- Video shows the Jackson County Manufacturing Trade Show at the American 1 Event Center.
- According to Olivia Steele, Executive Director of Jackson Area Manufacturing Association (JAMA), Jackson is home to over 200 manufacturers.
- The trade show continues through Friday, September 27.
From the car you drive, to the hamburger buns you eat, there's a chance that part of that came from right here, in Jackson. Many of them came together at the American 1 Event Center, for the Jackson County Manufacturing Trade Show. Here are just a few...
Chad Paquin, Lematic, says," Lematic is a worldwide producer of slicing and package equipment for high volume automation bakeries." Sean Hilbert, Cobra MOTO, explains, "We manufacture the best off-road competition motorcycles for the youth market, in the world." Likewise, Gary Hill, Angling AI, says, "We make fishing molds so that people can make their own soft-plastic fishing baits at home."
From the food industry to healthcare, to aerospace, Jackson area manufacturers make hundreds of parts we find in our everyday world. You just have to look closely. JAMA Executive Director, Olivia Steele, says, "Everything that you feel and touch has been manufactured in some way, whether that's food or a chair."
Paquin shares that 80-85% of McDonald's hamburgers were likely sliced by equipment by Lematic. "Anything that is in that realm of being sliced that you may pull off the shelf or get at a restaurant, there's a good chance that we've had a hand in slicing and packaging it."
Jackson's manufacturing presence can even be seen through the athletes you see on TV. Hilbert, referring to the bikes displayed at his booth, says, "This is the bike that starts a lot of professional careers in professional motorcycle racing."
According to Steele, there are over 200 manufacturing companies in Jackson, and about 13,500 of Jackson's neighbors are employed by a manufacturer. She says, "We want to continue being that manufacturing town, having that presence, bringing people here. - We look forward to growing."
Some say it's the proximity between Chicago and Detroit that brought Jackson's automotive industry and put our manufacturing presence on the map. Brian Glick, Alro Steel, says, "Jackson is a big industry for us. A lot of manufacturing customers are here." However, for other manufacturers, it simply starts with an idea. "If you can think it, you can make it," says Hill.
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