Ron Bullock Named Chairman of Illinois Manufacturers' Association

2/11/2008 - The Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA), the oldest and largest state manufacturers' association in the U.S., has named Ron Bullock its Chairman until 2010. Bullock is the owner and Chairman of Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. of St. Charles, Illinois.

"For 115 years, the IMA has been the voice for manufacturers in Illinois and I am proud to have the opportunity to further contribute to the Association's goals and objectives in this new role," said Bullock. The IMA represents nearly 4,000 companies and plants that operate in Illinois. The object for which the IMA was formed is to strengthen the economic, social, environmental and governmental conditions for manufacturers in the State of Illinois, resulting in an enlarged business base and increased employment.

Bullock acquired Bison Gear in 1987 as a manufacturer of gear reducers with 70 employees in a 38,000 sq. ft. facility in Downers Grove. Today, the company is a fully-integrated manufacturer of fractional horsepower AC and DC electric motors and gearmotors with over 240 employees in its 115,000 sq. ft. St. Charles headquarters.

Mr. Bullock is a past director of the American Gear Manufacturers' Association, past president of the Small Motor Manufacturers' Association and founding president of the Electric Motor Education and Research Foundation. He has served as Vice Chairman of the National Division for the National Association of

Manufacturers and served on the National Science Board's Commission on 21st Century Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

As a result of Bullock's concern with the quality of secondary education and the shortage of skilled entry-level workers in manufacturing, in 2007 Bison Gear announced its Skilled Workforce Initiative. In the initiative, manufacturing leaders, educational institutions, economic and workplace development organizations came together to create a talent pool of better qualified employees with plans to offer long term stable employment.