Celebrating Industry Appreciation Month

ASHEBORO — Randolph County Economic Development Corporation promoted October as Industry Appreciation Month in Randolph County.

Nationally, Manufacturing Day is celebrated annually on the first Friday in October, but RCEDC wanted to extend that to a month-long celebration that included not just manufacturing, but related warehousing and distribution facilities.

“In economic development, it is most important to ‘dance with the one that brung ya’ – supporting and developing our existing industry, better preparing our citizens for the future, and helping ensure that our county has a ready and able workforce migration into the county,” RCEDC Board Chairman Bob Crumley said.

On Oct. 13, RCEDC hosted its first event of the month, the 2nd Annual Forklift Rodeo event at Hughes Furniture in Randleman. Ten drivers representing industrial companies across Randolph County competed for trophies and bragging rights while company representatives cheered their drivers on. This year’s first place driver was Rudy Estrada representing Ultracraft Cabinets in Liberty.

During the week of Oct. 17, two manufacturers opened their doors for facility tours. The first tour was in Seagrove at Carolina Bronze Sculpture, a fine art foundry that produces sculptures that are displayed around the world. The second tour was hosted by Metals USA’s Randleman facility which is part of the company’s flat rolled division, offering processing services such as bending, edge trimming, forming and slitting. 

The month-long celebration ended with an Industry Appreciation Luncheon hosted by the RCEDC on Oct. 26. At the luncheon, RCEDC recognized 34 companies celebrating a five-year milestone of operations in Randolph County, combining for 1,060 years of operations and nearly 2,000 jobs. Among them was Bossong Hosiery, celebrating its 95th anniversary this year.

The highlight of the Industry Appreciation Luncheon, and the culmination of the month-long celebration, was the presentation of EDC’s 2nd Annual “RCEDC Outstanding Industry Award.” Applications were reviewed based on positive community impact, community involvement, business performance and standard of conduct.

The 2022 RCEDC Outstanding Industry Award was presented to Jowat Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial adhesives located in Trinity. Jowat’s Achim Becker accepted the award on behalf of the company.

“Jowat Corporation is honored to have received the Randolph County Outstanding Industry of the Year Award,” Becker said. “Jowat Corporation was founded in 1979 and today has 166 employees at its Trinity production facility. We plan to add 8 production employees in 2023 and further expand our overall footprint and activities that benefit the community and local businesses.”

The Randolph County Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit organization that works with industrial clients in the county. The EDC’s mission is to support a growing healthy economy so that local residents have diverse quality job opportunities through the attraction of new businesses to the area and the retention and expansion of existing business and industry.