The 63rd Annual Meeting and Made in South Florida Showcase, presented by FPL, has been announced by the South Florida Manufacturers Association (SFMA). The event will occur on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at the Signature Grand in Davie. It will begin at 4 p.m., while the Annual Meeting program begins at 6:30 p.m.
The upcoming SFMA Annual Meeting will focus on celebrating the achievements of the manufacturing industry in South Florida, with a particular emphasis on employee culture and the importance of achieving results through people. Matthew Rocco, president of SFMA, is excited to announce that Bob Chapman, Chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, will deliver this year’s Keynote Address. With over 12,000 team members, Barry-Wehmiller is a global capital equipment and engineering solutions company. Under Chapman’s leadership, it has grown from $20 million in revenue in 1975 to over $3.3 billion.
Having been recently named the CEO of the Year by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the No. 3 CEO in the world according to an Inc. article, and a Top 10 Social Capital CEO by International Business Times, Chapman is determined to leverage his position as a business leader to make the world a better place. He plans to challenge conventional notions of business operations and effective leadership during his keynote address. Attendees can expect to learn about innovative strategies for developing safe, healthy, and fulfilling work environments founded on people-centric leadership. His ideas are both simple and groundbreaking.
“Our vision is that business could be a powerful force for good in the world if we developed leaders who have the skills and the courage to care for those in their span of care—with the goal of sending them home each day knowing that who they are and what they do matters,” Chapman says. “When people feel safe, cared for and valued at work, they treat their loved ones better than when they feel used for someone else’s success.”
The South Florida Manufacturers Association was established in 1961 and has become a prominent resource for manufacturing companies in South Florida. The organization offers its members many resources, networking opportunities, advocacy, and technical and employability skills training. In collaboration with FloridaMakes, the SFMA has driven $2 billion in economic impact in South Florida since 2016.
