During some year end calls in the Cleveland, Ohio area, I stumbled upon an organization that is located in what used to be a shopping mall in the downtown area.  Today, instead of clothing and gift shops, the Galleria at Erieview Tower is home to an organization called "The Manufacturing Mart".  I stopped in the main office/showroom and picked up a brochure that was on a table near the store entrance.  On the back cover I read "Promote your company and American Manufacturing by becoming an exhibitor at The Manufacturing Mart, a permanent industrial tradeshow serving engineering, purchasing and manufacturing professionals daily."  I had to go in!

I was quickly greeted by Lindsey Frick who is a Mechanical Engineer and Industrial Designer and who works with The Manufacturing Mart.  Lindsey gave me a lot of great information and showed me their web site and I, in turn, explained I was a fastener junky and had a great interest in promoting anything that could possibly lead to an increase in domestic manufacturing.  Lindsey gave me a lot of promotional information and you can check out their website yourself -- www.TheManufacturingMart.com.  Below is an excerpt that I copied from the site:

"The Manufacturing Mart hosts permanent exhibits for North American manufacturers making components, equipment, and consumer products. On display, you’ll find information about North American manufacturing companies along with examples of their process expertise.  We feature grinding, milling, boring, waterjetting, tool and die making, injection molding, fabricating, inventing, prototyping, 3D engineering tools, sourcing, and a library of new materials. The displays are organized by Starting Materials, Inventors, and Components."

Cool stuff.  A little further down, I read:

"The Manufacturing Mart is located in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.· This location is at the center of the Capital of Know-How which spans 600 miles outside of the region.· The Capital of Know-How is populated with 60% of all U.S & Canadian manufacturing locations.· This area is branded by Know-How because within this location, one can make anything man has thought of or will think of, from space ships to automobiles to electronics and consumer products."

You've gotta love the confidence bursting out in that statement.  Go get 'em.

Essentially, Lindsey's company is trying promote and introduce companies with manufacturing "know how" to those with manufacturing and engineering needs.  In fact, they will be holding a Manufacturing Expo at the Galleria on February 14 & 15, 2012 where they hope to attract over 3,000 attendees and 180 exhibitors which will include tier 1 and 2 suppliers as well as job shops, inventors and new product companies, material suppliers and workforce resources.  The site to check this out is www.MFGtradeshow.com.

As  I mentioned at the beginning, I literally ran into this place as I was coming from a sales call and, being the curious guy that I am, I had to stop.  I do not know a lot about the organization but I was reminded of Fully Threaded Radio's interview with Harry Moser and his Reshoring Initiative  (see www.reshorenow.org).  There are other groups around that are trying to promote domestic manufacturing.  Another Ohio based organization called MAGNET also works with domestic manufacturing.  The following excerpt is from their website  (found at www.magnetwork.org):

"The Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET) today released the audited results of its work over the past five years aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in Ohio. The goal of MAGNET is to help manufacturers in Ohio compete and grow.