Cascade Engineering Founder Opens Inaugural Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, March 10, 2005, - Cascade Engineering founder and chief executive officer Fred Keller delivered the opening speech at the first-ever meeting of the Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum in Detroit on Friday, March 4, 2005.

More than 200 manufacturing representatives from the Great Lakes region and the Province of Ontario, including Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, attended the forum.

In his speech, Keller noted the manufacturing industry as a whole is at a critical juncture. “We will not win the hearts and minds of Americans and Canadians if our work today is to find ways to give manufacturers special favors. Both Americans and Canadians need to understand that we are losing our manufacturing base at our own peril; from security issues, to jobs, to wealth creation, manufacturing has been powering this economy for the better part of a century.”

The Great Lakes Manufacturing Forum follows a successful meeting of the US Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council last month at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. Keller also spoke at that gathering on the issues facing the manufacturing industry. In June of 2004, Cascade Engineering hosted the first-ever meeting of the Manufacturing Council.

“We are in a time that is very different from when our forefathers started the very first industrial revolution,” noted Keller. “We are truly in a new industrial revolution, one based on a finite amount of resources and a lot more people. As manufacturers, we need to focus on innovation in our alliances and partnerships, in new markets within high-growth industries and at the University level. Innovation in public policy will also help us increase economic activity while extending the life of our resources.”

Founded in 1973 by Fred Keller, chairman and CEO, Cascade Engineering is a world leader in engineering plastics systems and components, serving a variety of industries including automotive, industrial and solid waste.

For over 30 years, Cascade Engineering has emphasized sustainable business practices, investing equally in social, environmental and financial capital. The Company has received many environmental stewardship awards, including several Clean Corporate Citizen Awards from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. In February, Cascade Engineering received an Environmental Stewardship Award from the Society of Plastics Engineers at the 2005 Global Plastics Environmental Conference in Atlanta.

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