EAST PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Manufacturers Association will host its first-ever Samuel Slater Lifetime Achievement Award dinner on Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Squantum Association in East Providence.
Henry D. Sharpe Jr., the former owner of Brown & Sharpe, has been chosen as this year’s honoree, RIMA said in a press release.
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“The vision of Brown & Sharpe is an inspiration to all manufacturers and a powerful example of [Father of the American Industrial Revolution] Samuel Slater’s innovative spirit, carrying on through successive generations of Rhode Islanders,” the release reads.
The company was founded in 1833, a precision-equipment manufacturer in downtown Providence. It moved to the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence in 1872, and to North Kingstown in 1964.
Sharpe is credited with making big changes in the company after succeeding his father, Henry Dexter Sharpe, as president in the 1950s, eliminating outdated machines and investing in automatic screw machines to improve productivity, for example. He reorganized divisions and the company began expanding by acquisition.
Brown & Sharpe was acquired by Hexagon in 2001.
Tickets to the dinner are $125 per person. Purchase information is available by contacting RIMA at (401) 751-0160, or at rima@mfgri.com.
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributor.
