths to visit and learn about what those companies had to offer.

Neila's goal was to expose them to a variety of areas. R.D. Abbott Co. Inc. showed off a 3D printed shoe sole that got some of the kids' faces to light up.

"I wanted them to start a conversation with people in the industry," Neila said. "I wanted them to get that confidence and start building dialogue."

Growing the program

The goal is for the Rubber Division to start doing some form of outreach at every Rubber Expo, not just the odd years. The event won't be returning to Cleveland for the next two cycles—Knoxville, Tenn., is next up in 2020 and then Pittsburgh for 2021 and 2023. The 2022 and 2024 locations haven't been decided yet.

"I'd like to do the same thing in Knoxville next year," Neila said. "We should have some sort of youth outreach every place we go because it's a way for us to plant roots. We can hit Cleveland, Ohio, as much as we want, but we have the whole U.S. we have to cover."

One key in growing the program at the 2019 expo was ARDL's involvement, which Neila said was instrumental. The firm contributed 14 of its employees—including President Bonnie Stuck—to help put together and teach the demonstrations.

Stuck made sure that younger members of ARDL's work force were included, and several ran demonstrations.

"I think it means something to those kids hearing it from someone who is young," Stuck said. "I don't think they understand that the rubber industry has great jobs that pay well and are interesting. If you show them that connection, you're going to recruit more people."

Developing the next generation is important to Stuck. For her, the epiphany came when her daughter received her master's degree from the University of Akron. Stuck made a note of the polymer science section, and that only one person receiving one such degree that graduated that December was from the U.S.

"I thought something is wrong," she said. "Here we are in the middle of the polymer industry and we're not reaching these kids. We're not getting these kids to think that they can get a really good career. I think there's a bit of a disconnect. We feel like we can connect that disconnect and the high school teachers in the STEM programs are really pushing that. We feel like we can show them not just what they'd be doing, but also some young people who just graduated."

Industry buy in

Neila said when the day began, she asked the 135 kids who had thought about going into the rubber industry and no hands went up.

When the day was over, she asked the same question, and about 25 hands went up, which points to the value of these kinds of outreach programs.

However, both her and Stuck know that it can't stop there.

"Now, as an industry, we have to figure out how to keep these children engaged," Neila said. "We want to keep them on the pathway. It's not just something that comes from us, it has to be industry based. The whole industry has to be involved."

Stuck said ARDL conducts several outreach programs throughout the year, both on its own and through partnerships. Each year, she said the firm partners with the Rubber Division to hold a three-and-a-half-day training class in the spring.

The outreach doesn't just target the students, but the parents, too. Stuck said kids with scientific parents usually know the road map. Either way, it's important to make sure the kids have support because there is no black-and-white path to the rubber industry as there is other professions—like nursing.

"There is no rubber pathway," Neila said. "You can go into chemistry, but once you do you get pulled in 50 different directions. We need to keep them engaged in rubber, and as an industry we have to come together and figure that out."

To keep students engaged, both at the high school and the collegiate levels, they need to stay exposed to the rubber industry. And Neila said that requires industry buy in, for companies like ARDL to provide outreach opportunities and show off the possibilities of a rubber industry career.

Stuck said beyond the education required, students are more interested in the what—what will they be making, what will their job be like, what companies will they be working for and what opportunities does a career in rubber provide.

"I didn't have the foggiest idea of what my life would be like working for a rubber company," Stuck said. "I just started working for Goodrich because they were there and they offered me the best job. You've got to get them there, you've got to get them in the door and get them to get the science degrees. It's hard to get the science degrees."