With the jewelry manufacturing industry in Rhode Island made up increasingly of smaller, independent artisans – as opposed to the big machine shops that increased urbanization in the Jewelry District a hundred years ago – it’s becoming more of a struggle to bring together those manufacturers with potential suppliers.
That’s why Bruce Coltin, director of marketing and sales at the Providence-based Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America, is on a mission to make the second annual Rhode Island Trade Show for Jewelry Making – running Oct. 10 and 11 at the R.I. Convention Center – a place where independent manufacturers can meet suppliers.
“This country used to be about big jewelry manufacturers,” said Coltin. “But over the last 20 years or so, a lot of that business has changed and moved to smaller manufacturers.”
While organizing the inaugural Rhode Island show last year – he also runs the annual MJSA New York show in April – Coltin ran into a problem contacting possible attendees, about 85 percent of whom have fewer than five employees.
“Historically, the best way to reach attendees and draw people in has been quality direct mailing,” said Coltin. “But the type of attendees that we were looking to bring in didn’t show up on those mailing lists.”
Last year, about 1,000 attendees came to see the show’s 80 booths. But this year Coltin hopes that widely known Swarovski Crystal Components, which has signed on to run a free workshop, will draw a larger crowd.
“A bonus to the show this year is Swarovski,” said Coltin, “because a lot of the people who are going to show up don’t know some of the other big names.”
Along with workshops, the 100 booths will include manufacturing tool and materials producers. Makers of Venetian glass beads, metal and wire and custom-cut cabochons will set up booths next to makers of engraving machines and design software programmers.
A hundred years ago, jewelry manufacturing was a staple of Rhode Island’s urban culture and work force, and that heritage still resonates in the state.
Gary Miller, senior technical adviser for Switzerland’s Spirig Advanced Technologies, said New York and Providence are the two most prominent East Coast locations for trade shows. For him, the MJSA show will be a chance to get in touch with manufacturers who could use Spirig’s technology to solder gold, platinum and silver items.
“That particular trade show is important to us because historically there were a lot of large manufacturing firms there, and over time a number of those have gone to other locations, but the people – those special people they trained – are still in that area working for themselves or smaller firms,” said Miller.
Coltin agreed. Those skilled workers are exactly the type of attendees that he’s looking to draw with a new advertising plan for commercial radio, which will hit the airwaves this week.
“You can’t go very far in this city without finding somebody who was affected by jewelry manufacturing – either themselves or a relative – and it’s really just part of our past in Providence,” he said.
In the future, the Rhode Island trade show might spur other regional shows, too. The MJSA is in a unique position, with about 1,900 national members, to create trade-show marketplaces for their members, said Coltin.
“We say this is the only show of its kind – there’s no such thing as a trade show for jewelry manufacturers,” he said. “It’s something that, because of who we are, we have the unique background to do.” •
