Catching up with… Jason Moss

Jason Moss is founder and CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, a membership-based organization that supports the state’s manufacturing community. Below are edited highlights from an interview.

How did the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance start?

I originally started GMA back in 2008 to help me grow my market when I was selling software to manufacturing companies. I found there was really no place for manufacturers to get together and network.

Before COVID hit, we had been running monthly meetings and about 120 live events a year [culminating with the annual] Georgia Manufacturing Summit. Now, post-COVID, we’ve changed things a little bit and we are being a lot more selective. We’ll probably end up doing 50 or 55 events this [coming] year.

How is your organization unique?

GMA is unique in the space because we’re a for-profit industry association. Most associations are not for profit, because either they do lobbying or they do education and certification. With GMA, I decided I’d set it up differently. The only agenda that we’ve got in GMA is, “if it’s good for manufacturing and good for Georgia, we’re all about it.” Anything outside of that, we don’t spend any time on.

There are associations that do lobbying for Georgia, and I want them to keep doing that because they’re doing a good job. We all have our different lanes, and mine is helping industry professionals have the opportunity to see world-class manufacturing in action. We do factory tours, networking events and hold educational sessions.

That’s the magic of it, because when we can get people from those different companies to sit at the table and share best practices, and you take all the politics out of it, it changes the game. It just allows people to be people and to talk about what’s important to them in the manufacturing space, without any other agendas being discussed.

What are the biggest workforce challenges facing manufacturers in Georgia?

AI is a big thing. We’ve partnered with Georgia AIM, which is a big push to put AI in advanced manufacturing. They have a massive grant, and we’ve done a couple of events with the Georgia AIM project, especially in rural Georgia, to give them access and education on AI for manufacturing. Because, of course, automation and robotics is where we’re headed. And in these uncertain economic times in the industry a lot of folks are bringing it back to the [United] States, and I’m thrilled.

How do manufacturers and the manufacturing alliance play a role in supporting economic development from Metro Atlanta to rural areas?

We are a gold mine for new manufacturing that comes into the state because manufacturers, by default, look to the traditional resources. There are a couple of different publications out, but most often when folks need suppliers, they’ll just do a Google search or do a local lookup for suppliers.

But a lot of times those suppliers are not really vetted; they don’t really understand the manufacturing dynamics. We help the manufacturer who wants to change or find backups of their supply chain or their service providers.

We can be a good resource and help them find people well-versed in manufacturing, whether it be physical supplies, materials or opening doors. We’ve got folks that do construction of buildings all the way to folks providing the nuts and bolts. … And it works both ways, because our suppliers are always looking to be able to help new customers, too.

What are your goals for the future of the manufacturing alliance?

The piece that I am always focused on and that I wake up to every day is helping people build their own personal and professional network.

The biggest trend I see right now is [helping people in] solidifying their network and their supply chain, making sure that they have redundancies and they have open communication with all the players. They’ve got to have confidence in the people that are supplying them. There’s nothing that’s more critical for manufacturers than making sure that you’ve got support and redundancy.