The Mack team is at it again celebrating the holidays with its annual tree lighting and of course a new carol for 2016 – “Have a Holly Jolly Mackmas!”
Mack’s Made in Vermont Days Introduces Students to Manufacturing Careers
From Oct. 24-28, 2016, Mack hosted its biennial Made in Vermont Days at its Arlington, Vt., Headquarters – bringing local high school juniors and seniors into the Company’s manufacturing space to learn about manufacturing and engineering careers through tours, workshops and presentations.
The program is designed to reach students looking to go to a four year school, as well as certification and technical programs, and those who may wish to enter the workforce directly. This year Mack welcomed four schools – Arlington Memorial High School, Southwest Vermont Career Development Center, Long Trail and Burr & Burton Academy, as well as local home school students. In all, nearly 50 students, educators and parents participated.
Students toured the Company’s HQ through the lens of one particular product manufactured there that incorporates virtually Mack’s entire vertical integration of services. Following the tour students participated in a competitive workshop introducing the theory behind manufacturing flow before learning about careers available to them with the Company’s Director of Human Resources, hearing business insights from the HQ Plant Manager and an open Q&A with these key staff members. Students also were given the opportunity to sign-up for more in-depth workshops to be held at a later date in the following disciplines: Injection Molding, Machining, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Manufacturing and Engineering.
By hosting the event in October, Mack is able to leverage the power and name recognition of Manufacturing Day and Manufacturing Month, creating additional pull through while increasing access to supportive resources. Additionally, Mack benefited from its relationship with the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC), whose team trained some of the Company’s up and coming employees to conduct the manufacturing flow workshop featured during the event, which proved fun and informative for students, putting some context behind what they had seen on the manufacturing floor.
Mack’s Made in Vermont Days represent just one facet of the Company’s outreach efforts to cultivate the next generation of talent needed to drive manufacturing in the Northeastern United States. With a goal of building a sustainable workforce by encouraging the next generation of engineers, technicians and professionals, Mack regularly brings in middle and high school students, sends engineers into the classroom and has even had programs for children as young as kindergarten. In addition to Made in Vermont Days, Mack’s high point in this effort is an internship program that has hosted close to 100 interns from schools like UVM, WPI, RPI and RIT. The Company is now starting to recognize the fruits of its labor with a record number of interns – six – joining Mack as full-time employees in 2016.
Mack’s Cavendish Plant Honored for Energy Saving Efforts
Congratulations are in order for Mack’s Cavendish facility, which was recently honored by Efficiency Vermont with the organization’s Employee Engagement Project of the Year Award at the fifth annual Best Practices Exchange. Cavendish Facilities Manager Ed Garrow was on hand to accept the award from Efficiency Vermont Director Liz Gamache.
This award was presented to acknowledge the impressive energy savings from the Kaizens and a “shut it off” campaign at Cavendish, which have resulted in an electric usage reduction of 1.2 million kWh annually from 2012 to 2016. That includes an estimated reduction of 500,000 kWh annually since 2014.
“The Best Practices Exchange is a great opportunity for large businesses in Vermont to learn from each other about effective strategies for reducing energy use and, ultimately, improving their bottom lines,” Gamache said in a press release about the event. “The energy that our commercial and industrial customers save is significant and helps reduce Vermont’s overall demand for energy, while returning those saved energy dollars back into the local economy.”
More than 150 people representing some of Vermont’s largest commercial, industrial and institutional businesses gathered at Killington Grand Resort Hotel on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016, to participate in Efficiency Vermont’s Best Practices Exchange, where they networked, learned and shared the best approaches to energy efficiency investments and energy management.
Efficiency Vermont was created by the Vermont Legislature and the Vermont Public Service Board to help all Vermonters reduce energy costs, strengthen the economy, and protect Vermont’s environment. It partners with commercial customers throughout the state to help them move their businesses forward by working to identify savings opportunities, recommending efficient technologies, and providing incentives and financing tools to reduce energy costs. To learn more, visit www.efficiencyvermont.com/business-forward.
Mack is committed to the concept of sustainable manufacturing, in which environmental protection, as well as workplace wellness and safety, are integral to Mack’s success. The company’s Environmental Policy is based on compliance, risk reduction and prevention, resource management, and communication. We also subscribe to an Environmental Purchasing Policy that gives preference to suppliers whose products have environmentally friendly attributes.
To reinforce these policies, Mack has developed an environmental management system that systematically and comprehensively tracks and reduces environmental impacts in all business operations. Mack’s specific goals for FY16-17 in the areas of energy conservation, waste reduction, land preservation & management, and environmental education & awareness are available on the Company’s website. Vermont has rewarded these efforts by designating Mack an Environmental Leader.
Mack Visits NYC for MD&M East 2016
At Mack our mission is no less than Total Customer Satisfaction, which is the message the team brought to MD&M East 2016 at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center June 14-16.
For more than 30 years MD&M East has brought together the medical device industry, serving as a central hub to share ideas, challenges, and solutions with over 5,000 medtech professionals. It is a perfect fit for Mack. With roots in custom injection molding, today the Company is a leading supplier of contract manufacturing services, injection molded plastic parts, sheet metal fabrication, design, prototyping, machining and turnkey assembly to a range of industries, including the medical, transportation, energy and consumer markets. Whether our customers’ needs lie with Mack Medical, Mack Molding, Mack Technologies, Mack Prototype or Synectic Engineering, Mack’s vertically-integrated services have been organized to benefit their businesses throughout their product life cycles.
It was great to see our friends, old and new, and the entire Mack team would like to thank everyone who visited our space, and for making 2016’s MD&M East a great event. We know you had a lot of choice at the event, making the time you spent with us all the more appreciated.
Jonathan Whitney Promoted to Director of Business Development at Mack
ARLINGTON, Vt. (June. 14, 2016) – Mack Molding, a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services, announced today Jonathan Whitney, a seasoned Mack sales team member and experienced engineer specializing in plastics and medical devices, has been promoted to director of business development.
“Since he first arrived at Mack, Jon has played a significant role in shaping our diverse customer base,” said Mack Molding Sales & Engineering Vice President Joan Magrath. “He came to us with great depth of knowledge in plastics and medical devices, as well as contract manufacturing. That breadth, coupled with Jon’s business and technical strengths, helped drive growth in several key markets. Jon is a valuable contributor, and this promotion highlights his talents and the strategic insight he will provide as we look to target new industries and technologies.”
Whitney, who joined Mack in 2013 as a business development manager for the New England region, will report to Magrath and be responsible for developing new accounts and sales growth for Mack’s northern operations along with management of its business development team. Additionally, he will liaise with internal and external design resources on business development matters.
Prior to Mack, he was senior project manager for the design, development and commercialization of cardiovascular devices at Abiomed. Other engineering experience was earned during his service at Gyrus ACMI, Alkermes and Raytheon, where he earned a green belt six-sigma certification. Whitney holds an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.; a masters in engineering management from Tufts University in Boston; and a bachelors in plastics engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
About Mack Molding
Mack Molding is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services. Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, full-service machining and medical device manufacturing. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business that operates 11 facilities throughout the world. Don Kendall is CEO and chairman. For more information, go to www.mack.com.
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Contact: Larry Hovish
(802) 375-0772
larry.hovish@mack.com