Emerson receives SME Outstanding Partner Award

Emerson, a global manufacturing and technology company, supporter of quality educational systems, and true to its commitment to helping educate young people as our future global leaders, has received the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation’s 2010 Outstanding Partner Award. The award was presented to Robert M. Cox Jr., Emerson senior vice president for administration on Monday, April 19, at the SME Education Foundation Board of Directors Dinner at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley.

Bart A. Aslin, foundation director, SME Education Foundation says, “Emerson is an extraordinary organization. They have been a supporter of our Foundation and our youth programs for a very long time and they are truly outstanding partners. Their consistently generous funding of more than $600,000 since 2001 has truly allowed us to enrich the lives of young people and setting them on a career path offering innovative tech-based education. We’re grateful for their support.”

Emerson’s annual financial support to the SME Education Foundation assured Gateway Academies at Hazelwood North Middle School, Florissant, St. Louis, Mo., Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington, Ohio, and Strom Thurmond High School & Career Center, Johnson (near Aiken), S. C. At its beginning, Emerson funding also supported the Science, Technology and Engineering Preview Summer (STEPS) Camp for seventh- and eighth-grade students near Emerson facilities. The camps were offered in conjunction with the Girl Scouts, St. Louis Chapter and at St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, Mo.

The concept of the Gateway Academy was created in a partnership between the SME Education Foundation and Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. The Foundation and PLTW are dedicated to filling the pipeline with highly-trained and skilled workers to meet the demand of emerging technologies in the next ten years. In 2009, the SME Education Foundation held 237 Gateway Academies and reached more than 4,800 students in 28 states. Their goal is to increase to 300 Gateway Academies in 2010.

In the United States today, companies continue to cut their workforce and move work to overseas markets where labor is not only cheaper, but offers an incredible pool of talented, technology proficient workers. The goal of the SME Education Foundation is to influence and encourage young people to take advantage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes to better prepare themselves for the highly-skilled jobs industry needs and emerging technologies are demanding.

About Emerson
Emerson is a diversified global manufacturing and technology company. The company offers a wide range of products and services in the areas of process management, climate technologies, network power, storage solutions, professional tools, appliance solutions, motor technologies, and industrial automation. Recognized widely for its engineering capabilities and management excellence, Emerson has more than 140,000 employees and approximately 255 manufacturing locations worldwide.