New Jersey used to be the home of several automobile manufacturing companies and other firms that made large appliances and machines.

The assembly lines of yesteryear are gone. But plenty of things are still made in the Garden State.

On Monday at the War Memorial in Trenton, the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program presents a Made in New Jersey showcase, featuring dozens of companies showing off the products they’re producing.

Rob Stramara, the chief operations officer of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, said New Jersey actually has about 11,000 manufacturing companies making all sorts of things.

“It’s really across the board: We have metal shops, we have pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturers ... different types of textile and electronic equipment, as well.”

Many manufacturers now make parts of things, not the entire device or machine.

“A lot of these companies are a part of the supply chain of a larger entity, so they’re not producing an overall assembly but really it’s just a component," he said.

As a result, the average manufacturing in the state and country is about 34 employees.

"They’re not big organizations but the work that they do is important," he said.

 

The Made in New Jersey showcase gives companies an opportunity to meet with the men and women who represent them in Trenton .

“Our state legislators need to hear direct from the manufacturers what their challenges and concerns are as far as being a business entity in the state," he said. “These companies have obstacles they have to overcome in order to operate in this state.”

A second NJMEP showcase, with a focus on workforce development, will take place on Friday at the County College of Morris.

Some of the companies that are showcasing their products during the event on Monday:

•Aquatherm Industries, Inc.

• Arm-R-Lite Door

• Manufacturing Co. Inc

• Astor Chocolates

• Astral Diagnostics

• Betar

• Biazzo Dairy Products, Inc.

• Case Medical

• Edesia Oil

• GTE Engineering

• GAUM Incorporated

• I.V. Miller & Sons, Inc./Miller Metallizing & Coating

• IAM International Inc dba Ethnic Cottage Foods

• L&B Printing

• LAMATEK

• Logan Instruments

• Mirrotek International / Iron Chef Products

• My Case Builder

• SICAM

• Smart Sips Coffee

• The Knotts Company

• Unex Manufacturing, Inc.

• Unionwear

• Vermes

• Vision and Control Systems

• Weiss-Aug

• ZaGO

• Zero Surge

You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com

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