Lehigh Valley Manufacturing Forum: Preparing for What’s Next
by Manufacturers Resource Center
LVB.Com
The Morning Call
WFMZ Channel 69
Manufacturing is changing quickly. The Lehigh Valley is changing with it.
At the 2026 Lehigh Valley Manufacturing Forum, regional manufacturers, business leaders, workforce professionals, and community stakeholders came together to examine the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of manufacturing, from workforce and business growth to artificial intelligence, automation and shop-floor technology.
Presented by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and ESSA Bank, the October 1 forum at ArtsQuest SteelStacks brought a broad range of perspectives to the same conversation: How can manufacturers continue to grow, compete and adapt while preserving the people, knowledge and capabilities that make their businesses successful?
The answer is not technology alone.
It is how people, processes and technology work together.
Bridging the Past and the Future
The keynote from Thomas Ripsam, President and CEO of C.F. Martin & Co., offered a compelling example.
As Martin Guitar approaches its 200th anniversary, the company continues to evolve its manufacturing operations while protecting the craftsmanship and identity that have defined the brand for generations.
Ripsam described a manufacturing philosophy in which technology enhances human capability rather than replaces it. Martin uses CNC machines, robotics, artificial intelligence and highly precise sensing technologies to improve processes, reduce physical strain and minimize material waste, while leaving human judgment, skill and experience at the center of the work.
That balance is reflected in Martin’s growth. Annual guitar production has increased from more than 17,000 guitars in the late 1990s to more than 125,000 today.
The company’s approach to workforce knowledge is evolving, too. With experienced craftspeople retiring, Martin is capturing institutional knowledge through digital documentation, cross-generational mentoring and career-development frameworks.
The lesson extends well beyond guitar manufacturing.
Modernization does not require manufacturers to abandon what already works. It requires them to understand what should remain constant—and where change can make people and processes stronger.
A manufacturing region with momentum
The broader regional picture is also changing.
Manufacturing remains the Lehigh Valley’s second-largest industry, and forum data showed manufacturing employment increased by more than 17% between 2014 and 2024.
Speakers pointed to several factors contributing to the region’s strength, including access to major markets, a skilled workforce and the collaboration among organizations working to support business growth.
Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski emphasized the importance of working together, while Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation addressed regional manufacturing trends and opportunities.
For manufacturers, regional strength is more than an economic statistic. It affects access to customers, suppliers, talent, infrastructure and the partnerships needed to keep businesses moving forward.
The workforce remains at the center
Technology may be changing the factory, but people remain essential to its success.
Workforce Board LV Assistant Executive Director Sarah Lutz addressed workforce issues facing the region, while Martin Guitar’s experience demonstrated why retaining knowledge and developing people must remain part of the manufacturing conversation.
C.F. Martin COO Scott Gervais also pointed to the Lehigh Valley’s skilled talent as an important regional advantage.
Across manufacturing, the challenge is increasingly about more than finding people. It is about developing capability, transferring knowledge and helping employees succeed as technology and processes evolve.
AI moves from conversation to application
Artificial intelligence was another major focus of the forum.
MRC Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy Manager Shawn Furman addressed the growing opportunities for manufacturers to use AI and challenged the idea that companies must have perfect data before beginning to explore practical applications.
Chris Rawlings, CEO of BlueCloud Consultants, continued the conversation with a focus on managing AI on the shop floor.
Together, the sessions moved the discussion beyond AI as a headline or distant possibility and toward a more practical question:
Where can technology solve a real manufacturing problem, improve a process or help people do their work better?
That is where technology becomes useful, not simply because it is new, but because it creates value.
Manufacturing does not operate in a vacuum
The forum also recognized that manufacturing decisions extend beyond the production floor.
Joseph Bonsick of ESSA Bank addressed financial solutions to support business growth. Jeffrey Chrin of CliftonLarsonAllen covered manufacturing tax and efficiency considerations. Regional leaders addressed economic development, workforce and legislative issues that affect the business environment.
Taken together, the presentations reinforced an important reality: manufacturers are managing many interconnected decisions at once.
Growth, workforce, technology, efficiency, capital and policy are not separate conversations. They influence one another.
Celebrating manufacturing excellence
The forum also provided an opportunity to recognize a company contributing to the strength of the region’s manufacturing community.
Human Active Technology (HAT) was named the 2026 Lehigh Valley Manufacturer of the Year.
Diane Lewis, Vice President of Manufacturing Solutions and Center Operations at MRC, presented the award to Chad Hammerly, President and CEO of Human Active Technology.
Based in Easton, HAT develops technology products designed to support healthier interactions between people and the technology they use. Hammerly credited the company’s people and the strength of the Lehigh Valley manufacturing community in accepting the award.
The recognition was a fitting conclusion to a forum centered on the people behind manufacturing, and the work being done to move the industry forward.
Preparing for what’s next
The 2026 Lehigh Valley Manufacturing Forum demonstrated that the future of manufacturing is not a choice between people and technology, or between tradition and innovation.
It is about knowing where each belongs.
Manufacturers cannot stand still. At the same time, successful transformation does not mean abandoning the knowledge, craftsmanship and processes that built a company in the first place.
It means developing the people, strengthening the processes and applying technology where it can make a meaningful difference.
“One foot in the past, one foot in the future; there’s so much greatness if you go backward, but you also have to make it relevant and future focused,” as Thomas Ripsam said.
That may be one of the most practical ways to think about what comes next for manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley.