Ohio Manufacturing Summit Asserts Commitment to Customers
COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than 100 participants from across the state recently gathered at the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s annual summit to collaborate and discuss the state and future of manufacturing in Ohio.
Industry leaders, regional partners and manufacturers across the state attended the seventh annual summit Aug. 24 in Dublin, Ohio.
The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an office in the Ohio Department of Development, helps Ohio’s small- and medium-size manufacturers increase sales, create jobs and generate cost savings through technological innovation, workforce training and improved management practices.
“Ohio has a strong manufacturing legacy, be it rubber and glass in the 1900s, or today where companies like Intel and LG Energy Solution are choosing Ohio to manufacture semiconductor chips and EV batteries,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development. “These major facilities are looking to Ohio’s manufacturers for support, and our annual summit is a great opportunity for the Ohio MEP to come together to collaborate on ideas to push Ohio’s manufacturing industry into the future.”
Sessions during the summit included “Cultivating a Culture of Transformational Customer Care” and “Converting Customer Conversations to Successful and Happy Customers.” Ohio MEP clients provided insights on collecting the voice of customer data, focusing on advance manufacturing technology, supply chain and workforce.
“The customers really are top of mind in all we do,” said Aaron Patrick, director of the Ohio MEP. “We wanted to bring the partners together this year to really refocus that commitment and collaborate on ideas with that in mind for the future of manufacturing in Ohio.”
For every federal dollar Ohio MEP received in 2022, it generated $150 of sales, investment and cost avoidance, a news release states. That breaks down to supporting more than $125 million in new sales, $477 million in retained sales, $193 million in investment and $95 million in cost savings – for a total of more than $892 million in total economic impact across clients of all regional partners.
“MEP provides us with a rich and diverse network of support that helps us problem solve and expand our capacity and capabilities,” said Anna Shields, CEO of Snowville Creamery in Pomeroy, one of the Ohio MEP client speakers who presented at the event. “Whether it’s through connecting us with training resources for employee development or connecting us with industry professionals to talk shop or secure technical assistance, the resources that MEP offers to us has been invaluable.”
Trainings, workshops and networking events are provided by the Ohio MEP partners for Ohio’s manufacturers year-round, with special events held each October for Manufacturing Month and National Manufacturing Day.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
