STEP Award Honors Brevard’s Carol Craig

By  //  February 4, 2013

Ceremony On Tuesday In Washington

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Carol Craig, CEO of Craig Technologies, has been honored by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers with a Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award for her excellence and leadership in manufacturing.

Craig Technologies’ CEO Carol Craig has been honored with a Women in Manufacturing STEP Award for her excellence and leadership in manufacturing. (Image courtesy of Step Ahead initiative)

Craig joins 121 other woman honorees, representing all levels of manufacturing from the factory floor to the C Suite.

“Carol’s entrepreneurial spirit and ‘why not’ attitude has brought manufacturing to the forefront of Craig Technologies’ operations. We are thrilled to see her contributions recognized by this important new initiative,” said Mark Mikolajczyk, President of Craig Technologies.

In June 2012, Craig negotiated and executed a Space Act Agreement with Kennedy Space Center to maintain and operate an inventory of more than 1,600 pieces of specialty equipment once used to process orbiters during NASA’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program.

“These 122 women are the faces of exciting careers in manufacturing,” said Jennifer McNelly, president of The Manufacturing Institute. “We chose to honor these women because they each made significant achievements in manufacturing through positive impact on their company and the industry as a whole.”

The STEP Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative launched by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and best practices for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent.

The STEP Ahead initiative was founded to change perceptions of the manufacturing industry and create new opportunities for women (Image courtesy of STEP Ahead initiatve)

“The STEP Ahead initiative was founded to change perceptions of the manufacturing industry and create new opportunities for women in the sector,” said Latondra Newton, group vice president at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and chairwoman of the STEP Ahead initiative. “This initiative is the call for action to transform the face of today’s manufacturing talent and ensure that women can contribute to the future of this industry.”

A 2011 survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that nearly 70 percent of American manufacturing companies have a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers.

Manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions, even as unemployment numbers hover at historically high levels. Additionally, labor statistics show that women are underrepresented in the manufacturing workforce and in manufacturing leadership ranks – a situation that must be reversed to preserve and grow the industry.

The Manufacturing Institute and its STEP Ahead initiative partners will recognize the 122 recipients of the STEP Awards on Tuesday at a reception in Washington, D.C.

The STEP Awards program will highlight each honoree’s story, including their leadership and accomplishments in manufacturing.