SEKISUI Professional Experience Labs Dedicated for Bloomsburg University Students, Alumni, and Community Partners.
A standing-room only crowd of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners greeted administrators of SEKISUI Corporation on the third-floor of the Greenly Center to dedicate the SEKISUI Professional Experience Labs.
The PELs will allow students to interview with employers for internships or employment both in person and virtually, practice or give a presentation, have their resume reviewed or polish their skills in a mock interview. The PELs also share the floor with the Department of Alumni and Professional Engagement, which will allow students to connect with career coaches, workshops, the university Career Closet, and many other resources. The new home of the BU Alumni Association can also be found on the third floor of the Greenly Center, located at 50 East Main Street in the downtown.
Ian Moran, President of SEKISUI America Corporation, expressed his gratitude at the number of folks gathered to celebrate the new space, including state representative David Millard and Noe Ortega, Deputy Secretary of Education for Pennsylvania. He related that when SEKISUI opened a plant in Hazleton in 1963, it was the first company from Japan to operate in the U.S. as a manufacturer. Moran stressed that the company’s success since then has been, in large part, due to the investment of both employee and employer.
“Our rich history is a great source of pride,” said Moran. “As is the reputation we have earned as a high-quality corporation committed to our local communities.”
Moran explained that such an investment included the importance of preparing students for an uncertain future.
“One of the best solutions we can offer for uncertainty is to be prepared for whatever comes next,” said Moran. “We are committed partners and we need centers of education excellence to develop the minds, skills, and habits of our future generations to ensure we meet those challenges.”
Erik Evans, vice president of University Advancement at Bloomsburg University added that not only is it exciting to have a space where students and alumni could visit to take advantage of the latest technology, and professional development, it serves an even bigger purpose – that of a collision space for students, alumni, community members and employer partners of the university, thus creating a hub for professional activity.
“The many parts of Professional U at Bloomsburg University don’t work alone.” explained Evans “This space brings those audiences all in one place.”
The $500,000 gift from Sekisui to furnish the Professional Experience Labs at the Greenly Center has been the company’s largest donation to date.
President and C.O.O. of SEKISUI SPI, Ronn Cort, was instrumental in facilitating the gift that allowed the idea of the PELS to materialize at BU. As an executive of such a prominent local company, Cort was familiar with the Greenly Center from various business events. He had also noticed the need for a space where SEKISUI employees could be taught some of the more “soft skills” of professionalism.
“We had 132 passionate people working hard on the manufacturing floor, who embraced struggle humbly and without fanfare,” explained Cort. “The people here go about their business and get it done. I was so impressed by that, and I had this idea that I needed to develop our people. We could teach hard skills, but the future is soft skills.”
After a conversation with local entrepreneur and BU alumnus, Duane Greenly ‘72, Cort began to visualize a space in the downtown where SEKISUI employees could acquire professional skills, community members and organizations could hold meetings and events, alumni could gather, and students could learn. Duane and Sue Basar Greenly ‘72, donated one million dollars toward construction of the Greenly Center, which opened in 2015.
“Duane wasn’t just talking about the school, but the entire community of Bloomsburg,” recalled Cort. “That’s when the project moved from my head to my heart.”
Having a conviction is one thing. Sharing that conviction with enough ROI to evoke the largest gift in the history of a company is quite another. Cort found that ROI in the students of Bloomsburg University when he was asked to speak to the students from the Zeigler College of Business.
“What I found at Bloomsburg University were students who had that same spirit of grinding it out and not giving up as I saw in my employees.” explained Cort “They had grit, were committed and, as many of them were first-generation college students, were under tremendous pressure to succeed. That is where my love affair with BU began.”
“If this was just us and the university, we would be missing a huge part in the role the community plays,” concluded Cort. “Our goal is to get students to build a successful life in this community and continue this process.”
After the dedication, it became official: what resides on the third floor of the Greenly Center is a unique, multi-level partnership that benefits all who visit.
“What we have at Bloomsburg is special and employers recognize that,” added Evans. “Bloomsburg students are ready to go on day one because we’ve prepared them for personal and professional success. The result is that our alumni leave prepared to build a life while lifting up those around them, and our community benefits not only from this space, but from the relationships formed within it.”
Read more about the SEKISUI Professional Experience Labs.
See photos from the event on Flickr and on Facebook
“I was working with all these big schools, but they didn’t have the grit that the students did at Bloomsburg. And I did everything in my power to bring this opportunity here.”
“I was working with all these big schools, but they didn’t have the grit that the students did at Bloomsburg. And I did everything in my power to bring this opportunity here.” — Ronn Cort, president of SEKISUI SPI 👔🐾 #ProfessionalU #SEKISUIPEL #BloomUpward (at Greenly Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2DVLXBn_us/?igshid=owgfnfoli3x9
“I felt like SEKISUI actually wanted me to work there and that I wasn’t a frivolous intern. Their culture was positive, inviting, capable, and efficient.” #ProfessionalU #SEKISUIPEL #BloomOnward (at The Gallery at Greenly Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2CtadxH7tK/?igshid=bu1qywd8vfy
Clayton Newton’s local summer marketing internship with SEKISUI SPI was more than just a valuable professional experience, in some ways it was life changing.
“I felt like SEKISUI actually wanted me to work there and that I wasn’t a frivolous intern,” said Newton, a dual international business and marketing major at Bloomsburg University. “Their culture was positive, inviting, capable, and efficient.”
SEKISUI SPI — a Bloomsburg company and global thermoplastics leader headquartered in Japan with brands that service 11 unique industries across five continents — positions itself as a changing manufacturer for the 21st century by challenging how to think, design, and create.
This approach was loud and clear to Newton.
“They wowed me each week with their productivity and ability to get things done,” Newton said. “Every department practiced Kaizen (Japanese for continuous improvement). Each fellow intern told me about some large new project that was going on in their department that would bring them to new efficiencies.”
He added, “I was taken back when I learned about the workloads each department took on and championed. In addition to learning about the company, SEKISUI added a need for positive culture and progressive thinking to my standards for my next job search. Because of them, I’ll be investigating more than just salary for my first full-time position.”
Newton’s many job duties over the summer provided him a diverse list of business and marketing skills he’ll now take into his job search. Among them include supporting a sales team, shipping procedures, designing trade show exhibits and corporate communications.
“I learned that work is a place where relationships develop,” Newton said. “I made friends there of all ages, and I didn’t expect to make any. I guess that’s my inexperience talking, but each week I learned more about the people around me and by the end I felt lucky to be able to call my colleagues friends.”
Today, BU’s relationship with SEKISUI SPI strengthens beyond internship placement. The new SEKISUI Professional Experience Lab at the Greenly Center in downtown Bloomsburg will be unveiled, featuring a list of Professional U benefits to include:
five individual, soundproof rooms (in varying sizes and styles) to accommodate individual and group training needs
an opportunity to practice, record and receive feedback on virtual, face-to-face communication in preparation for an internship, job interview, sales presentation, competitions and conflict resolution seminars just to name a few
a private space to interview with employer partners in person or virtually
an innovative hub for career and professional development, as well as the university Alumni Association
access to the Alumni and Professional Engagement team to discuss individual student hiring and internship needs
Now with a closer presence, Newton sees BU’s relationship with Sekisui only growing stronger and more beneficial for students. Being able to interact and observe the company’s forward-thinking approach, corporate efficiency and access to its internal career opportunities is a distinct advantage, he says.
“Our aspirations will become more in line with what we need,” Newton said. “We can now collaborate on our own campus with an $11 billion-dollar titan that constantly redefines what’s possible in plastics. What better example to follow than that?”
