Mt. Pleasant Chamber Alliance Manufacturing Star Awards shines a light on the people behind the industry

The Mt. Pleasant Chamber Alliance recognized local community members in the manufacturing industry with their Manufacturing Star Awards and Luncheon.

At the lunch, over 40 manufacturing workers who were nominated in production, customer service or management categories were recognized. In addition, six nominees, who were chosen by an outside judge, were recognized as star award recipients. The individuals that were recognized at the award ceremony were Morgan Hotop from Hearth & Home Technologies; Scott Dillon from CECO Building Systems; Kevin Nickell from Innovairre; Matt Lowery and Doug Bass from Lomont Molding Inc.; and Thomas Wenstrand from Hawkeye Steel Products.

The award ceremony came after a week of events, which included a ribbon cutting and a Live After Five event, during which the chamber also recognized manufacturers in the area.

The nonprofit pioneered Manufacturing Week and the award ceremony after getting feedback from chamber members about wanting a week dedicated to manufacturing, similar to the chamber's existing events celebrating small businesses.

Currently, the chamber has 17 manufacturing members, which includes American Waterjet Cutting, CECO Building Systems, Continental, Fractco, Hawkeye Steel Products, Hearth & Home Technologies, Inhance Technologies, Innovairre, Jabil Packaging Solutions, Lomont Molding, MF Orthopaedics, MM Composite, MPC Enterprises, NCI Building Systems, Staats Awards, Walmart Distribution Center and West Liberty Foods.

Timber Haschemeyer, Director of Membership and Communications at the Mt. Pleasant Chamber Alliance, who worked in the manufacturing industry before her position with the chamber, helped organize the weeks events. In her speech during the lunch, Haschemeyer admitted that she was nervous when she first began working in manufacturing and had thought it would be a 'not ideal environment.”

'My assumptions of what the manufacturing environment was, was of course very wrong. I was in awe of what I was exposed to … my exposure gave me a whole new respect for the manufacturing industry,” she said.

'I saw it in a different light and I saw how important it was, especially in our area … they have such an impact and it's so important for people to know what these companies do,” Haschemeyer said about why the chamber decided to put on the event. Haschemeyer noted that the state of Iowa is home to approximately 6,080 manufacturing firms, which contribute $34 billion to Iowa's economy.

According to Kristi Ray, the Executive Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Area Economic Development, the goal of the awards was not only to recognize the manufacturing companies but to shine a light on the people that allow the manufacturing companies to function and work.

'What we tried to do today is to not make this just about the plant themselves but to truly make it about the people that work day-in and day-out in those plants … when we look at these names, many of us don't know these folks and these are the people that don't get a lot of recognition, but they're so important. Manufacturing is a huge part of this community and so we just felt it was important to take time to recognize them,” Ray said.

Morgan Hotop, a recipient of a star award, said being recognized 'was very humbling yet honoring.” Hotop has only been in her position with Hearth & Home Technologies for a year and was one of the youngest recipients. Hotop was recognized for her hardwork. Her nomination noted that she had already been promoted several times within her short career.

'You put in a lot of time, a lot of effort into work, a lot of overtime and then to be recognized for it … I have no words,” Hotop said.

Scott Dillon, a design engineer for CECO Buildings, was recognized for his work in helping to teach and train other employees and utilizing his experience to help find solutions for his company.

Dillon said, 'I don't feel like I did anything special. I just did my job like everybody else here, but yeah, it's great - great to be recognized and to be reminded I've been there for 46 years.”