DRMA strengthened our members by fostering innovation, partnerships, and connectivity while growing the industry through workforce development, economic development, and business tools.

DRMA leads the Dayton Region Manufacturing Workforce Partnership (DRMWP), an OMA-endorsed industry sector partnership (ISP). The purpose of DRMWP is to develop and execute new and enhanced initiatives that strategically align workforce efforts to ensure manufacturing competence and growth throughout the region. Key highlights of DRMWP’s accomplishments in 2025 are:

• Revamped the career outreach display that we take to schools, utilizing a fresh and modern design; implemented new virtual reality software to provide a welding simulation to expose students to careers in manufacturing

• As the region’s industry sector partner (ISP) for manufacturing, we fostered collaboration among industry groups, students, and education partners to expose students to careers in manufacturing

• Continued to administer WorkAdvance, a program of the OMA-led federal Good Jobs Challenge grant, to increase the entry-level manufacturing workforce through recruitment, training, and placing underserved/underrepresented people; metrics to date: 181 participants; 129 completers; 91 placements, 34 of which were placed in member companies; and 31 Manufacturer member companies participating in the program

• Presented information about our success with WorkAdvance at the Montgomery County SECIP’s “Increasing Income: Pathways to Higher Pay” conference and at the Dayton Equity Center’s Annual EMERGE Summit

• Conducted or participated in 40 career events and recruited members to volunteer at the events, including power lunches, career fairs and other career events – all to foster students’ interest in manufacturing careers; 5,734 students were engaged; invited reps from career technology centers and community colleges to join events to talk about education/training opportunities

• Recruited and trained volunteers for our careers speakers’ bureau which simulates a manufacturing business

• Deployed a campaign to encourage members and schools to conduct students tours year-round; helped matchmake and provided support, resulting in 73 tours at 28 member companies to showcase manufacturing occupations and processes; engaged 2537 students from 57 schools; provided best practice tips to members

• Held 8 virtual Workforce/HR Meet Ups, a roundtable discussion group for members; lined up Subject Matter Experts to answer participants’ questions

• Promoted career fair opportunities to members

• Communicated various government workforce funding, training, and hiring opportunities to members, including JobsOhio’s new relocation program

• Wrote numerous letters to support educators’ manufacturing initiatives

• Fostered collaborative relationships to advocate for members’ workforce concerns with multiple organizations and schools, including:

  • Employers Workforce Coalition, an initiative of The Dayton Foundation

  • U.S. Small Business Administration

  • 4C for Children

  • Greater Ohio Workforce Board

  • Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board

  • Preble County Development Partnership

  • Dayton Metro Library

  • FASTLANE

  • TechSolve

  • SOCHE

  • Junior Achievement

  • DO STEM Council

  • Goodwill Easterseals/Miami Valley Works

  • Montgomery County Offices of Economic Development & Business Services

  • Montgomery County Youth Works

  • NAM/The Manufacturing Institute

  • Midwest Microelectronics Consortium

  • Ohio Manufacturers Association

  • U.S. Navy Talent Pipeline Program

  • Dayton YouthBuild

  • Sinclair Community College

  • Clark State College

  • Edison State Community College

  • Wright State University

  • Miami University

  • Miami Valley CTC

  • Greene County Career Center

  • Upper Valley Career Center

  • Springfield-Clark CTC

  • Stebbins High School

  • Dayton Public Schools

  • Kettering Fairmont High School

  • Northridge High School

  • Liberty High School

  • Community STEAM Academy

  • Concepts Schools/Horizon Science Academy

  • Montgomery County Educational Service Center

  • Miami County Educational Service Center

  • Preble County Educational Service Center

  • Greene County Educational Service Center

  • Clark County Educational Service Center

  • Clinton County Educational Service Center

  • and many others, both locally and nationally

• Revamped the Workforce Initiatives section of the website so that the graphics and messaging correlate with the career outreach display to demonstrate the benefits of a career in manufacturing.

• Continued our push for the adoption of industry-recognized credentials by informing schools of the importance of incorporating them into their curriculum and educating members on the value of credentials, including development and deployment of a messaging campaign.

• Conducted the annual Wage and Benefit Survey and report and conducted a Meet Up where an analysis of the results/trends were presented by member companies Spherion Staffing and Pride Staff

• Offered our successful Legal Services Plan, Workers Comp Group Rating Program, and OSHA training discount programs

• Presented an informational series on Family Business Success Planning, complete with articles posted on social media and newsletter, culminating with a webinar

• Sent 4 business lead emails

• Offered the members-only DRMA Discussion Group via Linked In to foster information sharing of manufacturing challenges, solutions, and best practices; 267 members are participants of the discussion group

• Added three members to the Associate Board to foster participation of the younger generation at member companies

• Executed the annual sponsorship program, providing opportunities for 10 members to elevate their brand presence throughout the DRMA network

DRMA educated our members by sharing relevant industry information, hosting events, conducting workshops, and providing avenues to share knowledge while learning from other industry professionals.

• Published News Bits newsletters twice a month to provide members with information on DRMA activities and pertinent information from partner organizations

• Added 422 new Linked In followers totaling 4961

• Held 2 breakfast events (at MLA & Thompson Hine), 3 Shoptalk events (one celebrating workforce successes and honorees), 2 Happy Hour events, and 1 Annual Meeting

• Held Economic Update event featuring Connor Lokar from ITR Economics and hosted a “Breakfast with DRMA” featuring economic data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank

• Held 3 Manufacturing Operations Meet Ups, a roundtable discussion group for members

• Held 7 Lunch & Learn webinars, presented by member companies and partner organizations, to provide useful information in a format that is convenient for members

• Held 7 DRMA 101 sessions and deployed an outreach campaign spearheaded by the Ambassador Club to ensure members feel connected to DRMA

• Held 2 successful golf outings, a Business & Bourbon tasting, and a trap shoot event, all fundraisers for the DRMA Foundation

• Held 5 lean manufacturing, 2 GD&T, and 2 blueprint reading workshops presented by Sinclair; held a supervisory excellence and emerging leaders series, presented by Brixey & Meyer

• Offered members discounts on hundreds of training programs through a partnership with ToolingU

• Held numerous executive roundtable discussion group meetings, including opportunities for members to meet with representatives from the Small Business Administration and State Treasurer’s Office

DRMA advocated on behalf of our members the importance of manufacturing and manufacturing-related issues to local, state, and federal public officials, legislators, educators, parents, the business community, the media, and other regional stakeholders by fostering relationships, building trust, and strengthening the position of our region’s industry.

• Presented industry data at the Dayton Business Journal’s Manufacturing Summit, an event organized to educate community leaders about the region’s rich history of manufacturing excellence

• Conducted a survey and produced a list of members’ top legislative/public policy issues

• Wrote multiple letters of support for initiatives that positively impact the region’s manufacturing industry

• Updated and published a fact sheet on the impact of the regional manufacturing industry

• Worked with the media resulting in DRMA being mentioned or quoted in 24 articles/interviews

• Forwarded OMA Action Alert to state legislators in support of WorkAdvance funding in House Bill 96

• Built or enhanced connections with other organizations, such as:

  • Dayton Development Coalition

  • Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce

  • Troy Chamber of Commerce & Troy Development Council

  • Greater Springfield Partnership

  • European American Chamber of Commerce

  • JobsOhio

  • Dayton Region Israel Trade Alliance

  • Technology First

  • SOCHE

  • I70/75 Development Association

  • Montgomery County Convention Facilities Authority

  • The Entrepreneurs Center

  • FASTLANE, TechSolve, and the entire Ohio MEP network

  • Ohio Manufacturers’ Association

  • National Association of Manufacturers

  • National Tooling and Machining Association

  • Dayton Business Journal, Dayton Daily News and other media organizations

• Strengthened government relations

  • Strengthened relationships with U.S. Rep Warren Davidson, State Senator Kyle

  • Koehler, State Rep Willis Blackshear, State Rep Johnathan Newman, and Montgomery County Commissioner Mary McDonald

  • Met with State Treasurer Robert Sprague and State Rep Ty Mathews to discuss new policies and programs to benefit manufacturers

  • Participated in community advocacy events, such as the Dayton Development Coalition’s Regional Leader Fly-In to Washington DC and Dayton Area Chamber luncheons featuring Senator Bernie Moreno and Senator Jon Husted

  • Enhanced our collaborative relationships with organizations focused on government advocacy such as the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Dayton Region Military Collaborative

• Served on the following schools’ advisory committees to advocate for skills needed by manufacturer members:

  • Educational Service Centers’ Business Advisory Committees for Montgomery, Miami, Greene, Clark and Preble Counties

  • Miami Valley Career Technology Center Precision Machining Advisory Committee

  • Upper Valley Career Center Manufacturing Advisory Committee, both high school and adult programs; and the Welding Advisory Committee, adult program

  • Greene County Career Center Manufacturing Advisory Committee and Superintendent’s Advisory Board

  • Liberty High School Advisory Committee

  • Stebbins High School Career Tech and Manufacturing Advisory committees

  • Kettering Fairmont High School Engineering Advisory Committee

  • Community STEAM Academy in Xenia’s Business Advisory Council

  • Sinclair Community College’s AMSE Department Advisory Committee

  • Clark State Community College’s Greene Center and Manufacturing Advisory committees

  • Wright State University School of Engineering Advisory Board and the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department’s Advisory Committee

  • Dayton Public School’s Business Advisory Committee

• Sought member involvement for newly established BACs at Belmont HS, Wayne HS, and Northridge HS

In addition to member dues, DRMA diligently pursued other sources of revenue to help fund DRMA activities including conducting two sold-out golf outings, a trap shoot event, a bourbon tasting event, and a Workforce Successes Shoptalk to raise funds for the DRMA Foundation (which pays for all our career outreach and workforce initiatives).

26 Manufacturers, 5 Affiliate, and 13 Associate members were added in 2025; combined with an 92% Manufacturer retention rate and an overall 92% retention rate, total membership for 2025 is 348 member companies, which includes 198 Manufacturer members. More members = a stronger voice = stronger connections and more programs.