This year's Manufacturer of the Year award will be presented to Gladding Braided Products, a wire and fiber manufacturer based in South Otselic. (Evening Sun file photo by Tyler Murphy)

CHENANGO COUNTY — Commerce Chenango will be honoring Chenango County manufacturers next week as part of Manufacturer Appreciation Week, which runs from October 3 through October 7.

Manufacturer Appreciation Week and Manufacturing (MFG) Day, held on the first Friday of October every year, was founded by The Manufacturing Institute, with the Fabricators and Manufacturer's Association as a founding partner, according to MFGDay.com.

The website states that "MFG Day is manufacturing’s biggest annual opportunity to inspire the next generation to start careers in modern manufacturing through a series of focused events to promote manufacturing to students, parents and educators."

On Thursday, October 6 Commerce Chenango, along with area business owners and residents, will show their appreciation and support of the estimated 35 manufacturers in Chenango County with their first ever Manufacturer Appreciation Luncheon.

"Manufacturing Day has been around for a long time," said Commerce Chenango Director of Communications and Tourism Audrey Robinson. "This is the first time we have ever done an appreciation luncheon for the manufacturers, because Chenango County is full of a good percentage of manufacturers, whether they’re just small individual ones, or whether they’re, say, Raymond Corporation size. There's a lot of them."

The luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Northeast Classic Car Museum in Norwich. Food and beverages will be provided, as well as a presentation by Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology (AMT) Principal Consultant Amanda Jackson titled "Right-Sizing Industry 4.0 for Small to Mid-Sized Manufacturers in the Southern Tier." Commerce Chenango staff will also provide a brief address.

The event is open to the public, and tickets are $10 for Commerce Chenango chamber members and $25 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased at CommerceChenango.com under the Manufacturing Day Appreciation Luncheon event.

Commerce Chenango also gives out a "Manufacturer of the Year" award each year during Manufacturer Appreciation Week. Robinson said three to four manufacturers are nominated each year, and community members vote to select the winner.

Past winners include T-Squared Custom Millwork in 2019, Golden Artist Colors in 2020, and Chenango Valley Technologies in 2021.

This year's Manufacturer of the Year award will be presented to Gladding Braided Products, a wire and fiber manufacturer based in South Otselic.

Robinson explained that while Commerce Chenango has presented awards and shown appreciation for the county's manufacturers for several years, this year they wanted to do more to recognize their efforts.

"We went to Golden Artist and gave them their award, and T-Squared we went there and gave them their award, and the same thing with Chenango Valley Technologies," she explained. "Last year we did articles in the Evening Sun, and we did social media spots for three or four of the manufacturers in Chenango County. That’s kind of what we do every year: we pick three or four manufacturers, and we do give the award each year, but we’ve never had an appreciation luncheon before."

"We just decided they're not getting appreciated enough, so that’s why we thought if we have it during a lunch like the Member Appreciation Luncheon, that we would get more people to notice who that Manufacturer of the Year was."