August 2021 Volume 3

PRESIDENT'S NOTE

President's Note

Annual Meeting a Smashing Success! Kudos to the FIA Board for pushing for an early summer AnnualMeeting in the Midwest, and a great big thanks to the FIA staff for pulling it off in such style! This would have been another easy one to say ‘eh COVID might hurt attendance…

Forging 2.0 Electric vehicles (EVs) have been a hot topic lately, and we sometimes receive calls from the media looking for a comment on how the forging industry plans to react. I enjoy this opportunity because it allows me to educate reporters on how forging is integral to so many industries, including the future EV car segment (forgings support the structure/suspension); aerospace (you’re welcome Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.); medical, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, nuclear and more! When it comes to defending our country, that’s where we’ve really shined, and will continue to do so! If you ever see a burgundy minivan rolling down the Ohio turnpike with a personalized ‘FORGE’ aerospace-themed license plate – that would be me. I’m blown away by what our industry and this country was able to do in World War II and beyond from protecting our citizens to exploring our galaxy. I drove the staff here bananas last week yelling “did you see it go by?” - ‘it’ being one of only two airworthy B-29’s on tour in Cleveland at our Burke Waterfront Airport – close to the FIA office. It was a real treat to get up close and photograph some of those awesome forgings I know our members made back in the day. I had a nice chat with the plane’s owner and pilots and expressed our memberships’ affinity for the forgings on this aircraft.

let’s wait’ - but the board said go for it in late June, it’s time to start meeting again. And they were right. Our early planning was for a maximum of 75 attendees, and we were so happy to see 150+ come out to lovely Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. This was one of our largest Annual Meeting gatherings in some time. We had a nice couple of firsts as well for this meeting: our first FIERF Forging Foundation Silent Auction was a blast to put together AND generated nearly 18K in donations from nearly 40 donated items– thanks to all who participated as a donor or winning bidder; and the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing Bill Walker of Walker Forge and Al Underys of Finkl Steel – two titans in the industry. For The main focus of this issue is Forge Fair 2021, and we are pleased to share that the show planning is coming along quite nicely. We are very near our goal for number of exhibitors, and the registered attendance numbers are tracking to match Forge Fair 2019 – our most successful show ever. At this time, we’re planning for 125 exhibitors and 1,500 attendees in Detroit. This year boasts lots of new features for Forge Fair in 2021: first time ever in Detroit; first Career Day planned with a focus on students visiting the show; first Women in Forging panel on the show floor; and the first time we’ll have the FIA Economist present from the show floor. It is my hometown, and we promise a great time in this revitalized city! Check out the full Forge Fair Pre-Show information, starting on page 66. NewMaintenance Column! FIA staff was happy to reconnect with Jeff Fredline of MECO Corporation for maintenance training and a new every-issue maintenance-themed column. Jeff’s early career was in forging and he is excited to be back with FIA. (See page 16) a full recap of the event, see page 62. Forge Fair is Coming Soon

Today, I see many examples in the membership of diversifying, getting creative and not sitting around waiting around to see if EV cars will impact us as advertised. If yes, we will find our niche with EV's and otherwise continue to build our businesses in as many industry segments as possible. FORGE ON! ■

Sincerely, James R. Warren

President and CEO Forging Industry Association Board of Directors

PUBLISHER James R. Warren jwarren@forging.org EDITOR Angela Gibian angela@forging.org Editorial Staff

Perry Bennett Peter Campbell Mark Candy John Coward Robert Dimitrieff

Marcelo T. Garza JimKravec Chelsea Lantto James Romeo

DESIGN Lorean Crowder lorean@forging.org AD SALES Keri Kichurchak keri@forging.org

CHAIRMAN Douglas McIntyre VICE CHAIRMAN Dan Ulven

FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2021 1