Lighthouse Students Tour HydroTurf Factory

​HydroTurf continued their support of Lighthouse for the Blind and Low Vision by hosting students for a factory tour on June 30th, 2023. Lighthouse has a Transitions for Teens program, which prepares blind and visually impaired teens for the responsibilities of adulthood. The program focuses on job readiness, social interactions, and independent living skills. As part of the program, the Lighthouse students toured the HydroTurf factory to learn about factory operations and the job skills that are required to perform certain roles in the company. 

​During the tour, the Lighthouse students participated in three stations. Stephen Tackney, HydroTurf General Manger, presented about the history of the company and shared about the types of products HydroTurf manufactures. He also described the characteristics he looks for when hiring employees and emphasized to the teenagers the importance of being on time to work and having a positive attitude.

The HydroTurf Sales Manger, JC, volunteers with Lighthouse outside of work and is our connection to the program. During the tour, he guided students through a sorting and counting station, where the teenagers experienced a typical factory workstation. They practiced counting spare pieces of mat and sorting them into bins for resale. He also showed the students the sew shop and the different fabrics and threads that are used to make PWC seat covers.

​During the third station, students learned about how the factory’s inventory is stored, organized, and transported. They also learned about the groover machine that creates the traction on the mats. Students were able to match up different mat patterns to their stencils and learn about one of the most important steps in HydroTurf's manufacturing process.

 Last, but definitely not least, all the HydroTurf employees and students gathered for a pizza lunch and received goody bags of HydroTurf swag. Sue Glaser, Transition Coordinator for Lighthouse, expressed her gratitude after the visit:

We can't thank you and your team enough for giving our students such a warm welcome and informative, behind-the-scenes tour of Hydro-Turf!  Everyone there was so thoughtful and friendly.  They really made our group feel welcomed and comfortable.  We heard many positive comments from students on the way back and they loved going through their goody bags.  The hats look so great!  We are trying to talk them all into wearing one next time we have a field trip (so we can find them all easily!). We greatly appreciate all the time it took you to create stations for our students to get the full experience and end the day with a delicious pizza lunch!