Post: Mar. 19, 2020
The Council of Industry is proud to announce the 2020 Manufacturing Champions. These are individuals and an organization, who through vision, dedication, hard work, and tireless involvement have helped to overcome some of the many obstacles faced by manufacturers in the Hudson Valley community and in so doing they have made it possible for manufacturers and their employees to prosper. This year’s honorees are:
Private Sector Champion: John Waldron, IBM System Supply Chain- Poughkeepsie Manufacturing Plant Manager
John Waldron’s career at IBM has spanned over 35 years. His experience within the Supply Chain consists of several roles, including leading Planning, New Product Development, Supply Assurance, and Marketing Brand Advocates. This served as a foundation for his current role as Plant Manager for IBM’s flagship product, the System-Z Mainframe. His impact for IBM’s financial success is significant, but equally as important, the influence on the employees and teams he manages is even more substantial. John has developed active recruiting relationships with Dutchess Community College to connect students with IBM Blue Collar initiatives, resulting in many graduates starting an exciting career at IBM. He cultivates and participates in the local P-Tech programs in Newburgh and Kingston. He takes time to visit the classroom to share perspectives. In addition to his career, John maintains a strong desire for developing a sense of community. A major focus of his time at work consists of stimulating employee engagement. He does this by encouraging a ‘friends and family’ culture, where the organization builds relationships, but also focus on community-related objectives.
Public Sector Champion: Lieutenant Governor Hochul
Lt. Governor Hochul is Chair of the State’s 10 Regional Economic Development Councils that are transforming the state’s economy by building upon regional strengths through long-term strategic plans. The Councils include leaders from academia, business, labor and not-for-profits and, to date, have invested over $6.1 billion into more than 7,300 projects across the State. The Lieutenant Governor also chairs the State Workforce Investment Board, addressing a major concern of manufacturers – the lack of skilled workers.
Organization Champion: Crystal Run Village Inc. (CRVI)
Crystal Run Village Inc. (CRVI) connects disabled people that want to learn and work with manufacturers that need committed and engaged employees. CRVI is a non-profit organization that raises, manages and distributes funds for the purpose of improving the lives of individuals with developmental and other disabilities. CRVI is committed to providing services for the integration and empowerment of people with disabilities. Their goal is to become the provider of choice for people who need our services and the employer of choice for those who want to work with the people they support. In addition to residential services, the agency offers Vocational and Skill Development Programs, Service Coordination, Respite House and Community Habilitation. As part of the Vocational and Skills Development Program, CRVI has been able to connect disabled individuals with manufacturing companies,
Educator Champion: Dr. Charles Khoury, Superintendent, Ulster BOCES
Dr. Khoury is a passionate advocate for career and technical education and for fostering innovation in education. In addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer, he is the New York State Education Commissioner’s representative in the field, the major liaison between local districts and the State Education Department, as well as the spokesperson for regional education issues. Working closely with his administrative team, including Dr. Jonah Schenker, Deputy Superintendent, and Allison Dodd, Assistant Superintendent for Administration, Dr. Khoury oversees collaborative opportunities for districts to increase their capacity, provide support, and create possibilities for students to meet the changing requirements for graduation.
The Manufacturing Champion Awards Breakfast is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 22, 2020, from 7:30 am – 9:30 am at The Powelton Club in Newburgh, NY. In light of current circumstances, we will keep you informed as the date approaches if we need to cancel or alter the format. You can view past Manufacturing Champions here.
Post: Aug. 23, 2019
Cambridge Security Seals is a national leader in specialized seals used for loss prevention and tamper equipment. Located in Pomona New York, this company has built a reputation for product quality and nearly endless options for product customizations; helping match client needs.
Recently, Cambridge Security Seals received a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a state-of-the-art tote seal design. While that may not sound exciting at first, this new design allows clients to secure their products while allowing shoppers a user-friendly experience. Little changes in the ergonomics of security/tamper seals can make all the difference when shoppers are looking at a product to purchase. In today’s competitive market, everything counts including tamper equipment that most people overlook but have had a great deal of engineering research go into them.
HV MFG sat down with Elisha Tropper, CEO of Cambridge Security Seals to discuss how his company became one of the fastest growing organizations in the region. Elisha came from a family of entrepreneurs that ran a local business in New York City during the 1940’s. After attending college at Yeshiva University, Elisha began working in the family run business within different departments including operations, sales, marketing, and product management. While he enjoyed the knowledge, he gained about running a company, Elisha knew he wanted to start his own path. He enrolled in classes at Columbia University and received an MBA.
With his family’s support, Elisha took over Prestige Label Company, which made pressure sensitive labels. From there, he gained the experience of taking a run-down business and building it back up to a competitive business model. Eventually, Prestige was sold to one of its customers who was better suited to run the organization.
That’s when Cambridge Security Seals came into the picture. After purchasing their current facility in 2011, Elisha embarked on a journey to revolutionize a business just as he did with Prestige. Knowing how crucial tamper evident labels are to the commerce sector, Elisha went full steam ahead with his ambitious business plan. His hard efforts paid off as today, Cambridge Security Seals runs 10 fully-automated production lines on an impressive 24/7 schedule.
Now Cambridge Security Seals is looking to install their generation 3 production lines which will help fulfill demand orders at a more efficient rate. Looking into the Future, Elisha is looking to acquire new customers and constantly improve their product line to keep up with the demands of their clients. Cambridge Security Seals is a proven example of how ambitious plans and a determined attitude are key factors to building a successful company.
Post: May. 23, 2019
Pictured above: 2019 Manufacturing Champions (from left to right): Bryan Van Vliet, Robb Engle, Sonja Brown and Meghan Taylor
Each year the Council of Industry, the manufacturing association of the Hudson Valley, recognizes the individuals and organizations, who through vision, dedication, hard work, and tireless involvement have helped to overcome some of the many obstacles faced by manufacturers in the Hudson Valley community making it possible for manufacturers and their employees to prosper. On Friday, May 17th, the Council honored the 2019 Manufacturing Champions at a breakfast held at the Powelton Club in Newburgh, NY. The Council of Industry was proud to honor Meghan Taylor, Director of the Mid-Hudson Region at the Empire State Development Corporation for the public sector; Robb Engle, Vice President of Engineering at Sono-Tek Corporation for the private sector; Bryan Van Vliet, technology teacher at Saugerties High School as the educator champion; and the organizational award went to the Workforce Development Institute (WDI).
This is the twelfth year the Council of Industry has held the Manufacturing Champion Awards and several past Champions were in attendance at the sold-out event. In addition to manufacturers and associate members, students and officials from the Saugerties School district were on hand to celebrate Bryan Van Vliet, the educator champion. There was a record crowd of 190 attendees there to honor the award recipients. The crowd was moved by the speeches and enthusiasm of the champions, making it obvious as to why they were chosen.
The private sector champion, Meghan Taylor, was introduced by the Operations Manager of Middletown’s Pratt & Whitney Advanced Coating Technologies, John Yelle. Meghan has been responsible for guiding and managing ESD’s Mid-Hudson Regional Office and Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative within the seven County Region. She secures state investments that leverage significant private investment for a variety of projects that contribute to economic growth and job creation in the Mid-Hudson region. Meghan has paid particular attention to the Region’s manufacturers ensuring that advanced manufacturing is a priority industry for the REDC and working to bring resources to bear to assist their growth and expansion. Meghan has over a decade of leadership experience in economic development. Prior to joining ESD, she served as President of the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation and Director of Business Attraction at the Orange County Partnership. Meghan holds a Master of Business Administration from Mount Saint Mary College and a Bachelor of Finance from SUNY Binghamton.
Steve Harshbarger, President of Sono-Tek Corporation introduced Robb Engle who accepted the private sector award. Robb created the Sono-Tek Service Department and led the development of key products in his leadership role of Sono-Tek’s engineering resources. Robb has recently been at the forefront of implanting an automated, software driven system that autonomously creates and prioritizes work orders for every workstation on the manufacturing floor. This system has increased the accuracy and efficiency of every work center by 10-20% and eliminated 10-20 hours per week of work order processing and another 20-40 hours per week of sales order product analysis. In addition, Robb has spent many years volunteering his time at SUNY New Paltz, Marlboro, and other local High schools and with the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy. Rob has been a mentor to the next generation workforce and helped guide many students on their path towards STEM careers.
The educator champion award was presented to Bryan Van Vliet by President of Elna Magnetics, Joe Ferraro. Bryan has developed programs for his technology students that are not only interesting and educational but prepare them for the future workforce. He has arranged plant tours at local manufacturing facilities, and he includes a diverse set of projects that vary from gardening to 3D printing to writing computer programs to control a trackless train. He has also coached teams in VEX robotics and SeaPerch at both junior and senior high levels. This is his fourth year teaching at Saugerties Junior-Senior High School, and he currently teaches Tech 8, Advanced Manufacturing & 3D Printing, and Computer Aided Design. Bryan’s two high school classes are offered through SUNY Ulster (he is a Collegian Instructor) where students receive up to nine college credits for CAD 101, 102 and 103.
The Workforce Development Institute is the organization champion for their work in identifying targeted strategies that address workforce development opportunities and challenges. These strategies can include partnerships, training and/or funding. Their strength is their ability to identify trends, quickly fill gaps not covered by other programs, and then move successful programs throughout the state. Manufacturing companies are retooling/retrenching and making investments in product innovation, equipment, facilities, and the workforce. WDI believes a healthy manufacturing base is a key driver to grow the rest of the economy and they’re interested in seeing the new jobs of manufacturing – with solid wages and career trajectories – come to NYS. That award was presented by Council of Industry President Harold King.
This event was made possible by generous sponsorships from Central Hudson; Global Foundries; The Chazen Companies; Viking Industries; The Affinity Group; Elna Magnetics; and Allendale Machinery Systems. The next event on the Council calendar is our Annual Golf Outing on August 26 which will also be held at the Powelton Club. For details or to become a sponsor go to www.councilofindustry.org/event-seminar/golf-outing/
