Feeling Thankful

I'm feeling thankful for so many things this year, and one of them is being able to attend industry events and spend time with moldmakers whose shops I've written about in MMT. Pictured with me here is Tyler VanRee (center), vice president of Legacy Precision Molds Inc. and Ryan Mahoney, one of MMT's district managers. Legacy was featured in our April 2016 issue.

When I reflect on the last year I'm particularly thankful to have joined the staff of MoldMaking Technology Magazine. To have the opportunity to write for a publication that serves one of the finest industries around is truly an honor.

As senior editor of MMT, I want to acknowledge the three women I work most closely with to bring readers this wonderful publication. You all know Christina Fuges, our editorial director who leads our team with great strength, wisdom and humor. The other two women operate mostly behind the scenes, but they make valuable contributions to every issue: El McKenzie and Carla Turner. El is our managing editor and in addition to many other duties she works hard to ensure that every article, photo caption, new product announcement and more are published as accurately and completely as possible. Her eagle eye catches punctuation, style and grammatical errors better than anyone else I know. Carla, our art director, executes the layout of MMT features and departments, not to mention our covers, and helps make every issue look great. Thank you for being the best and most supportive team.

On behalf of MMT, I’ve traveled quite a bit this year to trade shows and conferences, and I’ve toured some impressive mold manufacturing companies. Our Amerimold Expo was the biggest ever and proved to be an especially good time to gather news and leads for articles from an abundance of both moldmaker and supplier exhibitors. I’ve met Leadtime Leaders past and present who are setting the bar for the industry when it comes to meeting and exceeding customer requirements for quality and delivery, and I’ve seen shops who could be honored as future Leadtime Leaders (don’t forget to enter for 2017!). Thank you to everyone for your time and contributions to the past year's articles. I look forward to meeting and writing about many more of you.

From my heart, I wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.