Four PMPA Members Honored by STEP Awards
Four PMPA members were honored by the Manufacturing Institute’s second STEP Awards for excellence in manufacturing.
Janice Wiegand
Kimberly Arrigoni
Tanya DiSalvo
Four PMPA members were honored by the Manufacturing Institute’s second STEP Awards for excellence in manufacturing. The STEP Awards, part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative, were launched to examine and promote the role of women in manufacturing.
The Manufacturing Institute honored 160 women in manufacturing; PMPA members honored with STEP Awards include:
- Janice Wiegand, president, Mercury Manufacturing Company in Wyandotte, Mich.
- Kimberly Arrigoni, controller, Haberman Machine in Oakdale, Minn.
- Tanya DiSalvo, president, Criterion Tool in Cleveland, Ohio
- Patricia Lewis, CEO, Berkley Screw Machine Products Inc. in Rochester Hills, Mich.
The STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Awards recognizes women who have “demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry from factory floor to the C-suite.”
These women are the faces of exciting careers in manufacturing,” says Jennifer McNelly, president of The Manufacturing Institute. “We chose to honor these women because they each made significant achievements in manufacturing through positive impacts on their company and the industry as a whole. The STEP Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative, launched to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research and leadership for attracting, advancing and retaining strong female talent.”
The PMPA nominees have all had an important part in helping their companies improve technology, systems, processes and upgrade the skills of their workforce to address the Skills Gap. Today, 82 percent of manufacturers cannot find the skilled workers that they need. With women making up 50 percent of the workforce, but only 25 percent of the manufacturing workforce, the STEP Awards are meant to show the contributions that women can and do make in manufacturing.
Manufacturing makes a difference in the economy, and these women make a difference in manufacturing. Every dollar of final sales in manufactured products supports $1.48 in output from other sectors, the largest economic multiplier of any sector.
For more information on The Manufacturing Institute and STEP Ahead, visit themanufacturinginstitute.org.
