MAGNET

MAGNET Update | MANUFACTURING DRIVES HALF THE REGIONAL ECONOMY

Manufacturing creates about 270,000 jobs in Northeast Ohio;

every one of those jobs delivers four more, which makes for

more than one million jobs. As a result, manufacturing drives

half the regional economy. Half!

This fact alone underscores why our region’s manufacturing community needs to return to its foundation rich in manufacturing know-how. Pair that history with the focused, forward-thinking approach The Blueprint for Manufacturing in Northeast Ohio offers, and Northeast Ohio can regain its title as the Home of Modern Manufacturing. Championed by more than 100 leaders across many verticals, The Blueprint offers a vision to help manufacturers unlock this future by making massive systemic changes in talent, transformation, innovation and leadership.

Knight Material Technologies (KMT), located in East Canton, is one local company that’s harnessed the power of each Blueprint pillar. Founded in 1910, Knight designs, installs, services and manufactures custom acid-resistant linings used in highly corrosive processes for the chemical and mining industries worldwide.

KMT President Kevin Brooks offers his us broader take on how extending leadership off the plant floor and into the community is helping build his international company in a local way:

This year, Knight Materials was asked to be on the Stark County Community Moving Forward, an organization with 10 subcommittees, The Black College Football Hall of Fame CEO Committee being one of them. Historically, we didn’t spend a lot of effort promoting ourselves in the local community, because we have a very small, if any, local customer base. But what we found then is recruiting locally is difficult, because nobody knows who we are or the exciting things we do. So we wanted to find ways to be more involved, and joining the organization’s Black College Football Hall of Fame CEO subcommittee fits our profile.