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12 Worcester Business Journal • March 28, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Worcester Business Journal's MANUFACTURING SUMMIT & Excellence Awards MANUFACTURING SUMMIT& Worcester Business Journal's Excellence Awards MANUFACTURING S U M M I T & Worcester Business Journal's EXCELLENCE AWARDS MANUFACTURING S U M M I T & Worcester Business Journal's EXCELLENCE AWARDS 13 Green Manufacturing Award Aaron Industries Corp. 13 Collaboration in Manufacturing Award Columbia Tech, a Coghlin Co. 14 Emerging Manufacturer Tegra Medical 15 Product Design & Innovation Award Incom, Inc. 15 Workforce Development & Productivity Award Industrial Packaging 16 Manufacturing General Excellence Award, under 25 employees Phillips Precision, Inc. 17 Manufacturing General Excellence Award, 25-99 employees Space Age Electronics, Inc. 18 Manufacturing General Excellence Award, 100+ employees FLEXcon Co., Inc. WBJ's inaugural Manufacturing Excellence Awards In creating Worcester Business Journal's inaugural Manufacturing Excellence Awards, we wanted to honor the numerous ways the industry contrib- utes to the region, from its standing as an economic cornerstone to its role in the future of the Central Massachusetts economy. This meant awarding compa- nies for partnering with startups to build prototypes, training hundreds of work- ers, cutting down on energy spending and developing new products to stay on the cutting edge of the world wide mar- ketplace. When launching a new set of awards, we always worry about the initial response. The manufacturing industry lacks marketing savvy – being generally more concerned about meeting its cli- ents' expectations for time and quality – so we couldn't be 100 percent certain how many companies would be nomi- nated. Happily for us, this first year exceeded all of our expectations. Dozens of worthy winners were nominated for the eight awards, and picking the even- tual honorees – which we did through a combination of our in-house knowledge and consultations with industry experts – was a matter of splitting hairs between very strong competitors. In addition to these awards, WBJ is launching its first ever Manufacturing Summit on April 26 at the Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston. This event, where these award winners will be honored, is designed to bring together the many sub- sectors of the industry to discuss the multiple issues impacting its future, in the hopes of sharing best practices and forging new ideas that can help Central Massachusetts manufacturers grow their bottom line. The keynote will be Secretary Jay Ash from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development, who will clue us in on what the Baker Administration is plan- ning for the region. n - Brad Kane, editor M anufacturing was a major part of the Central Massachusetts economy before Massachusetts was a commonwealth. The industry employs a larger portion of the workforce than in any other area of the state. It has high-paying jobs, a global reach, significant research and development, and strong ties to voca- tional schools and community colleges throughout the region.