May 2022 Volume 4

MEMBERS SPEAK

Members Speak By Dan Ulven

It is an honor to serve as your FIA Chairman for the next year. My entire career has been devoted to the forging industry and forging stronger solutions with the Ulven Companies we either started or acquired over the last 50 years (Ulven Forging, Skookum, Wolf Steel Foundry, Ulven Aerospace & Precision Solutions, and Houston Structures). Ulven Forging has been a member of FIA since 1988. We have been active with the membership including serving early on in FIA’s joint partnership with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Advanced Technology Intl. (ATI) on the Forging Defense Manufacturing Consortium (FDMC). Ulven has chaired this important committee and I serve on this board as vice chairman. I also serve on the Forging Foundation (FIERF) board of trustees. FIA and FIERF are very important to theUlvens and our employees. We have greatly benefitted from FIA training, networking, trade shows and committees. We are recent supporters of the President’s Challenge and have a new connection with Chemeketa Community College in Salem, OR where we supported several scholarship gifts in partnership with FIERF. The Forging Foundation matches all President’s Challenge gifts up to $1,500. FIERF has now established Forging Foundation scholarships at 16 community colleges across North America since beginning this program in late 2019. What’s On-Deck for 2022-2023 Major Events The board and staff have another busy year with major events. We’ve just concluded a successful Annual Meeting in beautiful Dana Point, California. I want to thank Doug McIntyre and his team at Weber Metals for an outstanding plant tour. Special thanks for the extra tour of the 60K press pit area for myself, several others and my son Talon – a future forger! I also appreciated the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) presentations, as well as focus on environmental issues – topics the board wanted covered. These issues need to be front-and-center to be the best forgers we can be with a focus on hiring the next generation of forging operators, engineers, designers, maintenance/electrician staff and front office positions. Our International Forging Congress (IFC) is up this June 11-13 in downtown Chicago. We need everyone in North America to come out. COVID-19 is still impacting some countries that would normally attend. Our next major event is Forge Fair in May 2023 back in its Cleveland location. Not long after Forge Fair it is the FIA’s turn to host the 23rd offering of the International Forgemaster’s Meeting (IFM) in September 2023.

Government Affairs With our new staff the focus remains on fair trade and workforce development – two areas we need to continue to highlight to our lawmakers. We’re increasing our investment in professional lobbying and will host our Fall Meeting of Members inWashington D.C. (October 25-26). Please visit our new Public Policy & Advocacy web page and share any details you have on incidences of unfair trade at the Forging Unfair Trade Tracking Center (forging.org/advocacy). The intent of tracking this data is to report any global companies unfairly trading to USTR for action, and further to evaluate if FIA has basis for a group effort case to bring to the USTR. In 2023 we will be in year three of five for our Workforce Development Grant provided by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). We’ve converted all our existing Forging University content over to our new Forging University LMS (learning management system), and now turn our attention in 2022-2023 to new course development for rolled rings, forging automation and maintenance e-learning training. NewWorkgroup Efforts Our newest workgroup efforts – Women in Forging, and Next Gen – are creating events and getting results. The FIA and FIERF boards identified these as areas important to pursue in our most recent Strategic Plan (adopted February 2022). Watch for webinar and in-person offering announcements and also coverage of these issues at our Annual Meeting and Fall Meetings. Our recently approved standing committee onWorkforce Development was active at Forge Fair and is planning a webinar series on employee recruiting and retention, and continues to plan for its own conference in the near future. I am looking forward to serving as your chairman for 2022-2023 and hope to see many of you at our next major event – the International Forging Congress - June 11-13 in downtown Chicago. Dan Ulven President

The Ulven Companies FIA Board Chairman Email: dan@ulvencompanies.com Phone: 503-982-9779

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2022 80