Shops Celebrated National Surface Finishing Day in Style

National Surface Finishing Day was celebrated March 6 in shops and facilities across North America.

Products Finishing partnered with finishing operations in the U.S. to showcase the industry to local trade schools, businesses, officials and media, as well as to celebrate employees.

In Huntington Park, California, management and employees at Aircraft X-Ray Laboratories invited customers, city council members and assembly representatives to their shop.

“We had a fantastic turnout,” says Justin Guzman, company president. “We had some great banners made and some shirts, and set up teams to give tours and give away pens and calendars. It was a great day.”

At E.M.E. Inc. in Compton, California, owner Wesley Turnbow says the shop invited its top customers for a luncheon. They had 25 customers representing 13 companies attend with the company conducting five tours. They also fed their 90 first-shift employees.

MacDermid Enthone opened its doors to students and the community as part of its effort to educate the public about surface finishing, and highlight the opportunities that a career in finishing can provide. Guests were treated to a tour of its Ferndale, Michigan, facility, where Dean Zdravkovski, director of operations, answered questions and gave them insights into how the company serves the surface finishing industry.

Silvex Surface Technology, in Westbrook, Maine, had coffee and pastries for all of its employees, and gave everyone a company T-shirt with the National Surface Finishing logo on the sleeves.

“I talked to my crew a little about the industry, and explained why we are good citizens, and why we are so important to the economy,” says Dan Atkinson, a company owner. “It pumped them up.”

Coventya hosted events with employees at facilities in Ohio and New York that included presentations explaining the purpose of National Surface Finishing Day and showed them a portion of their group presentation, which most of them have not seen.

“We have been trying to connect our employees to a ‘purpose,’” says Bryan Thrasher, controller. “To get them to understand that we are manufacturing more than just chemicals, but also the importance of what they do for the supply chain of surface finishing. National Surface Finishing Day was a great time to do this.”

National Surface Finishing Day will be celebrated the first Wednesday in March. The 2020 event will be March 4.