By Bill DiBenedetto, President, Lampin Corporation
In October the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation released a study on advanced manufacturing in the Berkshire region of the Commonwealth. Although Lampin is located in nearby Blackstone Valley, the birthplace of the industrial revolution, the environment of the Berkshires is similar to our own conditions in southeastern Massachusetts.
In an article by iBerkshires reporter Andy McKeever, the reporter writes that while the quantity of manufacturing employees have declined in the last 10 years, manufacturing companies and their employee wages remained “fairly consistent.” He concludes, “That paints a picture of manufacturing getting smaller and smarter with mass production being replaced by precision.”
As a small precision manufacturer, we believe in our business model to deliver quality manufacturing solutions to our clients. We’ve watched our customers weather the financial storms, some with success, some no longer in business. Throughout the good times and bad, we’ve been proud to remain a constant source for precision manufacturing.
The recommendations from the PERC Study reads like a history of Lampin. We invest in training our employees, partner with local schools to develop the next generation of precision machinists and unique to Lampin, converted to employee-ownership in the early 2000s to increase employee satisfaction and reward.
At Lampin, we see a strong manufacturing sector as critical to growth in Massachusetts after the tough economic times of the past few years. Our neighbors in the Berkshires are tapping in the brain trust and experiences of their educational, business and government leaders to chart a course. We agree that factors such as energy costs and infrastructure are best addressed from a 10,000-foot view. However, we believe if manufacturing is going to have resurgence in the Massachusetts, we, and our fellow manufacturing firms, need to continue to take action individually.
