Metalforming Matters

Four women members of PMA were recognized with STEP Awards at a ceremony in DC last week.  We couldn't be more proud of them.  Here's our press release celebrating the winners - Four Fantastic PMA Members Recognized at 2014 STEP Awards CLEVELAND, OH —February 18, 2014—The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) today congratulates four of its members who were among the 160 recipients of The Manufacturing Institute’s 2014 STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Awards. The awards, which were presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on February 6, recognize women in the manufacturing industry who demonstrate excellence and leadership in their careers. Recipients represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite. The four PMA award winners in 2014 include: Altheha DrePaul, a key account manager with EJ Ajax in Fridley, MN Lisa Habe, the president of Interlake Industries, Inc. in Willoughby, OH Irina Kleyman,...

CLEVELAND, OH—February 17, 2014—According to the February 2014 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect a dip in business conditions during the next three months. Conducted monthly, the report is an economic indicator for manufacturing, sampling 115 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada. The February report shows that 32% of participants predict that economic activity will improve during the next three months (down from 46% in January), 60% anticipate that activity will remain unchanged (compared to 47% last month) and 8% believe that economic activity will decline (up from 7% in January). Metalforming companies also forecast a modest decline in incoming orders during the next three months, with 50% anticipating an increase in orders (down from 54% in January), 41% expecting no change (the same percentage reported in January) and 9% predicting a decrease in orders (up from 5% in January). However, current ...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to attend the State of the Union Address as the guest of your home state senator? PMA Erick Ajax got that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and he wrote all about it to share it with you.  Read his memories of that very special day below. -------------- Last week I attended my first State of the Union Address. I was invited by Senator Al Franken - our first term Democrat Senator from Minnesota.  Despite the fact that we disagree on many major political issues, the Senator asked me because we clearly see eye to eye on our most important public policy issue, education and workforce development. I’m a third generation business owner in the metal forming industry.  And I was honored to attend as the Senator's guest.   I have traveled to Washington, DC dozens of times over the past two decades. Most of my meetings on Capitol Hill are with 20-something legislative assistants. I can count the number of times I ...