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Illinois Representative Kelly Burke of the 36th District Visits Meyer Tool
March 27, 2014
From left to right: Jim Dunbar, IMEC Marketing Coordinator, Susanne Hack, Susanne Hack & Assoc, John Boulay, IMEC President, Kelly Burke, IL State Rep., Eileen Cunningham, Meyer Tool & Mfg, Inc.. President, Ed Bonnema, Meyer Tool VP Engineering, Mike Carr, Meyer Tool Business Development Manager and John Schaefer, IMEC Regional Manager.
On March 11, 2014, Illinois Representative Kelly Burke and members of the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) visited Meyer Tool & Mfg. Rep. Burke was interested in seeing first-hand manufacturing successes in her district. Also, hoping to gain real world examples regarding the impact of policy on Illinois manufacturers and their subsequent ability to create jobs, she was also interested in learning about any competitiveness issues we, as manufacturers, are experiencing. Meyer Tool’s Eileen Cunningham, President, Ed Bonnema, VP Engineering and Mike Carr, Business Development Manager, were happy to oblige.
Ed Bonnema introduced Meyer Tool via a power point presentation about our rich company history and the breadth of our projects (both national and international). As always, we highlighted our company’s emphasis on reducing project risk to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership as specialists in cryogenic, vacuum and pressure technologies. Ed conducted a plant tour for the attendees and pointed out our unique processes and current products in various stages of welding, machining, assembly/test and cleaning. Our visitors were impressed with our facility, our project mix and our accomplishments.
Eileen emphasized the importance of keeping small and mid-sized companies, many of whom are family owned, competitive through business friendly state and local policies and, on the international playing field, competitive against European manufacturers who have unfair tax advantages compared to their American counterparts. Eileen also discussed our broadening customer base, as well as our expanded employment efforts including our strong commitment to employee education and skill development.
IMEC participants included John Boulay, President, John Schaefer, Regional Manager and Jim Dunbar, Marketing Coordinator. Mr. Boulay, was very impressed with our customer survey process and our lowest total cost of ownership philosophy. He uses the same approach to assist IMEC members in productivity improvement and competitiveness. He stated that there are 20,000 manufacturers in Illinois who employ 600,000 people, of which 87% are family-owned or privately held. Many of these, like Meyer Tool, are involved in research and development. IMEC was established in 1996 to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Illinois' small and mid-sized manufacturing firms. They customize solutions to address the client's needs, using training to transfer knowledge and skills to the client's employees, and serving as a mentor and coach to sustain success.
Also present was Susanne Hack from Susanne Hack & Associates, an Illinois government relations consulting firm with an emphasis on matters of public policy before the Illinois General Assembly.
Meyer Tool would like to thank all our visitors, especially Illinois Representative of the 37th District, Kelly Burke, for investing the time to visit our facility. We appreciate their efforts aimed at understanding manufacturing and small business needs at the state level. At Meyer Tool, we are always interested in supporting initiatives that help keep manufacturing alive and thriving in Illinois.
To see a slide show of this visit, please click Meyer Tool’s photo album. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page while you are there!
Ed Bonnema introduced Meyer Tool via a power point presentation about our rich company history and the breadth of our projects (both national and international). As always, we highlighted our company’s emphasis on reducing project risk to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership as specialists in cryogenic, vacuum and pressure technologies. Ed conducted a plant tour for the attendees and pointed out our unique processes and current products in various stages of welding, machining, assembly/test and cleaning. Our visitors were impressed with our facility, our project mix and our accomplishments.
Eileen emphasized the importance of keeping small and mid-sized companies, many of whom are family owned, competitive through business friendly state and local policies and, on the international playing field, competitive against European manufacturers who have unfair tax advantages compared to their American counterparts. Eileen also discussed our broadening customer base, as well as our expanded employment efforts including our strong commitment to employee education and skill development.
IMEC participants included John Boulay, President, John Schaefer, Regional Manager and Jim Dunbar, Marketing Coordinator. Mr. Boulay, was very impressed with our customer survey process and our lowest total cost of ownership philosophy. He uses the same approach to assist IMEC members in productivity improvement and competitiveness. He stated that there are 20,000 manufacturers in Illinois who employ 600,000 people, of which 87% are family-owned or privately held. Many of these, like Meyer Tool, are involved in research and development. IMEC was established in 1996 to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Illinois' small and mid-sized manufacturing firms. They customize solutions to address the client's needs, using training to transfer knowledge and skills to the client's employees, and serving as a mentor and coach to sustain success.
Also present was Susanne Hack from Susanne Hack & Associates, an Illinois government relations consulting firm with an emphasis on matters of public policy before the Illinois General Assembly.
Meyer Tool would like to thank all our visitors, especially Illinois Representative of the 37th District, Kelly Burke, for investing the time to visit our facility. We appreciate their efforts aimed at understanding manufacturing and small business needs at the state level. At Meyer Tool, we are always interested in supporting initiatives that help keep manufacturing alive and thriving in Illinois.
To see a slide show of this visit, please click Meyer Tool’s photo album. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page while you are there!
