About this time of year in 2020, I was starting a new job. I had decided to take on a new role at Gardner Business Media as editor-in-chief of Products Finishing. Prior to that, I had been serving as a writing editor for PF’s sister publication CompositesWorld. The timing was a bit … interesting. I was finishing up my work with CW with a visit to Europe to attend the JEC World international composites tradeshow in Paris. No sooner had I stepped off the plane than I received a notification that the tradeshow had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, I managed to get a flight home just before lockdowns.

Upon returning home, the first duty I had in my new role was to celebrate National Surface Finishing Day (NSFD) with my new teammates on PF. The annual event is a way to showcase the industry to local trade schools, businesses, officials and media, as well as to celebrate employees and staff. It was the perfect introduction to a new industry. We held a party at the office and celebrated online with finishing shops across the nation that were hosting similar events for their own staff. I felt instantly welcomed and quickly realized what a close-knit group of people comprise our industry.

However, as the pandemic worsened and COVID swept across the world, we all started working remotely. It was a strange time to start a new job and learn about a new industry. I met many of you via Zoom calls and had to make do with virtual peeks into finishing shops to learn about the technology and processes. As the year rolled by and we planned another NSFD, we knew the event would have to be different. Everything would have to be online. Again, the finishing community rose to the occasion and filled LinkedIn and Facebook feeds with testimonials, shout outs, virtual pats on the back, and celebrations of the vital contributions this industry makes to our world.

As I write this, I’ve come full circle. This past week I’ve been in Paris attending the same tradeshow that was at the start of my adventures with PF. Held the first Wednesday in March annually, this year’s National Surface Finishing Day was held on March 6. I’m sad to say that because of my travels, I didn’t get to spend NSFD with the PF team. That said, the rest of the PF crew celebrated the day by visiting a couple of Cincinnati area platers:

• Varland Plating, a Cincinnati-based plater since 1946 offering a range of barrel plating services including zinc, zinc-nickel, tin, tin-zinc, zinc-iron, copper, cadmium, brass, electrolytic and electroless nickel. Varland treated PF to a grand tour and gave us a peek at the company’s new automated EN plating line in action.
• Future Finishes/RH Plating, a Hamilton-based plater offering tin and copper plating services in both barrel and rack.

Senior editor, Lori Beckman, says, “It’s always fun for me to experience the industry hands-on, especially witnessing the behind-the-scenes hard work and dedication that manufacturing is known for.” Gardner Business Media V.P. of Finishing and Valve Media, Todd Luciano, adds, “The visits were great! It was nice to get out and celebrate the day in person with some of the shops in our community.”

Many other notable celebrations of the day from finishing operations across the country appeared on social media. Bales Metal Surface Solutions, a plating service based in Downers Grove, Illinois, celebrated the day with a ribbon cutting ceremony for two new nickel plating lines. Several companies including Gema Powder Coating (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Process Technology (Willoughby, Ohio) celebrated with lunches and treats in honor of their hardworking employees.

As Todd says, it’s great to be able to travel and visit in person with colleagues in the industry again. And the lessons we learned during the pandemic have made us more adept at connecting remotely, supporting each other in our successes and challenges and working together to forward this vital industry. Cheers to another National Surface Finishing Day, but more importantly to what it stands for — the hard work of all those in this vital industry.