SIDNEY – Sidney Mayor Mike Barhorst hand-delivered proclamations to company officials at several local manufacturing firms on National Manufacturing Day.
National Manufacturing Day is traditionally celebrated on the first Friday in October of each year.
While Barhorst is generally accompanied by a delegation that included the city manager, the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership executive director and the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce president, this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he made the trip by himself. He visited Sidney Manufacturing, Monarch Lathes, iVEX Protective Packaging, and Derby Fabricating.
“Sidney has more manufacturing jobs per capita than any other municipality in Ohio,” Barhorst said as he visited with employees. “In fact, every day, Sidney has a net inflow of more than 5,000 people who come into Sidney to work – it’s almost as if the entire population of a city like Nelsonville, Ohio, or Williamsburg, Indiana, moves into Sidney each day.
“Many residents don’t realize it, but Shelby County is the home of two of the top three manufacturing employers in the Dayton region,” Barhorst added. “Manufacturing has a larger multiplier effect than any other major economic activity. Every $1 spent in manufacturing generates an additional $1.33 in economic activity in the community.
“Each visit was a bit different,” Barhorst said. “I met with Sidney Manufacturing’s new President Tom Gross and Vice President Joe Swartz, took a plant tour and then met with the employees, met with Plant Manager Michael Brinkmann and all the employees at Derby Packaging, toured iVEX Packaging’s plants with Director of Technology and Engineering Robert Hooper and met with Monarch Lathes President Harry Camp and toured the plant. It was a good opportunity to discuss the overall business climate, the role that the pandemic has played in operations this year and what they see ahead in the new year.
“In fact, the employers we visited were very positive,” Barhorst said. “Three of the four companies expect to add employees in the near future, housing was mentioned at two of the stops, and one is looking to expand. The executives with whom I visited were bullish about their futures in Sidney.
“Last year, we visited Aunt Millie’s, Edgewell Personal Care, Lochard, Inc., Polyfill, Shaffer Metal Fab, and Victory Machine. We hope to eventually visit every one of our manufacturers as we annually celebrate National Manufacturing Day,” Barhorst said.
“We are home to the largest soybean processing plant this side of the Mississippi River, the largest manufacturer of air conditioning compressors and America’s No. 1 refrigerated pizza. Half of the refrigerators that are in recreational vehicles are manufactured in Sidney. We make things in Sidney and are proud of that long tradition,” Barhorst concluded.
National Manufacturing Day is an opportunity for the country to celebrate those who make the products manufactured in America. Americans continue to develop products and unlock new technologies that grow the economy. It is promoted by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International.
