Post: Oct. 17, 2019
Students from Marlboro High School toured Sono-Tek Corp. in Milton, NY, for MFG Day on October 4th. In addition to facility tours that day, the Council of Industry broadcast of Hudson Valley Focus Live was held at Selux Corp. In Highland, NY and featured several members and friends of the Council. Pine Bush High School also held an Advanced Manufacturing and STEAM career night on October 2nd with many CI member companies in attendance.
The staff at the Council of Industry has been very busy lately. October is Manufacturing Month and in addition to MFG Day events (see photo above) we have been putting together the latest issue of HV Mfg for our members. The Fall 2019 HV Mfg is hot off the press and chock-full of fascinating articles. Hard copies should be arriving in the mail this week and next and the digital version is available on our website here.
In the Fall 2019 Issue you will find:
Also included our Manufacturing Resource Guide, News briefs and a letter from Harold King, President of the Council of Industry
The Council has a variety of training going on right now, such as the Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership Program at Westchester Community College and Regulatory and Saftey Training, which includes an OSHA 10 Hour certification and First Aid training offered free to registered apprentices. There is an EHS Network Meeting on Confined Space coming up and we are organizing a bus tour for Westchester County Educators to visit manufacturers in that area.
We have also been busy recruiting new members and would like to welcome the following:
And new associate members:
Do you know a manufacturing company that should be part of our association? Help us make a connection.
Post: Sep. 5, 2019
In an effort to expand our reach and spread the word about manufacturing in the region, The Council of Industry is launching a podcast. We’ve been working behind the scenes to bring our members and the community an inside look into the people of Hudson Valley manufacturing.
The podcast space has grown expansively in the US with over 40% increase in awareness since 2017. According to Edison Research, 62 million Americans have listened to podcasts in the past week.
Our mission is to support our members and promote their success. One important way we do that is to help people get to know all about manufacturing in the Hudson Valley; the companies, the products, the technologies, and the people – as well as its economic importance to the region. As technology evolves, opportunities to communicate that message change. In the 1930s, we introduced the CI newsletter, followed by www.councilofindustry.org in 1991, and the introduction of HV MFG, The Council of Industry’s Magazine, in 2013. Over the last few years, we added a K-12 outreach resource www.gomakeit.org, expanded our YouTube Channel and formed a 501(c)3, (Hudson Valley Manufacturing Workforce Center); simultaneously weaving our message with the purpose of increasing awareness and promoting the success of our members.
The staff at CI already get to talk to fascinating, impactful people daily – now we can share those stories. Adding the podcast medium will help us broaden our reach and help us share insights, best practices and hopefully some laughs, with a wider audience. Perhaps the podcast will help bring the already supportive manufacturing community even closer together.
Here’s a Taste of What’s to Come:
Episode 1: Bruce and Aaron Phipps, MPI
Aaron and Bruce share details about what it is like to grow up in a family-owned business and now work together as contemporaries tackling the challenges and celebrating the successes with their MPI family. Aaron is heavily involved at SUNY New Paltz on their advisory board and mentoring interns. They speak about the importance of engagement at that level, training and building the next generation of workforce. Aaron and Bruce are fun to talk to and we’re thankful they agreed to be our tester podcast.
Episode 2: Aaron Hopmayer, Principal, Pine Bush High School
Aaron Hopmayer, affectionately known as “HOP” is top-notch. We talked with Aaron and Kenny Marshall about their success in integrating STEAM into all disciplines, the booming enrollment in their summer enrichment academies (including their newest summer academy for Advanced Manufacturing). Hop shares his experience overcoming obstacles, building engagement and generally doing whatever it takes because “its good for kids”. Big shout out to Kenny Marshall, STEAM Coach for helping us work through the podcast flow and his patience for working with Harold and me, amateurs that we are. Kenny is a transformational teacher and coach; he was also one of our 2018 Manufacturing Champions. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Kenny in our podcast world.
Episode 3: Julian Stauffer, PTI
We truly enjoyed talking with Julian. He talked about his family history and the changes in leadership over the last several decades. He shared some insight about the importance of an adaptable, diverse workplace and what’s ahead for this growing company in Westchester. Julian and his brother Oliver are gracious hosts and the epitome of leadership in advanced manufacturing. We barely scratched the surface in this podcast, I look forward to chatting with Julian, and Oliver again in the near future.
Episode 4: Joe & Jimmy Ferrara and Stephanie Melick, ELNA Magnetics
Not only were we able to chat with Joe, Jimmy and Steph in episode 4, they are also going to be featured in our upcoming edition of HV Mfg. Magazine. We laughed a little too much while preparing for this podcast and then worked out our jitters together. We talked about the culture at Elna, their efforts to tackle workforce development challenges and the future of the business. This was a fun conversation – hopefully, some of the content actually makes it to the ‘podcast’.
Still to come:
Jenny Clark, Global Foundries
Gretchen Zierick, Zierick’s 100-year anniversary
Meaghan Taylor, Regional Director, Empire State Development
This podcast launches in conjunction with other CI activities including our latest video featuring an Electro-Mechanical Technician Apprentice, Forrest (sponsored by Tompkins Mahopac Bank) and the upcoming edition of the HV Mfg Magazine due out in October.
We are always looking for great content; if you are interested in joining us for a podcast episode or know someone who is particularly interesting, please reach out to jhansen@councilofindustry.org.
Post: Feb. 5, 2016
Editor’s Note: This blog entry is excerpted from a longer piece that will run in the Spring issue of the Council’s HV Mfg Magazine. Be sure to pick up your copy when the issue comes out this April.
Will you be able to simply tell your next car “home Siri” then sit back and enjoy the ride? Are those long lines at the pump about to become a thing of the past? Are automobile accidents soon to go the way of the dodo? No, not anytime soon they’re not (sorry for getting your hopes up), but it is very likely that within the next generation America’s car industry and culture will see its biggest revolution since Henry Ford. The car of the future will be green, autonomous, and safe.
At a press conference on January 7, Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief Executive of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, a strategic partnership between the two car manufacturers, announced that Nissan would introduce 10 new autonomous vehicles in the next four years. Not two weeks later, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk told reporters that the “Autopilot” feature introduced in the Tesla Model S last fall was “probably” a better driver than a person, and even went so far as to claim that within a couple years it would be technologically feasible for a driver to summon a Tesla car from the opposite side of the country.
