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Area business advocates teaming up to encourage manufacturers to diversify
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Monday, Jan 21, 2008
If your company only makes balookafozzles, and people stop buying balookafozzles, you're in for a world of hurt.
A new regional program will encourage Northeast Ohio's 5,000 small and midsize manufacturers to think of new products and services to keep their companies healthy and growing.
''Innovation Accelerator'' is the brainchild of NorTech, Northeast Ohio's technology advocates, and Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network, also known as MAGNET.
In a Feb. 7 kickoff, the two economic development groups will preview a yearlong series of workshops and explain the mission of peer group meetings and individual counseling that could help propel companies into new markets.
Some executives will no doubt embrace the idea eagerly, organizers said. Others will need a lot of encouragement to take the first step.
''There are plenty of smaller manufacturers who have probably produced one thing, one widget, for a long time,'' said Greg Krizman of MAGNET.
''But if the market for that one thing goes away, they go away.
''So people in shops like that need to realize that they are entirely capable of producing more than one thing. . . . If they could talk to other folks in manufacturing and technology, they could have their eyes opened to what other things they could be producing.''
Dave Karpinski, a NorTech vice president, said the program is reaching out to an underserved audience.
Smaller manufacturers ''don't have a lot of resources and maybe they're not ready to hire consultants,'' Karpinski said. ''Here's a place to come and explore thoughts and topics.''
NorTech fellow Stephen Brand (a former National Inventors Hall of Fame president) said thinking about a new product line can be like staring at a big mountain.
''We break it down so you can look at it one chunk at a time,'' he said. ''Instead of this big goal, you can ask, 'What do I do right now, today?' '' Brand said.
Innovation Accelerator begins with a monthly workshop, a three-hour immersion into a specific topic, hosted by experts in that subject.
After the workshop, executives can join small support group meetings where they can give and get advice while encouraging each other to take the next step.
Karpinski and Brand said it is similar to the theory behind Weight Watchers meetings. If you have to meet with peers regularly to report on your progress, it can be embarrassing to admit you've done nothing.
''Peer pressure and peer support is extremely successful in getting people to take risk,'' Brand said.
If a company believes a group of employees will benefit from a particular topic, presenters will take their workshop to the plant.
A third level of help will be provided by NorTech and MAGNET ''innovation guides.'' They'll be available to meet with companies that have specific resource or service provider questions.
''We're trying to create a comprehensive program to help companies each step of the way,'' Karpinski said. ''The mission is to have innovation, not just talk about it.''
Krizman said Innovation Accelerator is an idea whose time has come.
''In some ways, portions of the manufacturing sector are still tied to the legacy industries of steel, auto, and heavy manufacturing,'' he said. ''It's time for a new generation of products and services that meet the needs of today's and future marketplaces.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
If your company only makes balookafozzles, and people stop buying balookafozzles, you're in for a world of hurt.
Get the full article here.
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