MSU program wins award
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 18, 2004
STARKVILLE, Miss. — A Mississippi State University program that applies research and technical assistance to improve the international competitiveness of the state's furniture industry has won an award from the Southern Growth Policies Board.
MSU's Institute of Furniture Manufacturing and Management is receiving the 2004 Southern Growth Innovator Award.
"While furniture manufacturing is important to the state, many companies and suppliers have been impacted in recent years by imports, primarily from countries where wages are much lower and costs of production are less because of fewer environmental regulations," said Steven Bullard, director of the institute.
Bullard said furniture manufacturing has an economic impact of $4.1 billion in Mississippi each year, and is the state's largest employer among durable manufactured goods.
Specifically, the Southern Growth Innovator Award recognizes the MSU institute for assisting Mississippi furniture manufacturers in a variety of ways to prevent job dislocation and/or to help displaced workers recover more quickly.
The institute conducts multi-disciplinary applied research to address current and future manufacturing needs of the furniture industry. This includes the implementation of "lean manufacturing" processes, which are designed to produce superior quality products at a low cost for furniture and supplying businesses.
"It has been estimated that furniture research at Mississippi State University is saving the state's manufacturers around $3 million each year," said Liam Leightley, head of MSU's department of forest products.
He said creation of the institute in 2001 and the opening of MSU's Franklin Center for Furniture Manufacturing and Management earlier this year represent novel moves to help furniture producers and suppliers reach their full potential.
Hassell Franklin, CEO of upholstery producer Franklin Corp. in Houston, Miss., donated more than $1 million to help create the center.
"Our expertise in furniture manufacturing and management will allow our state's manufacturers to thrive and prosper in an ever-increasing competitive global marketplace," Leightley predicted.
Mississippi State established the furniture institute as an interdisciplinary unit that includes the College of Forest Resources, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, College of Business and Industry, Bagley College of Engineering, College of Architecture and the MSU Extension Service.
The Southern Growth Policies Board is a non-partisan public policy think tank based in North Carolina. The board is a public-private partnership devoted to strengthening the South's economy and creating the highest possible quality of life.
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