Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1463392
wbjournal.com | April 4, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 19 OFFICE NEEDS CHANGING? WE CAN HELP. We've been designing and manufacturing office furniture for more than 30 years. Schedule a tour of our Leominster showroom and factory, we'll gladly host you. Visit us online at ais-inc.com Or call us at 1.800.434.7400. Private Offices Cafeterias Meeting Spaces Collaborative Areas Work Lounge Workstations M A N U F A C T U R I N G E X C E L L E N C E A W A R D S F O C U S Waters Corp. mentors students from diverse backgrounds T he last several months have seen an unprecedented tight labor market across multi- ple sectors. But in fields like soware engineering and manufacturing, difficulty finding highly qualified workers is nothing new. To address this issue, Milford laboratory equipment and soware maker Waters Corp. has been building partnerships with all sorts of educational institutions. Waters has longstanding partnerships with organizations including Junior Achievement and the Ron Burton Training Village in Hubbardston to encourage young people to consider jobs in technology and manufacturing. Last summer, it took things a step fur- ther. It brought students from Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Boston and youth athletics organization Team New England into a six-week pilot program, working with Waters employees. "is program really was an op- portunity for us as a company to take everything we've learned through the other programs we've participated in and create our own core curriculum," said Kristen Garvey, the company's vice president of corporate communications. About 10 students participated, and the company is opening it to more par- ticipants this summer. In 2021, Waters partnered with Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Blackstone Valley Education Founda- tion to challenge students to find solu- tions to a real-world problem. Scientists from Waters worked with students to design a waste-free city. e project in- volved not just learning about recycling and reusing but also practicing commu- nication and time-management. "We try and give students exposure to, really, the business of science," Garvey said. "We want to spark an interest, whether it's how to be a science communicator all the way, to a finance role in science, to being in the lab." Among the companies' priorities is reaching students who might otherwise not consider a tech career. Black and Hispanic students, and students from low-income backgrounds, oen have fewer opportunities to explore these fields. at's a huge problem in terms of justice for those students, but it's also a problem for employers like Waters. Hiring diverse employees is essential to the company's success, Garvey said. "Part of our core beliefs is that science depends on innovation," she said. "We see diversity as a linchpin to innovation: diversity of thought, different perspec- tives, different backgrounds." BY LIVIA GERSHON Special to WBJ Waters' Immerse Cambridge lab Best Collaboration Award W a t e r s C o r p . Location: Milford Industry subsector: Life sciences tools Founded: 1958 Employees: 7,800 worldwide Top executive: President & CEO Udit Batra Primary product: Precision instruments used in the life, food, and materials sciences Started in the underground: The original company founded by Jim Waters started out in the basement of the Framingham Police Department. W