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Women in Manufacturing STEP Awards recognize 122 women for excellence in manufacturing

The Manufacturing Institute,Washington, D.C.; the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, Mich.; University of Phoenix; and Deloitte, New York, have announced the recipients of the first Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Production) Awards. The inaugural STEP Awards honor women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry.

"These 122 women are the faces of exciting careers in manufacturing," said Jennifer McNelly, president, The Manufacturing Institute. "We chose to honor these women because they each made significant achievements in manufacturing through positive impact on their company and the industry as a whole."

The STEP Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative launched to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and best practices for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent.

FMA Board Member Teresa Beach-Shelow, owner and president of Superior Joining Technologies, Machesney Park, Ill., is one of the recipients of the award. Beach-Shelow, whose company has been a supplier to the aerospace industry for 20 years, is co-founder of Women of Today's Manufacturing, a northern Illinois-southern Wisconsin group. In that role, she created Manufacturing Camp, a one-week camp for teens, which grew into a nationwide project with nearly a dozen camps every summer when the Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association brought the effort under its wings. Now called Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, it has influenced nearly 4,000 youths in 27 states.

Other winners who are members of FMA or employees of FMA member companies are:

  • Christine Benz, TRUMPF Inc., Farmington, Conn.
  • Annette Doyle, TRUMPF Inc., Farmington, Conn.
  • Myrna Reyes, TRUMPF Inc., Farmington, Conn.
  • Anna Wald, Wyoming Machine Inc., Stacy, Minn.
  • Mary Isbister, GenMet Corp., Mequon, Wis.
  • Tana Utley, Caterpillar Inc., Mossville, Ill.