Local tours highlight Manufacturing Day

National Manufacturing Day will be celebrated Friday in Kalispell with Flathead Manufacturing Day and a series of events hosted by the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

Manufacturing Day is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers and dispel any common misconceptions about the industry being redundant, unsafe, low-paying and non-technical.

Tours begin at 10 a.m. Friday and run throughout the day. All events are free and open to the public, though registration is strongly encouraged since many tours will not accept walk-ins. Reserve space at www.mfgday.com or call the Kalispell Chamber at 406-758-2803.

In 2015 Flathead Manufacturing Day was surrounded by 16 different events, involving over 700 community members. This year, 26 events have been scheduled through Oct. 28.

Tours include:

— Thursday — 11 a.m., Northern Plastics

— Friday — 10 a.m., Defiance Machine; 11 a.m., Applied Materials; Noon, Glacier Precast Concrete; 1 p.m., Nomad Global Communication Solutions; 2:30 p.m., Flathead Valley Community College Center for Manufacturing Advancement; 3 p.m., Ceres Bakery

New this year, the Kalispell Chamber has partnered with many breweries and distilleries to begin a scholarship program for FVCC’s new Brewing Science and Operations Program. A portion of sales from each of the following businesses will be matched by the Kalispell Chamber up to $500. The presentation of the final scholarship amount will be later this fall.

— Wednesday — Beginning at 5 p.m. at Tamarack Brewing Co., Lakeside

— Friday — Noon-8 p.m. at Whistling Andy, Bigfork

— Monday — Noon-8 p.m. at Spotted Bear Spirits, Whitefish

— Oct. 18: Beginning at 6 p.m. at Flathead Lake Brewing Co., Bigfork

— Oct. 1-31 — Whitefish Handcrafted Spirits, Whitefish