MI2 at IdeaFestival Bowling Green

MI2 was delighted to be part of the celebration of ideas and innovation at IdeaFestival Bowling Green, hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University. This event, which brought together more than 850 middle and high school students from across the state, was an opportunity to place the Kentucky metals industry in front of students curious about career pathways and inching closer to making decisions about what they want to do with their future.

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At our table, positioned alongside our partners AccelerateKY, we had the privilege of engaging with these students, sharing insights into the Kentucky metals industry.

One of the highlights of our participation was the metals personality quiz, a fun and interactive way for students to discover which metal best reflected their personality traits. As they answered questions that would unveil their inner characteristics, they uncovered whether they were most akin to the resilience of steel, the versatility of aluminum, or the conductivity of copper. This personalized approach not only made learning engaging but also allowed them to delve deeper into the unique properties and applications of each metal.

Also, we provided students with our Kentucky Metals Guide, produced as a partnership with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. The guide offers insights into Kentucky’s metals industry, including the innovation and collaboration you can find across the Commonwealth.

And we especially appreciate the monitor provided by MI2 member company Transmission, which highlighted a real-time feed about MI2’s member companies, focus areas, and initiatives.

At the event, our Strategic Communications Director, Sam Ford, also took the stage and talked with all 850 students about Kentucky’s metals industry, as part of a broader keynote about his career and innovation in Kentucky. Through his remarks, Sam emphasized the range of products that come from Kentucky-produced metals and the circular economy that fuels the metals, built on metals recycling—highlighting material from the Metals Guide.

The goal of both Sam’s talk and the activities at our table were to get students aware of and thinking about potential career pathways in Kentucky’s metals industry.

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The students’ eagerness to learn and explore new ideas reaffirmed our belief in the strong potential talent pipeline for this industry, a talent pipeline interested in working with next-generation technologies to make real-world differences.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in making this event a resounding success – from the organizers and volunteers to the educators and, most importantly, the students. Through these partnerships, we aim to support and empower the next generation of leaders, equipping them with the knowledge and resources to look to the metals industry as they think about their future career.

As we reflect on our participation at IdeaFestival Bowling Green, we are filled with optimism for the future. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to reconnect with these students and continue our journey of empowering and shaping the future of Kentucky's metals industry through our Talent & Workforce initiatives. We have now further tested an approach that we plan to take to other events across the Commonwealth that gathers middle and high school students.

Interested in learning more about MI2’s Talent & Workforce Strategy Group, Go here.

Know of an upcoming event where MI2 might want to engage tomorrow’s metals workforce? Contact our Talent & Workforce lead Luke Ramsay at luke.ramsay@mi2ky.org.

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