Ohio Manufacturing Summit asserts industry’s commitment to customers
The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership held its annual summit Thursday, Aug. 24, where over 100 participants from across the state gathered at the OCLC conference center in Dublin to collaborate and discuss the state and future of Ohio manufacturing.
The Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Ohio MEP), an office in the Ohio Department of Development, helps Ohio's small and medium-sized manufacturers increase sales, create jobs, and generate cost savings through technological innovation, workforce training and improved management practices. The state Ohio MEP office administers the program through six regional partners across the state:
• MEP at Columbus State Community College in Columbus
• MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network in Cleveland
• CIFT in Toledo
• OSU South Centers in Piketon
• TechSolve in Cincinnati
• Fastlane in Dayton.
This marks the seventh year for the annual summit, bringing together industry leaders, regional partners and manufacturers across the state.
“Ohio has a strong manufacturing legacy, be it rubber and glass in the 1900’s, or today where companies like Intel and LG Energy Solution are choosing Ohio to manufacture semiconductor chips and EV batteries,” Director Lydia Mihalik of the Ohio Department of Development said. “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,” State Ohio MEP director Aaron Patrick said, “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.”
Accounting for all four quarters of 2022, the Ohio MEP’s impact on manufacturing was significant. For every federal dollar Ohio MEP received, they generated $150 of sales, investment, and cost avoidance. 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. These numbers translate not just into dollars and cents, but client loyalty and trust.
“MEP provides us with a rich and diverse network of support that helps us problem solve and expand our capacity and capabilities,” Anna Shields, CEO of Snowville Creamery in Pomeroy, one of the Ohio MEP Client speakers who presented at the event said. “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 (Oct. 6). Check the individual partners websites (available through the Ohio MEP program site) for further details.
Managed by Development’s Office of Technology Investments, Ohio MEP is a State and Federal initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Learn more about the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership program here.
The Ohio Department of Development empowers communities to succeed by investing in Ohio’s people, places and businesses. Learn more at development.ohio.gov.