Helping Solve America’s STEM Problem

There has been a great deal of discussion of late about America’s lack of qualified workers. A recent survey from Georgetown University claims that we will face a shortage of 5 million qualified job applicants by 2020. How could this be possible? Why is the U.S. losing its competitive edge, and why is the problem only getting worse?

One of the main culprits for this shortcoming is a lack of proper STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) training. According to the National Math + Science Initiative, 69% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level science courses and 54% are not ready to handle college-level math. This educational deficit is made even starker when you realize that only 31% of U.S. college graduates have degrees in STEM fields, compared to 61% in Japan and 51% in China, as outlined in the same report.

At Sutton Garten, we take this problem seriously. Having a highly skilled and knowledgeable team of employees has been one of the main reasons we have stayed at the top of our industry for the past 90 years, so we understand the importance of training.

It is why Sutton Garten offers welding certification and training classes at our 2000 sq. ft. training facility. We teach and certify in:

• Stick Welding
• Oxy/Fuel Cutting
• Mig Welding
• Tig Welding
• Plasma Cutting

If you want to gain the critical skills needed to join the modern workforce, there is no better place than Sutton Garten. We hope to see this training and STEM education grow in other areas of the industry as well.

Need a Bulk Supply of Liquid Nitrogen? Our New Trailer Delivers!

For many years, Sutton-Garten has supplied liquid nitrogen to customers in a wide variety of industries, from the food and beverage industry (for making ice cream, pouring draft beer, etc.) to the welding industry (gas pipe purging, laser cutting, etc.) and the automotive industry (pressurizing tires).

In a previous blog post, we talked in-depth about liquid nitrogen and its uses. Now, in this post, we want to share some related information: news and details about our new liquid nitrogen trailer, which can fill customers’ liquid nitrogen storage tanks.

Bulk delivery with our new trailer works to everyone’s advantage – yours and ours – by saving time and money and eliminating the headaches caused by having to move and transport cylinders. With our new liquid nitrogen trailer, we deliver to your locations and use a hose to fill your tanks directly from the trailer. It’s bulk delivery of liquid nitrogen at its best!

Here’s some additional interesting information about our new liquid nitrogen trailer:

• It’s a “Gorilla trailer” made by West Cryogenics, Inc.
• The trailer holds up to 850 gallons of liquid nitrogen.
• It offers vaporizing capabilities, turning the liquid nitrogen into vapor when our customers need it in that form.

Keep in mind that while the list of customers who get liquid nitrogen from us is very broad and varied, the service and quality product Sutton-Garten supplies is always the same. We continue to provide products and services that meet the highest industry standards, and we’ve been doing this for more than 90 years!

U.S. Manufacturing Is Trending Up – Slowly, But Surely

We’re hearing a lot of positive news lately regarding the U.S. manufacturing sector and the economy, in general. It seems as if manufacturing is making a welcome comeback here – slowly, but surely – and a similar recovery trend is happening in other countries around the world. A recent report said, “American producers are leading a global manufacturing recovery that stretches from China to Europe as their economies improve.”

There are several indicators pointing in a positive direction right now:

• Auto industry stocks are rising, with automakers scrambling to meet increasing demand.
• Construction spending hit a four-year high. New home construction continues to rise, and, eventually, this will have a trickle-down effect and boost other industries, such as the appliances and furniture industries, etc.
• Factory output increased over the summer, and continued to pick up last month. Most manufacturers are busier now than they’ve been for several years.

Other trends positively impacting U.S. manufacturing today include “onshoring” (or “reshoring”) and the increased access to manufacturing-related education and training.

The onshoring trend we’re seeing now reflects the fact that more companies are setting up or moving manufacturing operations to the U.S. after they’ve realized that manufacturing overseas is costly and can be unreliable when it comes to quality control. The education/training trend is driven by the fact that more manufacturing jobs are open or they’re being created. Therefore, more people are seeking the training and education they need to fill those jobs. Specific manufacturing-related skills training and education (including welding training) are in demand, and welding education programs are being added to the curriculum of schools and colleges across the country.

Right now, any way you look at manufacturing and the economy, you’ll see positive signs. In a recent USA Today article, one market strategist says, “Overall, the direction of manufacturing continues to be positive.” We share this optimism, and patiently look forward to the upward trend in U.S. manufacturing continuing in the months and years ahead!