Curt Ley got his start in the jewelry business 37 years ago and has seen drastic changes in the industry in Rhode Island, with manufacturing shifting overseas and family-owned businesses being bought out. Now, as interim CEO of the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America, based in Providence, he’s re-working the association’s mission to reflect those changes.
PBN: How did you become interim CEO?
LEY: The individual that we hired back two years ago resigned to take what he perceived to be a better position in the industry about six months ago. … We thought that it would be a good opportunity, rather than going out and hiring another pretty suit, to go out and to take the time to reevaluate what MJSA is all about and whom it serves. Our industry is changing so dramatically, we felt it was a good time to do that before identifying the skills that we needed in the new CEO.
PBN: Tell me a little more about the changing industry.
LEY: There are several things. You can talk locally, if you’d like – MJSA is a national organization but it was founded as a local organization, one that served the manufacturing jewelers, and most of those were in the Providence-Attleboro area back when it was founded. Really, it was the mid-to-late 1940s that it took its current form as a trade association for the benefit of manufacturing jewelers. …
Now, most of that costume [jewelry], I would guess the majority of it, is made in China. So there were all those jobs, which numbered about 40,000 in this area. Now, you’re lucky if you reach 4,000 or 5,000 jobs in the jewelry-manufacturing sector – and most of those are in the commodities products, like chains, beads, findings, which are capital-intensive items as opposed to labor-intensive items.
PBN: Is that shift positive or negative?
LEY: I think it’s a natural evolution. Every manufacturing company chases cheap labor. … It certainly hasn’t been good on the employees of the jewelry industry of 20, 25 years ago. I’m not criticizing it, but it’s a fact and you have to deal with it. And the organization – meaning MJSA – is now representing a different group of membership.
PBN: How has that membership changed?
LEY: We’re getting some retailers who are doing some manufacturing in their backroom. That’s another change in the industry: Retailers like Tiffany, Cartier, folks like that are doing their own manufacturing. …
And there is another major change affecting our industry. That’s the consolidation that has taken place on the manufacturing side. You’ve got companies out there on the manufacturing side, large companies, that are out there buying up what used to be family-owned businesses and are now dominant in our industry. … One is Richline [Group] that’s owned by Warren Buffett and has just gobbled up a bunch of the smaller companies in our industry. So that consolidation is also changing the membership profile of MJSA.
PBN: How is the mission statement going to change?
LEY: At one point in its evolution, this organization rejected the membership of retailers or organizations which were not manufacturing jewelers. That has changed and evolved a little bit – we have accepted into membership in recent times anyone who was willing to support the best interest of manufacturing jewelers. That still continues, but focuses on domestic. With a lot of the manufacturing being done overseas now, you have to open that up – this is a personal opinion – to the international community. You can no longer hunker down …. That would represent a major shift for this organization, but I think it’s one that could be appropriate.
PBN: Do you expect to allow international membership, or just look at how those organizations are viewed?
LEY: I would suggest the former, or both, actually. You’ve got to look at international organizations differently – we haven’t looked at them at all. Just looking at them in any way is a change ….
I’m not sure the form in which it will take, now, but you have to recognize that it’s a global economy. We have to play in that ballpark – and if we don’t, we’re not servicing our members, our traditional constituency, and those new members of MJSA.
PBN: You’ve been in this business for 37 years. What do you see as big issues during the next five to 10 years?
LEY: A lot of the precious metal that is being made over here is going to move overseas – along with the base metal that’s already there. … You’re going to see a greater emphasis on globalization. And I think the consolidation is going to continue, although there’s limited opportunity as we go farther. In addition, I think you’re going to see retail take more of a role in manufacturing.
PBN: What else will you look at during the strategic review?
LEY: We focus on the companies, but you have to focus on the employees as well, because of the skill base. If you go to some of the manufacturers in this area, you’re going to see some fairly old people. The toolmakers, the machinists, the polishers, the stone-setters, the set-up people – those are the key people to manufacturing.
And the younger generation isn’t coming into our industry, so those skills are dissipating – No. 1, because of the demand diminishing because a lot is being done overseas; No. 2, because it’s not very exciting. You get a kid out of high school and he or she is more interested in going to work at a high-tech company, because that’s where the opportunity and the higher pay are, so you’re not getting a backfill for the skills required to make finished jewelry in this area. •
Interview: CURT LEY
POSITION: Interim CEO of the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America (MJSA)
BACKGROUND: Ley started his career with manufacturer Armburst Chain Co. in 1970, where he stayed for 18 years, becoming vice president and treasurer. He then worked for two years at Attleboro’s Howard H. Sweet and Son Inc., which was acquired by Tiffany & Co. As part of the sale, Ley was put in charge of Tiffany’s manufacturing, including shops in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Switzerland. After 8 years with Tiffany, he came back to Rhode Island and became chairman and CEO of B.A. Ballou & Co. during 1997. Since November 2007, Ley has been semi-retired, but still holds his position as chairman of Ballou.
EDUCATION: B.A. in economics, 1964, Hobart College.
RESIDENCE: Warren
AGE: 66
The Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America sponsors annual several trade shows, including its flagship MJSA Expo New York; publishes the monthly MJSA Journal and MJSA e-newsletter, as well as the influential MJSA Buyers’ Guide and other MJSA Press books and directories; presents a wide range of general and customized training through its MJSA Jewelry Academy; and works closely with the National Association of Manufacturers to represent its members on public policy issues. To learn more, call 1 (800) 444-6572, e-mail info@mjsa.org or visit www.MJSA.org.
