WHAT SAN ANTONIO MAKES...MAKES SAN ANTONIOSAMA 2017— 4th Quarter Edition

Sponsored By

“The fact that we can relyon SAMA to answer a

quick question or solve abig issue makes Helmy awiser, stronger manufac-

turer.”— Mona Helmy,CEO, Helmy Associates &

Company, Inc.

Helmy Plastics, a SAMAmember since 1998, willcelebrate 30 years in busi-ness in 2018. What beganas a passion to bring anidea to life, led to the estab-lishment of a family ownedbusiness in 1988.

When husband and wifefounders, Abe and MonaHelmy, could not find alocal manufacturer to pro-duce Abe’s newly patentedlandscape product, they re-alized what the answer totheir dilemma was –manu-facture the product them-selves. With backgroundsin architecture and strong

entrepreneurial spirits, Abeand Mona rented a 6,000 sqft building and purchased athermoforming machine.Soon, the landscape lineexpanded, and a home dé-cor line was introduced,both sold under the Hentabrand.

In 1992, a local medicalcompany commissionedHelmy to design and manu-facture a housing for ablood pressure machine,resulting in the start of theircustom heavy gauge divi-sion. Creative designs andinnovative solutions helped

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2018 Marks three decades and new expansions for HelmyHelmy Plastics is thankful to SAMA for being a strong advocate on its,

and all local Manufacturers’, behalf

SAMA membership helps Texans and

manufacturers affected by Hurricane Harvey

There are over 6,000 manu-facturing companies in thegreater Houston area andalong the Texas Gulf Coastfrom Corpus Christi toBeaumont. They range insize from small to largebusinesses, totaling an esti-mated manufacturing em-ployment of a quarter mil-lion people.

Hurricane Harvey slammedinto the Texas Gulf Coast

in August of 2017 withdevastating impact. Eighty-eight people lost their livesand more than 300,000people were left withoutpower and many homeless.Numerous manufacturerswere seriously affected andSAMA members werequick to offer a helpinghand. Many reached out tocompetitors and others of-fered physical and financialassistance.

James Franks, Owner,Franks Manufacturing, per-sonally drove an emergen-cy truckload of Lick Feed-ers to a customer who hadlost all his cattle feed tanksin the subsequent floodingin the Beaumont area. Da-vid Fry, Director of Com-munications, Cox Manufac-turing, along with severalemployees, worked withSamaritan’s Purse to help

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Chairman’s Report...

We frequently are askedthis question from prospec-tive SAMA members andeven sometimes existingSAMA members. Why SA-MA? What can SAMA dofor me?

For those of us who are inSAMA leadership roles, theanswer is very easy. We setthe table for manufacturersin the eight County Regionaround San Antonio toprosper in many ways.

Fact— SAMA is THEVOICE of Manufacturers, a$40B economic impact inthe Greater San Antonioarea; average manufactur-ing salary of $57K+ , whichis 27% greater than the av-

erage San Antonio/BexarCounty Wage; lowest utili-ty rates of all major Texascities; Nationally recog-nized workforce, educa-tional and training pro-grams to support the signif-icant manufacturing pres-ence; a hugely successfulTrade Show for our Re-gion, which supports ourManufacturing companiesand their tiered suppliers.This performance does nothappen by chance. Years offocused advocacy for allthings Manufacturing hasresulted in a strong and re-spected SAMA Organiza-tion that is making the SanAntonio area nationallyrecognized. With big neigh-

bors like Houston and Dal-las, San Antonio’s Manu-facturers have stepped outof their shade and onto ourstage.

To keep the SAMA mo-mentum going we needseveral concurrent events tohappen: more programs andparticipants to train our leg-acy and next generationworkers in advanced manu-facturing skills; companieshere need to hire, expandand reinvest in this area;more local Manufacturersneed to join SAMA to rein-force our Voice and Mis-sion. Sitting on the side-lines does not cut it. We area strong and bold organiza-tion. Join us today!

Why SAMA?

Often times, we wish wehad the opportunity to trysomething before webought it. What about thatnew set of machine toolsthat we hope will do the jobthat it has been advertisedfor or even the new pair ofshoes that we hope will fit.Well even more importantis the human capital that webring into the work place.Will they be the right fit forthe job? Will they take ourcompany to the next level?Internships afford you theopportunity to do just that.It’s called the try beforeyou buy program. Youhave an opportunity to trythe individual before youhire to see if they have theskills, competencies and theright attitude to fit your

company’s culture. Whilethey on the other hand,have the opportunity to seeif the job/opportunity thatthey are studying for is theright fit for them.

So how important are in-ternships in the manufac-turing world? Very im-portant, as an industry,manufacturing has had anegative stigma attached toit when it comes to accessi-bility, innovation, creativi-ty, and opportunity for po-tential employees and re-cent graduates.1 Newcom-ers to the workforce rarelyhave an “inside”look intothe many benefits that areobtainable through employ-ment in the industry sec-tor. Positive work climates,

a variety of uses for talentand skills, and opportuni-ties for career growth andenhancement are just a fewof the reasons why manu-facturing deserves a secondlook.2

With manufacturing intern-ships, students are offered afirst-hand look into theworkplace culture. Theyare afforded the opportuni-ty to network, earn collegecredit, and most important-ly, build their résumé. In-terns are able to increasetheir skill and gain confi-dence in their ability tocontribute in the work-place. Interns quickly learnof the diverse opportunitiesavailable in manufacturing,

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Internships: The try before you buy program!

“SAMA sets the table formanufacturers in the eight

County Region aroundSan Antonio to prosper in

many ways.”Duffy Shea, President Ala-

mo Iron Works

WHAT SAN ANTONIO MAKES...

SAMA ANNUAL SPONSORS

GOLD LEVELScobey Moving & Storage

VISIONARY LEVELRSM US LLPTexas Manufacturing AssistanceCenterVIP Staffing

MANUFACTURERS LEVELAlamo Iron WorksAspen Beverage GroupBlue Line CorporationCox Manufacturing CompanyFranks Manufacturing Co. Inc.Innovation Technology MachineryMonterrey Iron & Metal

ASSOCIATES LEVELBDO USA, LLPCapital One Bank— CommercialBankingFrost— Banking, Investments,InsuranceHawkins Personnel GroupSWBC Insurance ServicesTechForce— A Tri-Starr PersonnelCompanyWeaver

Earlier this year, Council-man Rey Saldana (Dist. 4)put forth a Council Consid-eration Request (CCR) ask-ing fellow councilmembersto consider adding a scoringmatrix to all city contractsthat weighs compensation.Meaning, if all things elseare equal, the city wouldelect to pay more for a con-tract that has a higher com-pensation package to thoseinvolved.

The CCR, a document usedto gather support and moveitems forward in the pro-cess, was signed by Coun-cilmembers Trevino (Dist.1), Warrick (formerly Dist.2), Medina (formerly Dist.7), and Nirenberg (formerlyDist. 8). After receiving the

requisite signatures, theitem was forwarded to theGovernance Committee, ascreening process meant tovet items before they arevoted on by the council as awhole. During this process,the legal department at thecity and state level deter-mined that the language asit was written in the CCRwas not allowed accordingto state law.

Because of the potentialramifications to manufac-turers who do business withthe city of San Antonio,SAMA has elected to take avery strong stance againstany form of the CCR thatshould make it to council.While the CCR claims towant to provide a “living

wage” to all, SAMA seesthe slippery slope leading toan eventual $15 per hourminimum wage, a la Seat-tle.

Additionally, the CCRwould increase spending atthe city, as all contractswould increase their com-pensation and pass itthrough to the city and thetaxpayers.

SAMA will continue to stayapprised of the situationand alert membership if an-ything changes.

— Casey Whittington, TheWhittington Group

build a solid reputation anda robust customer base al-lowing them to add inlinethin gauge thermoformingand CNC tooling divisions.Helmy became one of fewplastic manufacturers toconvert both thin and heavygauge plastics. All services,from design to prototyping,R&D, tooling and produc-tion, were done in-housesaving clients time andmoney.

Helmy’s rise as a leader inthe custom thermoformingindustry brought prosperityand in 1999 Helmy relocat-ed into its current 45,000sq. ft. location. Their heavygauge division produceshousings, shrouds, POP dis-plays, panels and contain-ers. Thin gauge divisionproduces blisters, clam-shells, inserts, cushions andtrays. Products are used inmany industries includinghunting, air conditioning,retail, medical, toys, cos-metics, computers, auto,and lighting. Helmy proud-ly counts many local com-panies, innovative start-ups,and fortune 500s among itsvalued clients.

From its humble beginnings

to the leader it is today,Helmy Plastics owes itssuccess to the man that ap-proached his work dailywith the intention of bring-ing ideas to life and inno-vating better solutions. Abesadly passed away in 2009after a brave battle withcancer. With the country inthe midst of an economicrecession, Mona was facedwith daunting odds as sheassumed the role of CEO.For years she relished beingbehind the scenes runningdesign and finance but nowshe was obligated to makechanges.

One of the changes that paidoff greatly was to lean moreon SAMA and use its vitalresources. Having been a

member of SAMA for 20years, Mona fully realizedthe value SAMA brings tothe manufacturing industry.Their involvement has cre-ated invaluable connectionswith industry peers andawareness of vital educa-tional training and work-force development pro-grams – all of which aredriving progress at Helmy.They are also in the midstof equipment advancementand a 5,000 sq. ft. expan-sion and SAMA providedintegral support. Both ReyChavez of SAMA and TomLong of SAEDF, throughthe “BRE program”, visitedand offered their outlookand assistance on severalissues. .— Mona Helmy,Helmy Associates & Co.

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...MAKES SAN ANTONIO

Scoring matrix updateCity Pulls Back on Contract Compensation Incentive Plan

2016 MANUFACTURING

INDUSTRY IMPACT FACTS

The manufacturing industry isone of the largest sectors of theSan Antonio economy. Its eco-nomic impact in 2016 was $40.5billion, including the impact ofexported products.

San Antonio’s manufacturing isvery diverse, spanning virtuallyevery industrial product line. Itsprincipal sectors have grownand evolved over time in re-sponse to national and globalchanges in the manufacturingenvironment.

San Antonio manufacturers paidnearly $3 billion in wages andsalaries to 51,904 employees in2016.

Jobs in manufacturing continueto pay very well. The 2016 aver-age salary of manufacturingemployees was $57,507, 23%above the San Antonio average.

clear debris in severalcoastal communities.

The biggest contributionwas made by our membersin the form of monetary do-nations to organizations fo-cused on Hurricane Harveyrelief. Following the disas-ter, the Board of Directorsreached out to the memberswith this challenge “SAMAwill match Hurricane Har-vey relief donations, re-

gardless of affiliation, frommembers up to $10,000.”

SAMA members far ex-ceeded the target, with acombined total over $100K.At November’s luncheon,SAMA presented a $10,000check to the SA Food Bank.“Outstanding, clearly astatement of support to ourfellow Texans and manufac-turing industry!” SAMABoard of Directors.— KenScott, Legacy Assets

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SAN ANTONIO MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION

9607 Broadway, Suite CSan Antonio, Texas 78217

ranging from accounting tosales and marketing, cus-tomer service, engineering,production, quality control,and human resources. Eachone of these areas plays animportant role in the suc-cess of the entire organiza-tion.3

Manufacturing internshipsnot only enable you as busi-ness owners to engage thecommunity, but also allowyou to fill full and part-time

position loses with qualityinterns. Manufacturers ben-efit immediately from thework that the intern is ableto provide. Manufacturersare also able to train internsfor potential re-entry intotheir permanent laborforce. Through your workwith training interns, man-agers often learn thestrengths and weaknessesthat are inherent in their ex-isting company’s trainingprotocols of other full-timeemployees.4

Internship opportunities inthe San Antonio area onaverage offer a very lucra-tive salary as noted byGlassdoor of $57, 892. Alittle below the national av-erage of $59, 785, yet stillvery significant based onthe location and cost of liv-ing. So what are you wait-ing for --- the benefits speakfor themselves. Check withyour local college or univer-sity to provide an oppor-tunity to a college student.Could be a wonderful

chance to enhance yourworkforce, while benefitingthe local communitythrough student engage-ment. To learn more visithttps://harmony1.com/the-value-of-internships-in-manufacturing/

— Otis “Scotty”Scott, Jr.,UTSA—Career Services

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With all of therecent largecorporationdata breachesthat seem to be

in the news almost everyday we frequently see theterm Dark Web but verylittle information aboutwhat it really is so I wantedto describe it to you andwhy you should be con-cerned. The Dark Web is adigital equivalent of theBlack Market.

The internet most of us

know is only the surfacelayer of a much larger uni-verse called the Deep Web.Our “internet” that issearchable by Google,BING, Yahoo and others isonly about .04% of the totalinternet universe. The other99.96% is comprised of le-gitimate functions like cor-porate databases, govern-ment networks, and privateacademic networks plus theDark Web where criminalsoperate numerous illegalenterprises and terrorists

plan their activities. TheDark Web is over 500times the size of the sur-face web were you and Ioperate and it’s growingrapidly since you can workin it anonymously.

Now that you have somebackground informationabout the Dark Web, whyshould you be concernedabout it? One reason is thatif your login credentials forone site have been compro-mised it’s been shownthrough studies in human

behavior that 80% of peo-ple will use either the sameor a derivation of the samepassword across systemsthey log into both on andoff their corporate net-works. Stolen login creden-tials as well as many otherillegal goods and servicesare bought and sold on theDark Web. If you’re a busi-ness owner or manager thisspells trouble for your busi-ness.

— John Hill, TechSage So-lutions

The Dark Web… What is it and why should it be important to me?

January 13, 2018PRESENTED BY RESERVE NOW

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