It's already been a month since the Expo. With so many memorable moments, it feels like it was yesterday. Over 1200 people attended, Governor Bruce Rauner showed support by taking a tour of Elk Grove's Advanced Manufacturing Lab, IMEC hosted a one-of-a-kind manufacturing matchmaking event, Mayor Craig B. Johnson received a 2015 Small Business Advocate Award, and the 2015 Business Excellence Awards' ceremony was held during the Expo luncheon.

Today, we're shining light on the three award-winning Elk Grove manufacturers. The following companies have proven excellence in Community Support, Sustainability, and Innovation.

MET Plastics' generous donation to Elk Grove High School

Excellence in Community Support

Want more skilled workers? Take a look around and see if there is any unused equipment to donate to education. President of MET Plastics Mike Walter and his team had $20,000 worth of old equipment taking up space in their facility so they decided to donate it to Elk Grove High School's Advanced Manufacturing Lab.

"Our intentions were to get kids interested in manufacturing," Walter stated. Because of MET Plastics' generous donation, local manufacturing students now have more equipment that provides them with hands-on experience and exposure to machines, making them better qualified for entry-level positions.

If you missed Walter's speech, click here to watch, but caution … it may inspire you to do some spring-cleaning around your facility.

FPM Heat Treating's environmental-friendly plating process

Excellence in Sustainability

FPM Heat Treating takes sustainability practices very seriously. The company is the only licensee of Nitrotec™ in North America, an environmental-friendly and pollution-free plating process that uses clean technology, since the 90s. The license requires ongoing maintenance each year, but it has continued to support the company's success by reaching customers in a wide array of industries, including agriculture and lawn and garden.

"It's helped bring us good business and we treat it as a totally separate unit," stated Director of Sales and Marketing, Jim Feltner.

The company is also Nadcap-certified, a National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation and a hard certification to prove for.

"We work hard every day to keep us certified; it's the highest level standard for heat treating," declared Feltner.

HST Materials making innovative shifts in workforce development

Excellence in Innovation

Owner and president of HST Materials, Kathy Miller, has been making headlines, from being a panelist for the Daily Herald Business Ledger's Newsmakers' Forum to winning an award for Excellence in Innovation.

Miller and her team found a way to create a safer environment for their workers, while providing interns with a meaningful project: to develop a noise reduction system for HST Material's manufacturing processes. The system successfully reduced decibel levels, improving the quality of the company's work environment.

Miller is also a strong advocate of attracting more women engineers into a male-dominated industry. The company hired a woman engineer from Olivet and a former EGHS student. Miller stated she was the best candidate.

A big round of applause for the 2015 Business Excellence Award winners! For all of this year's Expo highlights, visit MadeInElkGroveExpo.com.