Maine E. students get a peek at manufacturing careers

About 50 students from Maine East High School in Park Ridge visited Bley LLC in Elk Grove Village Thursday to learn about careers in manufacturing.

Bley, which engineers and machines parts of various alloys that weigh as much as 20,000 pounds for industries including aerospace, transportation, mining and wind energy, took students through various parts of the manufacturing process to demonstrate the kinds of skilled, well-paying positions that exist in industry.

At the end, company employees surprised the students with soap dishes they manufactured based on engineering designs the students had produced in school.

"We see a continued need to help promote and educate our young people to show that manufacturing has exciting career opportunities in various capacities for people at all levels of educational backgrounds," said Mike Milbratz, manager of sales and marketing.