FIA and FIERF Approve New Joint Strategic Plan

The Forging Industry Association (FIA) and the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation (FIERF) announced today that their new Joint Strategic Plan was officially approved at the FIA–FIERF Joint Board Meeting on February 3, 2026.

The new strategic plan builds on FIA and FIERF’s long-standing mission to improve members’ global competitiveness through networking, training, communication, market development, and advocacy.

“This plan reflects what we heard directly from members and leadership: the industry needs a focused, practical roadmap that strengthens our voice, expands our reach, and delivers measurable value,” said Jeffrey T. Jones, Chairman of the FIA Board and Forge Resources Group. “With approval in place, staff have begun executing the operational plan, building on past successes.”

Kevin Seidel, Chairman of the FIERF Board and Canton Drop Forge, added: “The forging industry’s future depends on a strong talent pipeline and a clear story about forging’s value. This plan strengthens both—through workforce development, education, and consistent, compelling communications.”

“FIA and FIERF are at our best when we turn member insight into action,” said Mark Ames, President & CEO of the Forging Industry Association. “This joint strategic plan gives us a clear, practical playbook for the future—strengthening our advocacy, sharpening our benchmarking and technical resources, expanding workforce development, and telling forging’s story with one strong voice. Our focus is simple: execute with urgency, measure what matters, and deliver value our members can see in their businesses.”

Strategic priorities for 2026–2030

The Joint Strategic Plan is organized around interconnected priorities designed to create a “flywheel effect,” where progress in one area accelerates progress in others, producing consistent, tangible results for members. Key priorities include:

• Advocacy: Strengthening relationships with key Congressional, agency, and White House champions; expanding participation in critical regulatory proceedings; and increasing member engagement with tools and training in support of the North American forging industry.
• Industry benchmarking: Improving the quality, accuracy, and representativeness of FIA benchmarking and market intelligence so members have more actionable data for decision-making.
• Certification: Launching a Certified Forging Professional credential to establish a recognized standard of competence and support professional development across the forging sector.
• Membership growth: Retaining and attracting members through value-proposition analysis, market targeting, and exploring strategic partnerships across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and around the world.
• Events and technical content: Refreshing courses and conferences, enhancing networking value, and modernizing educational content so programming continues to meet evolving industry needs.
• Workforce development: Expanding FIERF scholarships, grants, clubs, school partnerships, and competitions to build a larger pipeline into forging careers and increase awareness among students and educators.
• Communicating forging’s value: Developing unifying narratives and communications toolkits that connect forging to national security, economic prosperity, and technological progress—and that help reach policymakers, media, educators, and prospective members.
• Operational excellence: Investing in staff development, strengthening financial stewardship, and modernizing systems and processes to improve efficiency and execution capacity.
  

The new plan is located  at www.forging.org/strategicplan. 

With the plan approved, FIA staff have begun work on the operational plan immediately. For more information on FIA and FIERF initiatives, please contact FIA President & CEO, Mark Ames, AAiP at mark@forging.org.

About the Forging Industry Association
The ForgingIndustry Association (FIA) is the unified voice of the North American forging industry, representing forging producers, suppliers, and partners across the region. FIA helps members strengthen their global competitiveness through industry education, networking, technical resources, and advocacy that supports a healthy manufacturing environment. FIA also works to elevate forging’s value in critical supply chains—powering markets such as transportation, medical, hand tools, energy, defense, aerospace, and infrastructure.

About the Forging Foundation
Established in 1961, the Forging Industry Educational andResearch Foundation (FIERF) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Operating as a supporting organization to FIA, FIERF supports the forging industry through technology development and education, and builds the future workforce by promoting forging careers, awarding scholarships, sharing employment opportunities, and encouraging participation in forging research and projects.