Gov't Relations Meet Up, Wage and Benefit survey, Happy Hour, and more...

May 20, 2025 Visit Website Contact Us

Please forward to anyone who may benefit from the information contained in this twice-monthly newsletter and have them sign up today.

COMING UP! Workforce/HR Meet Up (5/27), Happy Hour after Summer Golf Outing (6/2), and Government Relations Meet Up (6/11)! Be sure to scroll down to the Events section to find out more.

It’s coming! The 2025 DRMA Wage and Benefit Survey will launch on 6/2. Don’t miss out on getting the survey report for free (a savings of $350 for members) – all you have to do is participate! Supplier members: get your name in front of 100+ members, schools, and economic development organizations throughout the Dayton Region by placing an ad in the wage survey report. Contact Shay.

Safety Alert! Check out this month's tip from our workers comp program administrator, Sedgwick:

Did you know the Sedgwick Safety and Loss Prevention Department has safety consultants who can assist you and your company with developing and maintaining an effective safety and risk management program? Read more about the safety services they offer here.

Manufacturer Members: An Ambassador may soon reach out to you to set up a SHORT meeting to ensure you are getting value out of your DRMA membership. Please take the call!

Don’t miss these upcoming Lean Manufacturing workshops, exclusively for DRMA member companies. Participants learn how to implement lean concepts and techniques to make systematic, lasting improvements within their operations. Presented by the Workforce Division of Sinclair College. $225 per session. Contact Shay for more information and to register.

8/21 - Value Stream Mapping: Understand how to effectively apply and implement tools to map and improve the flow of materials and information within an operation and develop a value stream plan for successful implementation. More information here.
10/16 - Set-Up Reduction: Learn the fundamentals of SMED and rapid-changeover and how to successfully implement these techniques on the shop floor, gain an understanding of internal vs. external changeover within an operation and how reducing non-value time positively impacts operations. More information here.
11/13 - Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) – Understand how to effectively “mistake-proof” processes and operations to minimize and eliminate errors. More information here.

Join our workers’ comp premium savings program administered by Sedgwick! We know business costs can be expensive, let us help you save on workers’ comp premiums. Receiving a quote is easy. Contact Paul Feck with your BWC policy number.

Manufacturers: Are you looking for entry-level manufacturing workers? We have a program where we recruit, screen, and train job seekers for these positions. WE HAVE COMPLETERS READY FOR HIRE. Contact Susan today!

DRMA is continuing our series on family business succession planning with another article on the components of a deal from Gary Wilkins of MLA Companies. We’ve posted two other articles from Doug Meyer of Brixey & Meyer – with 4 more articles yet to come in June and July. The series will culminate with a webinar to be held later this summer. Be sure to check our website as we continue to post content from local experts related on this topic.

Want to increase your brand exposure and support the DRMA? Get your name in front of attendees by sponsoring one of our upcoming events! Contact Susan for more details.

Fall Golf Outing - Join 200+ attendees for scramble-format golf and dinner on 9/29 at our new location at Miami Valley Country Club.
Economic Update – Respected economist Connor Lokar is back for this annual event on Tuesday, 9/10. We have several sponsorships available. This is one of our most well attended and highly anticipated events of the year with 150+ attendees!
Trap Shoot – You’ll get your name and brand in front of 100+ attendees who come out to participate in this fun event on 10/17! Some sponsorships include shooters; lock in your spot by purchasing a sponsorship today!

Did we catch you at the DRMA Shoptalk? Click here to see photos.

THANK YOU April Angel of AFC Tool! April is one of our most active and reliable career event volunteers. So active that she has twice earned our Heavy Lifter award for volunteering at the most events in a single year! DRMA appreciates and thanks April for her commitment to our organization and to the Dayton Region manufacturing industry as a whole.

Member exclusive! WorkAdvance, a proven initiative to supplement your recruitment strategies, will bring you quality candidates to fill your manufacturing entry-level positions. Candidates are ready now to interview! Contact Susan to learn more.

Join us for the Workforce/HR Meet Up on 5/27, 11 - 12 p.m., virtual! At this meet up, an employment attorney with Taft Law will join us to answer any questions surrounding HR Compliance topics. Register here.

Your membership can save you $$ while upskilling your workforce! Take advantage of DRMA’s partnership with Tooling U-SME to receive 15% off hundreds of training courses just for being a DRMA member. Even better, you may be able to get fully reimbursed through TechCred; details in next blurb. Interested? Contact Amy.

Offset your training costs for tech credentials! Funding is available thru TechCred, a program that reimburses employers for employee training up to $2,000 per industry-recognized credential and up to $30,000 per company each application round! The next application round is open through 5/30! Contact a DRMA education partner now – they can help you apply! Learn more here.

We know that finding, hiring, and retaining quality employees is a huge task. Industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) can help employers validate the knowledge and skills of potential employees and save time in assessing applicants’ competencies. DRMA is playing an integral role to ensure that students are earning credentials that members need. Learn more here.

We rely on our volunteers to keep our career events running! Click here to see who helped us out recently!

Help grow your future workforce by purchasing a sponsorship for student giveaways! We are preparing for our Fall career outreach events, and we need your help. Your sponsorship of $500 will help us cover the costs of things like lanyards, stickers, dog tags, and wood gliders (all items that students love to get!) and will include your organization’s name. Contact Kara for more info.

DRMA is proud to partner with The Abilities Connection and SOCHE in their Bridging Abilities program: You get your light assembly work done at a low price AND help students learn manufacturing skills! Send SOCHE an email at soche@soche.org to learn more.

Engineering teacher needed at Stebbins High School & Career Tech Center. It is critical that manufacturers support manufacturing training programs; without qualified instructors, schools will not be able to produce employees for you! Encourage recently retired manufacturer colleagues to teach the next generation of talent to apply here.

Looking for a new way to recruit, hire, train and retain employees? The US Navy has launched the Talent Pipeline Program and is seeking 40 manufacturers in Southwest Ohio to be part of their next cohort to address skill gaps in the maritime and defense sector. This program is fully funded by the Navy with no cost for US manufacturers. A Talent Pipeline Program Info Session will be held on 5/22 from 5 - 7:30 p.m. at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon. Rear Adm. Doug Adams, Program Executive Officer of Undersea Warfare, will speak. More info and registration here.

DRMA Government Relations Meet Ups provide members with the unique opportunity to talk with elected officials in a small, focused setting. Make sure you are registered for our next Meet Up with Montgomery County Commissioner Mary McDonald on 6/11 at 4 p.m., virtual. Mary was recently elected as County Commissioner after previously serving as Mayor of Trotwood. Register here. Free and for members only!

Looking for an opportunity to volunteer on important DRMA initiatives, or have an interest in policy issues? Consider serving on DRMA’s Government Relations Committee. Email Amy with any questions.

6/2, 12:30 - 7 p.m., DRMA Summer Golf Outing, Troy Country Club, Troy. Presented by Greenpoint Metals, the format is play your own ball with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Proceeds go to the DRMA Foundation and its efforts to develop and retain a skilled workforce for the region’s manufacturing industry. Registration is SOLD OUT, but tee signs can be purchased up until Friday, 5/23! More details here.

6/2, 5 - 7 p.m., Happy Hour, Troy Country Club, Troy. Not able to golf in the outing or just want to have fun networking? Hang out with your DRMA peers and congratulate the winners of the Summer Golf outing held earlier in the day. Register here.

6/10, 8 - 10 a.m., Creating Pathways: Connecting Employers to Internships & Apprenticeships, Dayton, presented by Sinclair Community College's Office of Work-Based Learning in partnership with DRMA. Learn how interns and apprentices can help enhance your workforce, discover strategies other employers have utilized, and meet with Sinclair faculty and staff who can connect you with Sinclair students. Click here for more info and to register.

6/26, 4 - 6 p.m., DRMA Happy Hour, Dayton. Come have a drink and meet with other DRMA members at the DRMA Happy Hour hosted by PNC Bank. Register here.

Meet-Ups - FREE and for members only. Join the conversation!

5/27, 11 - 12 p.m., Workforce/HR, virtual. Register here.
6/11, 4 - 4:45 p.m., Government Relations, virtual. Register here.

DRMA 101 - Whether you are a new member or a seasoned member, kickstart your membership ROI and learn what DRMA does to help you strengthen your business. Contact Shay to sign up!

6/18, 4 - 5 p.m., FASTLANE, Dayton (snack provided).
7/23, 4 - 5 p.m., Bruns General Contracting, Tipp City (snack provided).

For more information on any of our events, visit our website.

Save the Date - Upcoming DRMA Events

7/15 Breakfast with DRMA - Thompson Hine

8/20 Economic Update - Sinclair Conference Center

9/29 Fall Golf Outing - Miami Valley Country Club

10/16 Trap Shoot - Wright Patt Rod and Gun Club

12/3 Annual Meeting - NCR Country Club

Community Events

6/17-18, Investment Casting Institute, Advanced Manufacturing for Investment Casting Symposium, Dayton. More information/registration here.

Paying people fairly is good for business, you know that. But how do you find out the prevailing rate for your positions here in the Dayton Region? You use the DRMA Wage and Benefit Survey results. And if you participate, you get the report for FREE. Why? It’s an incentive for you to participate . . . it takes a bit of your time to complete it, and we need a bunch of members to participate to make the results statistically reliable. The link to complete the survey will be emailed on 6/2.

Make it easier on yourself to find skilled workers in a couple of years. If your facility shows well, host a student tour, whether on national MFG Day (the first Friday in October), during Ohio’s Manufacturing Month (October), and on any other day that works for you and your school partners to show students, educators, and parents the great occupations and careers your company offers. Interested? Let Amy know.

Looking to upgrade your team’s tech skills in 2025? TechCred might be the answer. All Ohio companies are eligible to apply through the end of the month (5/1) thru 5/30. We’re here to help. Our training partners provide the industry-recognized training and can even help you apply. Learn more here.

Looking for a way to engage, connect, and contribute to your and your fellow members’ successes? Join the DRMA private LinkedIn Group, exclusively for people at DRMA member companies. The group provides an on-line venue to ask questions, learn from each other, and collaborate on a private platform dedicated to our members. And we make it easy! Just click here to request to join.

Attention Manufacturer members: Click here to see manufacturing-pertinent resumes I have received.

Congratulations to DRMA members:

Precision Metal Fabrication for the Dayton Business Journal article about their collaboration with Real Art in bringing the Dayton Peace sign to life.
Thompson Hine for receiving the 2025 Ohio Access to Justice Foundation Presidential Award!

Welcome new DRMA members:

You are receiving this newsletter because you connected to DRMA through our website, social media, or events.