InTucker Magazine

Business Boom -August 2021

Industry experts from leading Tucker manufacturing companies will address important issues impacting the manufacturing industry at this year’s Manufacturing Day event. City and business leaders will also have this special opportunity to network with their peers, to share their knowledge and to learn from top-level manufacturing experts through panel discussions and speakers. 

“Tucker’s Manufacturing Day creates local connections and aims to build a strong sense of community in this industry within Tucker,” said Tucker Assistant City Manager and Director of Community and Economic Development John McHenry. “By supporting each other, local leaders and manufacturers are growing their businesses and positioning Georgia as the leader in the manufacturing industry in the U.S.”

The overarching theme of Manufacturing Day is education and understanding. It’s part of an effort to change people’s perceptions about today’s manufacturing environment and to draw attention to, and to celebrate the importance of, the manufacturing sector to Tucker and the nation’s economy. It is an opportunity for manufacturers to highlight their company, their work and the need to energize a future pipeline of skilled workers. 

When asking a random sampling of people on the street, what you often hear is that America doesn’t make anything here anymore. People think that countries such as China and Mexico have taken all of our factory jobs and production. Au contraire! Manufacturing in the U.S. is alive and well and is actually among the top five largest sectors driving our economy. 

The inaugural Manufacturing Day event, held in 2019, was derived from Mayor Auman’s vision to create an opportunity to showcase the City’s dynamic manufacturing industry by bringing together local experts and influencers. Unfortunately, last year’s event was suspended due to COVID.

Sponsored by the City, the Tucker Summit and the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement Districts (CIDs), Manufacturing Day is an opportunity to help foster learning and collaboration between manufacturing companies and the public. It’s a showcase to promote the importance of manufacturing on a local, national and global level. It’s an occasion during which manufacturers open their doors to showcase the potential of modern manufacturing and foster interest in manufacturing. The event will also include in-person tours of four local manufacturers including Tucker Brewing Company and Briggs & Stratton’s new advanced battery manufacturing.

“We have a very strong industrial base along Mountain Industrial Boulevard that has continued to grow and expand. We’ve had some large corporations put their headquarters here in our city – the Sugar Bowl Bakery came from northern California and now calls Tucker home,” said Tucker Summit CID President Emory Morsberger.

Manufacturing Day allows existing and potentially new businesses, community and business leaders, and residents to learn more about the benefits that modern manufacturing offers in Tucker. It also allows them to learn about local companies that are part of an industry that employs over 12 million workers across the country. Those employees work on durable goods and real, tangible products that improve people’s lives. This runs the gamut from lifesaving medical equipment to food products for domestic consumption and exportation abroad.

“We’ve got a large road network and Tucker’s been putting in and improving a lot of the roads here in the City, so they can see where the community is focused on transportation,” said Tucker-Northlake CID Executive Director Matthew Lee. “It’s critical for their businesses, certainly the commercial and industrial distribution folks.”

Tucker Manufacturing Day takes place Wednesday August 25 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Stone Ridge Event Center (1750 Stoneridge Drive). The in-person event will be executed with precautions in mind to create a safer environment for all participants. Go to tuckerga.gov/biz to register.