PROVIDENCE – When Katy Westcott first launched her business, Katrinkles Inc., she didn't think of herself as a manufacturer.
The business, which makes tools for knitting and crochet, took root as a hobby for Westcott, who worked in costume jewelry and design before launching Katrinkles.
But even as she began to hire employees and scale up production in the mid-2010s, it wasn't until 2020 that Westcott realized she fit the bill as a manufacturer.
Under early COVID-19 lockdown measures, "Not only could I stay open" Westcott recalled, "but I realized it was really important for people to have things to do at home."
Now, Westcott wears the manufacturing label proudly – and it doesn't sound so out of place as she describes the company's production, which is powered by four machines running 12 hours per day, five days per week.
On Wednesday, Westcott joined area manufacturers and more than 350 middle and high school students from throughout Rhode Island for Polaris MEP's third annual Manufacturing Day career event held at Farm Fresh Rhode Island.
Launched in 2011 by the Washington, D.C.-based Manufacturing Institute, organizers for Rhode Island's local programming this year focused on expanding the career event to include manufacturers, like Katrinkles, that may not immediately come to mind when people think of manufacturing.
Take Cumberland-based architectural woodworking firm Herrick & White, for instance. Like Westcott, the functional supervisor Kyle Murphy also didn't immediately think of the business as a manufacturer.
"Personally, I find woodworking to be an art form," Murphy said. "But by definition, it is manufacturing."
And at the event, students flocked to the company's table as they filled out Bingo cards designed to encourage them to learn more about the manufacturers in attendance.
Other manufacturers at the event, such as Gareth Conners, owner and CEO of Cranston-based Creative Conners, have long recognized their businesses as part of the manufacturing sphere, but realize they may not immediately come to mind when the general public thinks of manufacturing.
Some students who visited Creative Conners, which makes automation technology for performing venues, were surprised to learn that companies exist in such a specific niche, Conners said.
"There's a career for people who are interested in machinery and manufacturing, but also want to be in entertainment" he noted.
These realizations are just what manufacturing and economic leaders in the state hope students will gather from the event.
"This is an opportunity for these students to really see the wide variety of [companies] in the industry," said Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Elizabeth Tanner, speaking with Providence Business News at the event.
"The parents think of manufacturing of yesteryear, not realizing what manufacturing is today," she added, which includes opportunities "for these students to be incredibly creative, solve real world problems, and to make their ideas into reality."
The event also included companies from sectors like robotics, food manufacturing, life sciences, technology, jewelry and defense, such as Amgen, Blount Fine Foods, AstroNova, Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, igus, Tiffany & Co. and Nautilus Defense.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
