A Kaysville man has been elected as chairman of the board of directors of the Utah Manufacturers Association.
Dean Clark was elected to head the UMA board, in results made public on Saturday night during a yearly banquet of the manufacturing group. He will begin his term of office, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Clark works as chief financial officer for Martin Door Manufacturing and has served as treasurer on the board, prior to the recent election.
James Alspaugh of Kimberly Clark was elected first vice president and Mark Sucahn of Malt-O-Meal was elected second vice chairman. Mike May of May Foundry & Machine Company was elected secretary/treasurer.
New members elected to the board include: Craig Trewet of The Boeing Company; Dave Smith of Nucor Steel;, George Frioux of Merit Medical; Brad Shafer of Rocky Mountain Power; Colin McMullin of IM Flash; Brian Bowers of Might-Lite; Matthew Cook of Moroni Feed Company; Roger Howard of Circle Four Farms; , VP Business Development - Merit Medical Brad Shafer, Government Affairs - Rocky Mountain Power Colin McMullin, Legal Counsel - IM Flash Brian Bowers, COO - Mity-Lite Matthew Cook, CEO, Moroni Feed Company Roger Howard, of Circle Four Farms; Dave Angerbauer of Energy Solutions and Mark Murdock of Chevron.
UTAH MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION RECOGNIZES MITY-LITE AS 2011 MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR
Utah Pulse
The Utah Manufacturers Association, one of Utah’s longest running trade organizations, recognized Mity-Lite of Orem as the 2011 Manufacturer of the Year. The UMA made the announcement at its 106th Annual Awards and Installation Banquet, Saturday, Nov. 5, at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
The banquet, attended by 700, serves as the most important event of the year for Utah’s 4,400 manufacturers, and Manufacturer of the Year is the most highly sought-after award for the industry in the state. Mity-Lite Durable Lightweight Furniture Systems was recognized for its outstanding contribution to Utah’s economy, exceptional operational performance, economic achievement, workplace safety, community and state involvement and commitment to the principles of America’s free enterprise system.
According to UMA President Thomas E. Bingham, Mity-Lite, founded in 1987 by Greg Wilson, found initial success by creating a lighter-weight ABS plastic table that became a staple for customers in hospitality, religious and public assembly settings. However, in 2008 the recession challenged Mity-Lite’s market leadership when customer demand dropped by almost 40 percent year-over-year in its busiest season. In response, Mity-Lite’s management team, led by CEO Randy Hales, established a plan to grow market share by introducing innovative products and streamlining operations.
“The results of that plan were amazing,” said Bingham. “In the throes of a recession, when many others were pulling back, Mity-Lite released five innovative new products within a year to expand its offerings. This bold move increased Mity-Lite’s revenue stream by 16 percent.”
Bingham said the outstanding company also used a team approach to improve operations. This effort reduced product lead times from 12 weeks during its busiest season to best-in-class lead times. Mighty-Lite also improved its factory schedule completion, shipping accuracy and on-time delivery, and increased labor productivity more than 100 percent. Because of the resulting cost savings in labor, employees have shared in the company’s success through increased wages and incentives.
Mity-Lite’s continued improvement in operations has enabled them to win bids away from competitors in Asia. The company’s ability to keep manufacturing jobs and vendors in Utah means Mity-Lite is directly contributing more than $10 million to Orem’s economy, an additional $9.7 million to other vendors in Utah and an additional $8.5 million to out-of-state vendors.
“We congratulate Mity-Lite and our 11 other finalists for their contributions to the economic wellbeing of the communities in which they serve and our state as a whole,” added Bingham. “They are excellent examples of manufacturing companies that build Utah’s economy and benefit its residents by creating useful products that make our lives better.”
Finalists for the Manufacturer of the Year included:
§ Barnes Aerospace, Ogden
§ Campbell Scientific, Inc., Logan
§ Futura Industries, Clearfield
§ Kaddas Enterprises, Salt Lake City
§ L3 Communications Systems-West, Salt Lake City
§ Ophir-Spiricon, LLC, North Logan
§ Petersen Incorporated, Ogden
§ Smead Manufacturing, Cedar City
§ Syracuse Casting, Tooele
§ USANA Health Services, Salt Lake City
§ Westinghouse Western Zirconium, Ogden
Read more: Utah Pulse - Utah Manufacturers Association Recognizes Mity Lite as 2011 Manufacturer of the Year
November 7, 2011
Financial issues in Europe continue to dominate economic headlines. Doubts about the new agreement for dealing with the European debt crisis began to emerge recently, and these were exacerbated by the possibility of putting Greek austerity measures out for a referendum. This was later pulled back, but uncertainties remain regarding solutions to the crisis. Much of the focus of the Group of 20 leaders meeting in Cannes, France, was on how to effectively put together a rescue plan to forestall a larger economic catastrophe.
Closer to home, the Federal Reserve Board made two announcements. First, it lowered economic growth estimates for the rest of 2011 through 2014, bringing them in line with other forecasts. The Fed now expects for real GDP to grow between 1.6 and 1.7 percent this year, with 2.5 to 2.9 percent growth next year. Second, it expects the unemployment rate to fall to 8.5 to 8.7 percent by the end of 2012. With that said, its Federal Open Market Committee statement was more optimistic than past ones, indicating that "economic growth strengthened somewhat in the third quarter." While noting some continued weaknesses, the Fed focused on several areas where there have been some improved indicators in the past month. As to policy, the Fed made no changes from its previously-stated intentions of keeping interest rates low.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released reports on employment and productivity. The rate of unemployment fell to 9.0 percent, and manufacturers added 5,000 net new jobs in October, yet there were only 80,000 new nonfarm payroll workers for the month. This suggests a continued slow pace for job growth. On the plus side, it was nice to see positive manufacturing numbers again after two months of declines. This growth was led by the durable goods sector, which also experienced significant increases in labor productivity for the third quarter. Manufacturing productivity jumped 5.4 percent (which was higher than the 3.1 percent growth experienced by all nonfarm businesses), with durable goods labor productivity rising 9.9 percent. These productivity gains mostly came from increased output in the sector, a sign that we are rebounding from recent weaknesses.
These numbers were supported by other indicators. The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank survey reported improvements in manufacturing activity, with the pace of new orders, employment and capital spending picking up. Likewise, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) latest report found that new orders stopped contracting and started expanding again. While the ISM Purchasing Managers Index noted several areas where growth had slowed, including production and export sales, the turnaround in new orders is hopefully a harbinger of future activity.
This week, we will receive new data on international trade, with export sales helping to drive much of the growth in manufacturing over the past couple of years. In addition, there will be new sentiment surveys from consumers and small businesses, two keys groups to follow for glimpses of stronger economic growth.
Chad Moutray
Chief Economist
National Association of Manufacturers
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