NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: For more information, contact: John Buell, Editor-in-Chief, Start Magazine, 630.933.0844 x223, jbuell@startmag.com

Manufacturer of the Year Finalists Named

Carol Stream, Ill.—September 6, 2005—Start magazine has announced the finalists for its second annual Manufacturer of the Year award. The Manufacturer of the Year award program honors manufacturers that are innovative and determined to improve the manufacturing industry.

The Manufacturer of the Year award is designed to single out American manufacturing companies that illustrated excellence in the following areas:

  • Recognize the significance of manufacturers to the overall well-being of the economy and to the manufacturing industry as a whole.
  • Demonstrate how manufacturers are embracing today’s challenges and overcoming hurdles to remain competitive.
  • A proven track record in job growth, improved corporate revenues, and capital investments.
  • Illustrate a strong commitment to their workforce and community, including volunteer programs, environmental programs, and educational partnerships.

“John Buell, editor-in-chief of Start magazine, and I are thrilled to be able to personally hand out awards to all of these American manufacturers who found ways to remain competitive and profitable. We look forward to personally awarding and recognizing each of these finalists—and ultimately the winners—with trophies that have been custom made by yet another American manufacturer,” said Peggy Smedley, editorial director and publisher of Start magazine.

The Manufacturer of the Year award will be given out to one company in each of the following three groups: small, midmarket, and large. Companies with revenue below $200 million are considered small; those between $200 million and just under $1 billion are in the midmarket; and companies who earn $1 billion or more are considered large.

The nominees for the second annual Manufacturer of the Year include:

  • Small Market:
    • ASV Inc., Grand Rapids, Minn.
    • CAE Inc., Hamburg, Mich.
    • Craftmade Intl., Coppell, Texas
    • ELAN Homes, Lexington, Ky.
    • EMF Corp., Angola, Ind.
    • Floyd Rose Guitars, Oakhurst, N.J.
    • Graniterock Co., Watsonville, California
    • Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, Vt.
    • Lifeway Foods Inc., Morton Grove, Ill.
    • Mag Instrument, Ontario, California
    • Martek Biosciences, Columbia, Md.
    • Metal Essence, Sanford, Fla.
    • Nutraceutical Intl. Corp., Park City, Utah
    • Patagonia, Ventura, California
    • Quixote Corp., Chicago, Ill.
    • Russound, Newmarket, N.H.
    • STERN Pinball Inc., Melrose Park, Ill.
    • Tampa Brass & Aluminum Corp., Tampa, Fla.
    • Toyoda-Koki Automotive North America Inc., Morristown, Tenn.
    • ZymoGenetics, Seattle, Wash.
  • Midmarket:
    • American Cast Iron Pipe, Birmingham, Ala.
    • American Pan, Urbana, Ohio
    • American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., Schaumburg, Ill.
    • American Woodwork Corp., Winchester, Va.
    • Biosite Inc., San Diego, California
    • Crown Beverage Packaging, Crawfordsville, Ind.
    • Cytec Corp., Marlborough, Mass.
    • dj Orthopedics Inc., Vista, California
    • Delphi Electronics & Safety, Kokomo, Ind.
    • GenCorp., Rancho Cordova, California
    • Headwaters Inc., South Jordan, Utah
    • Heaven Hills Distilleries Inc., Bardstown, Ky.
    • Inman Mills, Inman, S.C.
    • Nordson Corp., Westlake, Ohio
    • OMNOVA Solutions Inc., Fairlawn, Ohio
    • Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va.
    • Organic Valley Family of Farms, LaFarge, Wis.
    • Shure Inc., Niles, Ill.
    • Simpson Manufacturing, Dublin, California
    • Skyline Inc., Elkhart, Ind.
  • Large Market:
    • Abbott Labs, Newark, Del.
    • Alcon Laboratories, Ft. Worth, Texas
    • Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, California
    • Avon Products, New York, N.Y.
    • Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, N.Y.
    • Colgate-Palmolive, New York, N.Y.
    • Dell Inc., Round Rock, Texas
    • Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, Ind.
    • Genentech, San Francisco, California
    • General Mills, Minneapolis, Minn.
    • Guidant, Indianapolis, Ind.
    • Pella Corp., Pella, Iowa
    • PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y.
    • Pfizer Inc., New York, N.Y.
    • Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Remy Intl., Anderson, Ind.
    • Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland, Ohio
    • Texas Instruments, Dallas, Texas
    • The Timberland Co., Stratham, N.H.
    • The Warnaco Group, New York, N.Y.
    • W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., Newark, Del.
    • Wm. Wrigley Jr., Chicago, Ill.
    • Xilinx Inc., San Jose, California

Winners of this year’s Manufacturer of the Year award will be announced Thursday evening, September 29th, at the third Manufacturing and Economic Recovery Conference, which will be held at the Skokie North Shore Hotel in Skokie, Ill., just outside of Chicago.

MERC Conference

Start magazine, along with conference sponsors OSIsoft and IBM, who will host the Technology Track, along with its solution partners: Business Objects, IFS, Infor, Intentia, LANSA, Logility, and SSA Global, have assembled a plethora of manufacturers seeking to discover new ways to make their companies more profitable and ultimately more successful within this highly global market.

Here is a sample of the tools and tips you can expect to leave this conference with:

  • Forming a discipline and collaborative network of partners and suppliers.
  • Create a strategic approach that combines the efforts of government, manufacturers, and consumers.
  • How to take advantage of state and federal tax benefits.
  • Work within the laws of economics.
  • Create a global alliance to make you more competitive here and abroad.