May 2023 Volume 5

INDUSTRY NEWS

In 2015 she established and endowed three separate women’s scholarships - at the Forging Industry Association, the University of Notre Dame and the Milwaukee School of Engineering - to financially assist and encourage talented women to pursue careers in manufacturing. She formed and Chaired the Committee for the Forging Industry Women’s Scholarship and remains a member today, continuing to contribute to and fundraise for those scholarships. She actively serves as a mentor to award recipients and select women targeted for advancement by company executives. Sharon is currently the President of Haverstock & Associates LLC, offering advisory and mentoring services to up and coming women leaders in manufacturing. She earned a Business degree (BBA ‘76) with a concentration inmarketing from the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) where she was in the first four year class of women admitted to the University, and completed the Kellogg School of Management’s “Women’s Director Development Program” at Northwestern University. Don Jones a manufacturer's representative. For the next 20 years he would build the organization into a successful venture focused on open die, closed die and large fabrications. He would maintain relationships with his core principals throughout his time as a manufacturer's rep. His focus would always be geared toward the principal's best interest. Opportunity would again knock on Don's door. Most of the 1980's saw tremendous change in the forging industry. One area significantly impacted was the small closed die forge shops throughout the US. Lack of investment, along with foreign competition left many of these companies vulnerable to economic downturns. In 1988 Don would take another step - this time purchasing DeKalb Forge. He turned 58 years old that year, but chose to venture into uncharted waters at a time when many of his peers were looking toward retirement. Don would later describe the DeKalb purchase as "the worst purchase we ever made." The equipment and facilities had not beenmaintained and many of the customers had gone offshore or soon would be overseas. Again, through all this, Don saw opportunity. With other shops struggling, he began a campaign of purchasingmany small closed die shops. Forge Resources Group would end up operating shops from many of those acquisitions - with their current structure operating six of the facilities. Don Jones was a man motivated by opportunity. In his work life, opportunity would knock in many different ways. The first opportunity introduced him to the forging industry at Kropp Forge for his first 20 years. When that chapter closed, Don took on a brand-new opportunity as

He loved watching the forging process. Every day he would walk the DeKalb floor to see what was running, and not running. (All would hear about what was not running). Don's willingness to risk provided great reward in his life. He was a simple person, but also a very faithful person. He loved his Lord, his wife, his family, his work and good food. In later years he would always say "every day is a good day". Always the salesman, some of his favorite sayings included - "Only customers pay salaries". "The customer is always right, until they take advantage of you." and "There are no bad orders. Some are just better than others."

Jeff Jones of Forge Resources Group accepts FIA Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of his late father Don Jones

FIA Lifetime Achievement Award Criteria Nominees must have been previously employed by an FIA Member Company; nominated by someone currently working in the Forging Industry; and have a minimum of 15 years Forging Industry related experience. Award winners are selected annually by the FIA Board of Directors. For more information or to submit a nominee, please contact Angela Gibian at angela@forging.org.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2023 69