Regional manufacturing group celebrates 35 years

It was 1974 when less than 10 manufacturing executives in the Fort Smith area decided they should come together to speak with one voice and to find ways to better support the manufacturing community.

What resulted was the Fort Smith Area Manufacturing Executives Association (MEA), with Don Flanders of Flanders Industries serving as the group’s first president.

The MEA was founded in 1974 by area manufacturing leaders “to provide its members an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and information, to improve their local community and foster a favorable business climate for its member companies as well as prospective manufacturing companies considering the Fort Smith region as a plant location,” according to the MEA Web site.

On Thursday night (Oct, 29), the MEA celebrated its 35th anniversary with a reception at Golden Living’s (formerly Beverly Enterprises) headquarters, with 18 past MEA presidents in attendance.

“What was created was an environment where manufacturing can thrive and grow,” Michael Barr, current MEA president, and an officer with Harry G. Barr Co., said in his address to the audience.

Dick Udouj, a past president of the MEA, said it was formed because there was a “void in Fort Smith for the manufacturers to have a voice in the community.” Also, he said there was not a place in which manufacturing executives could come together and share their issues, concerns and experiences.

“It was a good forum to just talk to your peers … to have a forum to talk about the same issues that we all faced,” Udouj explained.

Barr said the MEA has been a leader in the community, especially through its partnership with Westark College, which is now the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. The workforce training programs developed between the MEA and university have proven beneficial to both groups. Barr also noted that the MEA and its member companies are an active partner with area school districts, especially the Fort Smith Public School District.

And although the manufacturing sector in the Fort Smith region has seen employment decline in the past decade, group leaders remain optimistic they will continue to have a strong regional presence for years to come. As a potential symbol of that optimism, the large plaque noting past presidents has 12 blank tabs for future MEA leaders.

(Link here for a feature on the MEA posted March 8 on The City Wire.)