Business View Magazine l October 2022

27 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 CAL I FORNI A MANUFACTURERS & TECHNOLOGY ASSOC I AT ION large. Membership includes small, family- run operations that have been operating for generations, large global companies because of the market share that California represents, and everybody in between. There is also an Associate membership for people who want to be part of the manufacturing ecosystem but they may be a law firm, or an accounting firm, or a fellow trade association, or a utility, for example. “Right now, recounts, “It’s a very interesting story. CMTA was formed as the California Manufacturers Association in 1918, but the origin of the organization was in Oakland, California – far away from the capital. It was at a time in the early 1900s, when the state was becoming a much larger player in the nation. With its robust resources and transportation networks, California businesses were really coming into power. The railroad system had been developing significantly and there was a sense that between the railroads and the banks, those two entities were literally running the governmental show in Sacramento.” So a small group of manufacturers joined forces in Oakland to organize a group that would have a voice in Sacramento. Hastings notes, “I have the original Articles of Incorporation framed in my office, so we always remember our rich history.” In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, the association moved to Sacramento. That coincided with the period in history when the California legislature went from a part- time to full-time entity. The word ‘Technology’ was added to the Association’s name in the late 1990s, recognizing the importance of the Silicon Valley boom. “Our mandate has never changed,” Hastings says. “Our legacy is the fact that we are THE primary organization that is focused on legislative and regulatory implications to the manufacturing sector. We work with local regional manufacturing groups to help fulfill that mission but our principles are, first and foremost, to protect and enhance the right of manufacturers to operate in the State of California.” CMTA has two classes of membership. The Association bylaws require that a regular member be a licensed manufacturer in California, and that ranges from small to