Described by many as a very enjoyable event. Over 150 folks registered for the meeting. The energy level was high all night long. Socializing and networking were in full swing all evening.
Rocky Dowell of American Mitsuba blessed us all by singing our national anthem to observe the 9-11 anniversary. Many guests were really touched by his rendition.
Harry Leaver then provided everyone with an overview of the evening’s agenda. The attendees were treated to the new CMMA promotional video, which received excellent response. Hats off to a fine job by Dustin Neumeyer and his team at Aberro Creative.
Harry introduced Jerome Schwind, president of Isabella Bank, the event sponsor and one of our Premier Sponsors, who spoke about the importance of the CMMA and why the bank supports it. He added the regional economy is driven by businesses that Make It, Mine It or Grow It, and support companies that provide services or products to them. He observed these businesses employ our residents providing them the opportunity to achieve their life goals, which makes the CMMA truly representative of the community.
The focus shifted to the five Special Interest Groups “SIG’s”. The chair of each SIG provided an overview of what they are doing and goals for the future.
- Education- co-chaired by Dawn Thomas of MDT Agency and Bill Henderson of APPI
- Quality- chaired by Brian Sheets of Avalon & Tahoe
- Human Resources- chaired by Laura Duston of Dayco
- Executive Roundtable- co-chaired by Kelly Wehner of Case Systems and John Foote of Morbark
- Safety- chaired by Rocky Dowell of American Mitsuba
After Rocky provided an overview of the Safety SIG’s activities, he presented the Annual Safety Awards. The winners were:
No Lost Time Injuries: Aircraft Precision Products, JD Metalworks, JerDen Plastics and Merrill Fabrication
Industry Safety Leader: Unified Brands
Safety MVP: Powell Fabrication
Rocky Dowell introduced our keynote speaker for the evening, Bart Pickelman, Director of MIOSHA. Bart did a great job talking about the importance of safety and shared statistics and trends comparing this year to the past 20 years.
Following Bart’s presentation, Bill Henderson and Harry Leaver enumerated noteworthy CMMA accomplishments over the past few years. Here are a few:
- Scholarships- 13 have been given out so far, this year, three $2,500 ones awarded
- Best Practice Tours- 16 member businesses have been toured in last 3 years
- Membership- currently 104 member businesses
- Strategic Partnerships- Michigan Works, Economic Developers, MIOSHA, the Education Community, MMTC, other manufacturing associations such as MMA and GLBMA
If you were there, Thanks. If not, make sure you attend future events.
