Industrial Sales & Manufacturing (ISM) is proud to be featured in Made Right Here: Erie, a new short documentary from filmmaker and self-described industrialist Zach Glabman. The film asks a question that sits at the center of everything we do: who is inheriting America’s industrial base, and how fast can we teach the skills to keep it running?
The full film is now live on YouTube. Watch it below:
About the Film
Over the past year and a half, Zach Glabman has visited roughly 200 shops and factories across the country. Erie is where Made Right Here began. Zach spent three days inside METAL for America, a metalcasting bootcamp delivered through Penn State Behrend, alongside a fourth-generation manufacturer, a tech entrepreneur, and others who had never set foot in a foundry.
The crew filmed at Penn State Behrend, Erie Bronze & Aluminum, Keystone Foundry, Gannon University’s I-HACK makerspace, and right here on the floor at ISM. The result is a 16-minute look at Erie’s industrial history, the people who have spent their careers in the trades, and the programs working to train the next generation.
The film premiered on October 8 at Keystone Foundry, followed by a panel discussion, and has since been screened in factories around the country and at the Build Freedom Summit in Galveston, Texas.
ISM’s Role in the Story
ISM General Manager Jim Rutkowski Jr. appears in the film’s segment on hiring and opportunity (starting around the 10:46 mark). Jim talks about what it takes to build a manufacturing workforce today, why giving students and career-changers a real chance matters, and what the next generation can teach the companies that hire them.
Jim has spent his entire career in manufacturing. He became a toolmaker because, as he puts it in the film, toolmakers “can do anything, make anything, think through any problem.” He wants to see young people rediscover that sense of pride in making things. It is one of the reasons ISM supports a scholarship at Gannon University for our employees.
Programs like METAL for America give young people, and people looking for a second career, the chance to try the work with their own hands and decide whether manufacturing is a path for them. We believe that kind of hands-on exposure is how Erie builds its next generation of machinists, welders, fabricators, and toolmakers.
Erie Is Still Building Things
Erie has a long history as a manufacturing town, and that work is far from over. Demand for American-made products is growing, local shops are hiring, and the skills are still here to be passed down. Made Right Here captures that moment, and we are honored to be part of it.
Thank you to Zach Glabman and his crew, to Adam Scheloske and the Keystone Foundry team for hosting the premiere, and to Dr. Paul Lynch and Penn State Behrend for the work they are doing through the METAL program.
How You Can Help
If you enjoyed the film, please watch it on YouTube, give it a like, leave a comment, and subscribe to the Made Right Here channel. Then share it with one person who should see it: a shop owner, an educator, a policymaker, or someone thinking about a career in the trades.
Interested in building your career in manufacturing? Visit our Careers page to see current openings at ISM.