News

Dear Members,

As the end of the year is approaching, ARMA would like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt greetings for the season and to thank everyone for all their efforts throughout the year. The success of our association is built on the efforts of our Members – so thank you all.

2019 has been a great year where we achieved many accomplishments together including:

Announced a joint venture with ACC to launch the ARMA ACC Manufacturing Academy.

This dual-credit program for high school juniors and seniors will help train our future workforce and better enable them to enter the manufacturing industry after graduating. The Academy is opening in Fall 2020 at ACC’s Highland Campus. It will include a well resourced lab and maker space for hands on experience.

Focused on Workforce

ARMA helped place over 30 interns with our manufacturing members. Through the help of a productive partnership with Workforce Solutions Capital Area we trained 28 people on basic manufacturing skills and got them placed in companies through our MSSC CPT Program. Special thanks to our Workforce Committee for all their support as well as the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation for funding the training.

Promoted Manufacturing to Youth

More than 350 students attended tours of manufacturing facilities, twice as many as the previous year. They were inspired by the technologically relevant products made in the region.

Hosted the 3rd Central Texas Manufacturing Expo & Conference

Our annual show grew by 25% and we were fortunate to bring in world class speakers like Travis Hessman, Editor and Chief from IndustryWeek.

Raised over $74K at our Annual Golf Tournament

We expanded the tournament this year to accommodate more players, with a morning and afternoon shotgun. We had over 220 people attend. Don’t miss out in 2020 for an even bigger tournament.

Last but not least: We added 37 new members and sponsors

Our association now consists of over 250 companies and 35 sponsors. Let’s keep pushing in 2020 to get to 300! The more people that are involved, the stronger we are. From our biannual survey: 45% of members reported meeting new customers and %70 reported meeting new vendors. 97% of members said they are getting value out of the association and would recommend it to a colleague.

ARMA will continue working hard in 2020 to bring value to our members and help fulfill our mission: to strengthen the manufacturing community through advocacy, workforce development, and networking. We will be launching new programs and committees next year such as our Leadership Development Program in early 2020, ARMA PR Committee, and the CFO Roundtable Group. We will have a full calendar that brings you meaningful opportunities to learn and connect. We look forward to a fantastic 2020 with more growth, learning, and participation.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank our Board of Directors, sponsors, and outstanding individuals who help make it all possible. While many are deserving of recognition, a few stood out this year. Please help us congratulate the following:

Volunteer of the Year

Andrea Ames – A&D Insurance Advisors

Andrea is a long-time ARMA member and huge supporter of our association. She has successfully chaired our annual golf tournament for 2 years now and it just keeps getting better each year. Not only has she been a great committee chair, but she has been an excellent advocate for our association as well. She is always quick to volunteer at events and help out in whatever way she can. ARMA appreciates her extraordinary service and dedication to our association.

Company of the Year

Athena Manufacturing

John Newman and Athena Manufacturing have been a part of ARMA for over 5 years. They have been very active on our Workforce Committee, driving the initiative for workforce development and promoting manufacturing to the regions youth. Athena has taken on over 5 interns in the past year and is one of our biggest supporters for the MSSC CPT training program. We truly appreciate all their contributions toward strengthening the manufacturing community.

Special Recognition

Matt Gresens - FANUC

Matt Gresens is our new Membership Committee Chair. We appreciate his time and dedication to help ARMA grow in 2020.

Kristin Wheatley – TMAC

Kristin Wheatley is one of our most active volunteers, always the first to volunteer her and her son to help out at events. She is the instructor for all the TMAC courses, as well as the chair for our Lean committee. She also participates on the Trade Show Committee, Workforce Committee, and Programs Committee.

Travis Hicks – Colliers

Travis Hicks has been a crucial volunteer this year, helping out at both our golf tournament and trade show. He is active on multiple committees as well. He also recruited another Colliers colleague to participate in committees and events this year, Chase Clancy. Both have been a great help to the association.

Lou Clark – The Bank of Austin

Lou Clark is another extremely active ARMA volunteer. She continually volunteers to assist at big events like our golf tournament and trade show and always brings members of her team along to help out as well. She participates actively in our Membership Committee, Golf Committee, and Trade Show Committee.

Jamie McIntire – Keystaff

Jamie McIntire was a huge help at our golf tournament and trade show this year. She also contributes to our Golf Committee and Membership Committee.

ARMA Board of Directors

Thank you to all of our board members for the time and effort they put into the association.

David Stewart, HID Global (Chairman)
Debra Dresser, Green Revolution Cooling (Chair Elect)
Kevin Fincher, RSM US (Treasurer)
DJ Lewis, First Citizens Bank (Secretary)
Mark Avery, Hajjar Peters (Legal Counsel)
Stephanie Boone, Wondercide
Gerry Cairns, NXP
Garrett Groves, Austin Community College
Tom Hibbs, TECO Westinghouse
Tom Lonsdale, Cypress Industries
Robb Misso, UCT
Bill Rafferty, SwRI
Michael Raiford, Samsung Austin Semiconductor
Carl Rounds, Applied Materials
Mike Tipps, Cushman & Wakefield

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!

All the best,

Your friends at ARMA