Every year at the ‘MADE in NJ’ Manufacturing Day, Michael Womack has one specific request when fielding attendee feedback.
“I don’t want to hear anything good,” begins the marketing and communications director for the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP). “I want to know what could be better. From that, I make a big checklist of all the improvements we need to make for next year.”
That dedication to hearing, internalizing and acting on hard truths for the sake of future improvements informs how exactly the largest celebration of New Jersey’s manufacturing industry supports its audience of industry owners, leaders, vendors and other professionals year after year.
The 13th annual ‘MADE in NJ’ Manufacturing Day—held Oct. 3 at Freehold’s iPlay America—is a culmination of everything attendees have been asking for, from nuanced educational topics to specific breakout sessions, from vendors to networking opportunities, and even the food and drinks available onsite.
Most notably, this year’s ‘MADE in NJ’ Manufacturing Day will host an event first: welcoming both the Democrat and Republican gubernatorial candidates, Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli. They will appear at separate times to share their visions for the future of New Jersey’s manufacturing industry in a moderated conversation where they can answer some of the questions attendees are invited to submit upon registration.
“Attendees will really get to see the candidates and how they view the industry, how they would support manufacturing—and the candidates can get a temperature gauge of what manufacturers are concerned about and have questions about,” Womack explains. “It shows that both candidates see how important manufacturing is by taking time out of their day a month before the election. They’ve both been engaged with NJMEP, they’ve both actively shown interest in learning more about what we do, what our clients do and what our clients’ needs are—and this has come equally from both.”
While last year’s ‘MADE in NJ’ Manufacturing Day announced the creation of the New Jersey Manufacturing Network, a website and resource directory created by the New Jersey Business Action Center (NJBAC), this year’s event will be able to explore just how it aims to be “critical to the success of the industry” and present specifics of its impact already.
“Whether it’s workforce that you need, whether it’s consulting that you need, the NJBAC developed this website alongside us to really make sure everyone knows where to find those people,” says Womack. “Melanie Willoughby over at NJBAC was tasked with this new law to actually create this network, and she turned to us and asked us to help build this website to ensure that every partner can have an inbound route to questions, comments and support materials, and we jumped at the opportunity.”
Additionally, the day will once again emphasize how “absolutely critical” it is to emphasize that South Jersey’s manufacturers are heard and supported.
“It really has been a continued effort working with state legislators to ensure that that South Jersey arm of NJMEP is always going to be engaged,” Womack says. “South Jersey manufacturers still have discounted tickets, discounted sponsorships—anything we can do to support them and get them up to this event and show that we’re here for them.”
A day dedicated to the likes of tackling timely topics, strengthening industry connections from individual suppliers to business partnerships, and highlighting the best of the best with an array of awards truly underscores how imperative it is for New Jersey’s over 10,000 statewide manufacturers are “looked at as a whole, rather than specific counties and hubs” to find greater strength in numbers to continually elevate their industry’s profile, capabilities and future.
Womack points out that nothing would be possible without reciprocal support benefiting both NJMEP and its mission, crediting CEO Peter Connelly for embracing a leadership philosophy that prioritizes thoughtful partnerships and Director of Workforce Development & Training Larry Banks for diligently developing both present and future talent.
“There needs to be an entity that’s obsessed with manufacturing and that entity is NJMEP,” he affirms. “That infects other entities like NJBAC, who is now the manufacturing advocate for New Jersey, and legislators like Sen. Testa, Sen. (Andrew) Zwicker and Sen. (Linda) Greenstein, among so many others who have connected with NJMEP and came to discover the manufacturing breadth in the state itself. Our partnership with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association has us working closer together than ever before to ensure that people remember that manufacturing is a business like all the others, except it’s sometimes absolutely critical to our day-to-day life.”
And while Womack notes that attendees “never want the event to end,” every day is Manufacturing Day—and an opportunity to nurture community—for the NJMEP team.
“Our partnerships have been an exceptional way to really ensure that the excitement from ‘MADE in NJ’ Manufacturing Day can stay and remains intact,” he says. “We can’t do it alone: It takes a village, so let’s build that village.”
New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP)
Bellmawr, Cedar Knolls
(973) 998-9801
NJMEP.com
