Manufacturing Appreciation

Jim Lientz, the chief operating officer for the state of Georgia, told a packed house at the Cobb Galleria that the annual Georgia Manufacturing Appreciation Week "shines a light on these incredibly valuable assets." He was referring to the 100 nominees for the Manufacturer of the Year awards, two of which were from Troup County this year.



The locally nominated companies were InterfaceFLOR and SAFA, both shown above in a photo at the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting last week, where they were honored along with Emerson Network Power. The companies were nominated by West Georgia Technical College, represented by Interim President Perrin Alford (left), for the state's Manufacturer of the Year award.

Next to Alford is Steve Noble of Emerson, which was nominated in 2008. Next is Bob Niedrack and Tommy Bell of InterfaceFLOR, nominated in 2008 and 2009, and David McCarty of SAFA, nominated in 2009.

At the state-wide meeting in Atlanta, Lientz said, "Manufacturing is grounded in the real world" and it is exemplified by "the quality of the workforce and the companies' products." He added, these 100 companies "are stellar examples of manufacturing in the 21st century."

Jan Youtle, PhD, manager of Public Services for the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, shared results of a recent survey in which 800 manufacturers in this state participated. She noted, "Innovation is a business strategy," which was echoed by Lientz who said the annual awards were begun in 1995 to recognize "simple hard work, innovation, and community involvement."

Youtle announced that 75% of the respondents to the survey "practice green" and that "energy and efficiency go hand-in-hand with productivity."

InterfaceFLOR has been named an "environmental hero" for their green thinking (see http://daily.chictoday.com/2009/04/19/interfaceflor-environmental-hero/) in carpet production. SAFA makes brake pads for the automotive industry. Emerson Network Power manufactures metal cabinet enclosures for the telecommunication industry.

Lientz declared a "bi-partisan statement" as he said he "agreed with both" Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue that he "like(s) folks who make stuff" and U.S. President Barack Obama who recently commented, "We need to make things the world needs." Lientz added that the manufacturing companies in Georgia are "bottom-line businesses that don't just leverage value, they create it."

The winners of the 2009 Georgia Manufacturer of the Year awards were OraCal USA of Black Creek, Alcan Packaging of Peachtree City, and Toyo Tire of Bartow County.