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Home » Woman-owned, Conway-based Tsugami customer receives AEDC Grant

Woman-owned, Conway-based Tsugami customer receives AEDC Grant

December 29, 2017

Great news for the folks at Conway Manufacturing Group! We’re very proud to be part of their daily business.

“Conway Manufacturing Group’s Jet Machine division was recently awarded a grant by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission to fund skilled labor training.
“We were very excited to receive this grant and thankful that the AEDC has been able to assist us as we train our employees to be more competitive in the manufacturing industry, especially in the U.S. market.” Conway Manufacturing Group Co-worker Tony Davis said.

Conway Manufacturing Group kicked off the new year with an invested $6,600 dollars in training toward the Jet Machine division’s Swiss Lathe machining capabilities.

As one of the only machine shops in Arkansas to offer Swiss turning capabilities, Jet Machine aims to expand business opportunities and ensure high quality products by increasing their ability to manufacture more intricate parts with tighter dimensional tolerances.

“I think the guys really appreciated that the company was taking the time—and money—to invest in them.” Conway Manufacturing Group’s Jet Machine Vice President of Operations Nicky Havens said.

The workers were trained on existing Tsugami CNC Lathes.

The training was approved by the AEDC’s Office of Skills Development (OSD), which is headed by Cody Waits, at a 75 percent grant approval for one week of on-site training.

This is part of a larger vision for the woman-owned small business and is one of five investments that total a value of $35,000 between the Office of Skills Development and AEDC’s Technology Transfer Assistant Grant Program (TTAG). With the generous help and support of the AEDC’s Phil Plyler, under the direction of Steve Sparks, Conway Manufacturing Group plans to complete all training and ISO 9001:2015 certification in 2018.

This commitment is supported by owners Tony and Marti Davis, who have owned the company for 21 years.

As the Jet Machine division plans to expand into industries including advanced optics, medical device manufacturing and the aerospace and defense industries, owners Tony and Marti Davis recognize the importance of hands-on equipment training with CNC Controls, equipment set up and knowledge of how to use special computer Macro programs for advanced parts.

This training will optimize tooling and cycle time.

The Tsugami training is complimentary to on-going, on-site equipment training and more importantly fundamental to day-to-day work procedures that allow the company to meet and exceed customer expectations.

“We are grateful for the support from AEDC; which has been so significant for a small, woman-owned company in Conway, Arkansas,” Product Engineer Mariana Loya Linck said. “We look forward to the challenge of expansion and advancement of latest machining technologies. Our goal is to remain a thriving small business here in our beautiful local community of Conway.”

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Rachael Cox at 501-450-6352 or email at [email protected].”

Read the entire original article, here.

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