Gilster-Mary Lee Announces 2nd Create A Crunch Contest to Celebrate Manufacturing Month

Gilster-Mary Lee announces 2nd Create A Crunch contest

for local high schools as part of October National Manufacturing Month.

October is National Manufacturing Month, when manufacturers across the country showcase the importance of manufacturing through a series of events. Manufacturing jobs are an extremely important part of the economy and impact everyone, every day in numerous ways.

“It’s critically important for our nation’s future that we attract the next generation of creators and makers, dreamers and doers who want to make our world a better place to live. Create a Crunch is a fun and innovative way to encourage kids to explore all facets of manufacturing”, said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Manufacturing is an economic engine in Illinois, employing more than 650,000 women and men who contribute the single largest share of our economy. The manufacturing sector creates life-saving medicine, feeds the world, transports people and product around the globe and into space, builds our infrastructure, and provides for our nation’s defense.”

After the success of various celebrity cereals it has manufactured recently, Gilster-Mary Lee launched the Create A Crunch contest in 2023 to reach out to new creators and makers – local high school students near its facilities in Illinois and Missouri. Last year the contest winner from Red Bud High School developed and produced Musketeer Cinnamon Crunch to honor their school in Red Bud, IL.

This year participating students will answer a very timely question about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in manufacturing. What do you think are the best things that AI can do for manufacturing, and do you think there are any things we should be concerned about? The winning student will again work Gilster-Mary Lee to create a custom breakfast cereal featuring their high school. The student will pick the type of cereal, create the packaging, and learn about all that goes into manufacturing food products today. 2500 boxes of the unique cereal will be produced and given to their school. The contest will run through October 31st, 2023.

Gilster-Mary Lee is excited to make Create A Crunch a part of National Manufacturing Month and through it help inspire the manufacturers of tomorrow.

Gilster-Mary Lee is a store brand and food service manufacturer with plants in Chester, Steeleville, Centralia, and Momence Illinois and Perryville, McBride, Joplin, and Jasper Missouri.