Dream It Do It WNY Director Melissa Himes looks in on welding class

The Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier has announced the hiring of Melissa Himes as the Director of the Dream It Do It Western New York program.

Himes has 16 years of experience working in manufacturing and 23 years of experience in human resources. She replaces former Director Francine Rondenell.

MAST Executive Director Todd Tranum said Francine took a position with a partner organization, where she will be providing training to help individuals who are entering or re-entering the workforce.

Tranum said in a statement that Melissa Himes had previously been involved with the Dream It Do It program during her time working in manufacturing and has been involved in several other programs including P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) in Dunkirk and the Chautauqua County Education Coalition.
Dream It Do It Western New York, an initiative of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier, has a mission to increase the skilled workforce pipeline entering manufacturing careers.

Himes will oversee implementation of a variety of DIDI programming such as the annual STEM Wars event, technology tours that connect local students to local manufacturing, engagement with teachers and counselors to facilitate an understanding of manufacturing careers, girls in manufacturing programs introducing more young women to manufacturing career opportunities, manufacturing camps and a variety of other initiatives.

DIDI Chautauqua County is seeking volunteers from industry, schools, and the community. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Melissa Himes at mhimes@didiwny.com.

To learn more about Dream It Do It, visit www.didiwny.com.

The free event is being held in collaboration with SUNY Fredonia from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Saturday, November 5th. Participants are asked to arrive at 8:30 a.m. for setup at SUNY Fredonia’s Steele Hall.

The DIDI 500 competition brings together teams of students and engineers from local manufacturers, who design, build, test, race, and sell self-powered cars. Teams of four have two and half hours to get their car built and ready to race.

Participating teams will be judged on design, teamwork, performance, and marketing. Awards will be given to the winners of the middle school and high school divisions. Students will receive a DIDI 500 tee shirt, a free lunch, and the winners will receive prizes.

Students must be accompanied by a parent, teacher, or guardian during the event, with no drop-offs.

Register at www.didiwny.com or contact DIDI Director Francine Rondenell at frondenell@didiwny.com with questions.

We speak with Dream It, Do It Coordinator Francine Rondenell and Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier Executive Director Todd Tranum about the Dream It, Do It program.

Dream It Do It coordinates tours of students, teachers and counselors through local manufacturing facilities. A group of students from Randolph with assistance from DIDI toured Stuart Tool & Die in Falconer this past fall.

A local program that works to get more skilled workers into manufacturing is starting strong after the pandemic put the program on pause.

Dream It, Do It Western New York‘s new coordinator, Francine Rondenell, said October is National Manufacturing Month, “What we tend to do during the month of October for Manufacturing month is to really try to get students into area manufacturers to tour, ask questions, see in person what today’s manufacturing looks like.”

Dream It, Do It is an initiative of the Manufacturer’s Association of the Southern Tier. MAST Executive Director Todd Tranum said workforce is the number one challenge faced by manufacturers and has been even before the issues brought on by the Pandemic, “We see Dream It, Do It as an important part of this. I mean, there’s other initiatives in the community that are important. JCC has made a significant investment in their workforce development side and in the Manufacturing Institute. We have the P-TECH program out of Dunkirk which is available to schools throughout the district. We’ve seen our specific schools make additional investments and recognizing the importance of skilled trades and manufacturing.”

Rondenell said the Dream It, Do It 500, which originated in Cattaraugus County, is coming to SUNY Fredonia this November. She said it’s a competition where students build and market rubber band powered cars, “But the task is for them to be on-site and coming up with the design and building it and testing it and then racing it. And we’ll have a panel of judges there who will be judging various criteria. We’re also planning on having some engineers from area manufacturers there who can help them with the design process.”

Rondenell said the competition had been held remotely last year, with over 300 students participating. She said STEM Wars also will be returning this Spring after being on hiatus.

For more information about the Dream It, Do It program, visit didiwny.com