A Letter from the Director
MEP Director Transition and Thank You!
Thank you to the Louisiana Community & Technical College System (LCTCS) and the State of Louisiana for your support for Louisiana manufacturers. I have enjoyed supporting this mission through my role as Director for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of Louisiana. After completing one year of service, I have transitioned out of the director role and plan to return to private industry. Dr. Willie Smith, LCTCS Vice President of Training & Business Partnerships, has taken on the added duty as interim director for the MEP of Louisiana.

When I accepted this role, I quickly realized the integrity, strong work ethic and customer service passion of the current MEP of Louisiana staff. During my year of service, we built on this solid foundation to hire a world class team with Scott Uffman, Dr. Ali Ahmad, and Dan Stumper joining our team. We were able to secure $1 million in additional grant funding to support our mission to drive value and benefits to Louisiana manufacturers. In addition, we were able to ramp up our service and support for Louisiana manufacturers to drive top line and bottom line growth.

I wish to thank each member of the MEP of Louisiana team for the valuable role you have provided and continue to provide to Louisiana manufacturers. Thank you to Chair Jim Dean and each member of our dedicated Industrial Advisory Board for your leadership, guidance, and passion to help shape an improved vision and mission for the MEP of Louisiana. Thank you to President Dr. Monty Sullivan, Vice President Dr. Willie Smith and LCTCS for hosting the MEP of Louisiana and working to bring the full benefits and value of this organization to Louisiana manufacturers. Thank you to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) MEP for bringing a professional and passionate platform to connect our MEP with the national network of MEPs and innovative technologies and services to benefit Louisiana manufacturers.

And most important, thank you to our Louisiana manufacturers for working each day to make a difference in the lives of our communities, state, country and world through your innovative products, value-added processes and solid economic impact. Thank you for your continued partnership with the MEP of Louisiana to achieve improved performance and results.

Mike Wolff, Director
Partner Spotlight
Louisiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center (LA-PTAC): Linking Business and Government

The Louisiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center (LA PTAC) provides specialized and professional procurement technical assistance to Louisiana businesses who are actively seeking and/or performing on contracts and subcontracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal, state and local governments. As a result of their assistance, LA PTAC clients have received more than $8.6 billion in government contract awards since the program was founded in 1989.

On Thursday, April 26, MEP of Louisiana Operations Director, Ali Ahmad, spoke to the LA PTAC Team about the National Institute of Technology (NIST) updates to Cybersecurity and the NIST handbook resource, MEP-applicable NAICS codes for manufacturers, and Hurricane Harvey affected parishes and examples of evaluations the MEP of Louisiana could provide to potential clients.

“By working together with an organization like the MEP of Louisiana, we are able to bring even more value to Louisiana businesses. The presentation by Dr. Ali Ahmad allowed our team to be up-to-date on the latest Cybersecurity initiatives set by NIST and now required in Department of Defense Contracts. We are looking forward to partnering and working together in the future," said Sherrie Mullins, PTAC program manager. 

May 2018: Face of Manufacturing
“My planning skills have set records for the Stella-Jones plant.”

For Dustin Juneau, manufacturing has taught him there is a lot of work that goes into planning to make sure the right things happen at a manufacturing facility.


As the Yard Supervisor for the Stella-Jones manufacturing facility located in Alexandria, Louisiana, Dustin Juneau has been with the company for ten years. Starting out as a laborer, he eventually moved into an equipment operator position then on to a land position and finally his current position as a Yard Supervisor.
 
Juneau is responsible for directly supervising 40 employees day-to-day for production. He also assists the Production Manager to assure Stella-Jones meets or exceeds production and shipping quotas. Because Juneau has had the opportunity to learn several different positions throughout his tenure, he feels there is “nothing at the plant [he] cannot do productively.”

Now that Juneau is in a supervisory role, it’s easy for him to see how dramatically his job responsibilities have changed. “Once you’re on the management side of it, your entire life revolves around it. I have to be available 24/7,” he says. His team is his number one priority every day in making sure they complete the tasks of production. “I tell my men that I will not ask them to do anything I haven’t done before,” he says.
­­­­­­­­­Stella-Jones is a leading North American manufacturer of pressure treated wood products. The company’s core product categories, railway ties and utility poles, provide basic elements of the economy’s physical infrastructure. Stella-Jones’ network of thirty-seven wood treating facilities are spread across sixteen U.S. States and five Canadian provinces. The manufacturer serves many of North America’s largest railroads, telecom providers, and electrical transmission utilities.
To nominate the next Face of Manufacturing, click the button, fill out the form and return to kayla.gentry@mepol.org !
What's Happening in the MEP National Network?
MEP of Louisiana Business Development Director Attends NIST MEP Survey Training in Seattle, Washington

The week of April 23rd, 2018, Business Development Director, Scott Uffman, attended the Pacific Northwest Meeting for survey training. The meeting was attended by MEP National Network Center employees from the Pacific Northwest region and aims to develop best practices for manufacturing clients through Peer-to-Peer learning.

Learn more about the   MEP National Network .