Behind the showroom at Cultured Marble Products, about 50 workers, averaging $12 an hour plus some health benefits, pour stinky goop into molds, run it through a hardening and drying process, and polish it into a product that falls somewhere between laminates like Formica and real stone in cost, durability and visual appeal.
"We've seen our raw material prices more than double," Clementz said during a plant tour.
To help his tiny company survive, Clementz turned to a 20-year-old federal program called the Manufacturing Extension Partnership http://www.mep.nist.gov/
Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer
Full Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/11/BUONVHBLM.DTL
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In Montana: Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
Serving firms statewide. Affiliated with Montana State University.
Phone: 406-994-3812 Fax: 406-994-3391 Email: mmec@coe.montana.edu Web Site: http://www.mtmanufacturingcenter.com
In other states: http://www.mep.nist.gov/centers-near-you/index.htm