What Is the Work? And Why Is It Important?

By: Matt Bedingfield, MI2 Board Chair

Hopefully, following the holiday season, everyone returned to work refreshed and enthused for the year to come!  Personally, I am excited and ready for all that is in store for MI2 in 2023.  

The preceding year, while significant, was spent realizing our vision for a nonprofit in Kentucky led by metals industry leadership to attract and promote advanced research, sustainability, commercialization, and talent development - and, furthermore, to assert our place as the preeminent destination for metals innovation.  

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, it is time to get to work!

So, what is the work?  And why is it important?

Starting with the latter - anecdotally, we all know that Kentucky is a metals state. All major metals, as well as many of the upstream and downstream processes which create and consume our materials, are represented in MI2 membership.

However, today, our narratives stand alone. No one is telling the collective story - our value to Kentucky, our industrial needs, and the probable growth possibilities once we raise awareness and work together.

It is not enough to collaborate internally - it requires the mobilization of industry, government, and education...this is MI2’s mission.

As an industry-led cluster, we intend to do practical work - that is, work that results in growth for our businesses and shared industry in the Bluegrass State. I believe we set the foundation for this work in 2022.

In our first few months together, we established various strategy groups to further our mission, based on our initial strategic focus areas: industry branding, workforce development, sustainability, and grants & funding.  The four strategy groups are gaining momentum - and we are thrilled with the work done so far.

As the year progresses, I look forward to seeing what we can do together.  By combining our voices and setting aside our individual agendas, we will create a sweeping and powerful message to attract talent, funding, and interest to our industry.

Matt Bedingfield is the inaugural board chair for the Metals Innovation Initiative. He is also President of Wieland North America Recycling and Senior Vice President of Global Metals Management for Wieland Group.