Dalton, Ga.—The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) has named Marten Hutchison a 2017 Faces of Manufacturing Award recipient.
Hutchison, lead innovation manager at Shaw Industries Group, headquartered here, is one of four Georgians who are being recognized for their respective contributions and commitment to the manufacturing industry, which is a key driver of the state economy.
Hutchison has been with Shaw since 1993. He accepted his award Oct. 3 during a special ceremony at Shaw’s MakerSpace.
Since joining Shaw, he has held numerous positions, including one where he led a team to build one of the largest plastic bottle recycling facilities in North America. A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering, Hutchison has focused on equipment and technology to improve processes and incorporate automation into Shaw’s plants.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized as a Face of Manufacturing in Georgia,” Hutchison said. “I’m proud of how Shaw’s approach to manufacturing has become increasingly innovative.”
GaMEP is a federally funded economic development program of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. It works with manufacturers across the state to help them remain viable and economically competitive.
Collectively, more than 10,000 manufacturing companies operate in Georgia. Those companies, which span all sizes, employ more than 365,000 people and produce a total manufacturing output of $53 billion per year.
The Faces campaign showcases the sector’s importance to Georgia’s economy. Hutchison and the other three award recipients were selected from an initial pool of nominations and chosen through a public voting contest consisting of 10 finalists. Following more than 4,500 votes cast, Hutchison emerged as one of the top four.
In addition to his Shaw duties, Hutchison is a FIRST Robotics team coach at Northwest Georgia College & Career Academy, where he helps students conceptualize, prototype, design, build and program robots for competition. The team recently was awarded one of four Rookie Inspiration awards at the world competition.
“We are very proud of Marten and grateful to him for his dedication to educating students in the STEM disciplines and exciting them about manufacturing, as they are the future of our industry,” said David Morgan, Shaw’s executive vice president of operations.