Manufacturers Association seeks nominations for Manufacturing Excellence Awards

The Michigan Manufacturers Association has begun seeking nominations for its annual Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

The program serves to recognize the contributions of the state’s most innovative manufacturing leaders, organizations and products, those that propel the future of manufacturing forward.

MMA actively invites Michiganders to nominate local manufacturers from their communities in ten peer-judged award categories and the viral “Coolest Thing Made in Michigan” competition.

Winners will be honored at the prestigious 2024 Excellence Awards gala on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, at the Lansing Center in Lansing.

Delaney McKinley, executive vice president of operations at MMA, said recognizing innovation in Michigan’s manufacturing industry helps highlight exceptional workers.

“Michigan’s manufacturing industry is a globally interconnected and diverse powerhouse, more than 12,000 companies strong employing more than 610,000,” McKinley said. “Michigan is home to a rich and proud legacy of makers and it is our honor to shine a spotlight on the innovators that shape our collective fortunes, drive our state’s economy and support countless communities.”

The 2024 MMA awards lineup includes:

• Manufacturing Sustainability Award - sponsored by Consumers Energy which recognizes a Michigan manufacturer of any size that is planning and taking action to improve sustainability through regenerative solutions to make a revolutionary and lasting impact.
• The Coolest Thing Made in Michigan (people’s choice) - calls attention to the impressive products being made by creative thinkers and doers right here in the Great Lakes State.
• • To recognize the cool and innovative products, MMA and EndeavorIT have partnered on the people’s choice competition. Two rounds of people’s choice voting will determine a top 10 and top 3, with the final winner being revealed at the 2024 Manufacturing Excellence Awards in November.
• John G. Thodis Michigan Manufacturer of the Year Award - established to honor the important, positive and tangible contributions individual manufacturers make to their employees, customers and communities and has honored some of Michigan’s most well-known brands since 1981.
• • Two companies will be bestowed with this award in small and large tier categories, carrying the memory of MMA’s longest-serving president, John G. Thodis, whose lifetime of industry service is one that all deserving manufacturers strive to duplicate.
• Manufacturing Woman of the Year Award - honors the roles women play in manufacturing as well as their significant achievements in the industry and positive impacts within their companies and communities. An individual woman at any level of manufacturing, from the factory floor to the C-suite, is eligible to be nominated.
• Manufacturing Emerging Leader Award – given for noteworthy contributions to the industry and the potential for future accomplishments within Michigan manufacturing. This award recognizes and honors a new manufacturing leader who has been involved in the industry for less than 12 years.
• Manufacturing Talent Champion Award - recognizes those who bring focus to the critical need to attract Michigan’s next-generation workforce to the industry’s variety of career options.
• Manufacturing Innovation Excellence Award - recognizes a company that has introduced noteworthy innovations to advance the industry. This award showcases a company that not only has brought an innovative concept to market but has developed and maintained a culture focused on engaging the workforce to bring new ideas to life.
• Manufacturing Community Impact Award - honors a manufacturing business that has shown exemplary leadership in serving its community or state and is an example of the involved and giving nature of manufacturers.
• Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award - Given to a manufacturer who has excelled in the industry and inspires his or her peers, emerging leaders, lawmakers and educators to strive to make significant contributions to his or her company, industry and community.
• Michigan Manufactured Export of the Year Award - given to a product that has benefited from the effective leveraging of export resources to expand into global markets, grow and diversify revenue and support Michigan jobs. New in 2023, this award recognizes exporting success, the benefits of international trade and the many resources available to support the expansion of Michigan manufacturers into markets around the world.

Nominations are open until 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Anyone outside of MMA staff can nominate and self-nominations are encouraged.

For more information on the MMA and its initiatives visit www.mimfg.org .