MSCI Unveils 100 Years Strong Retrospective Piece To Help Commemorate 2009 Centennial
May 04, 2009
MSCI Unveils 100 Years Strong Retrospective Piece To Help Commemorate 2009 Centennial
PHOENIX, Arizona, May 4, 2009 – A dynamic, three-dimensional, retrospective structure, entitled100 Years Strong, was unveiled at the 2009 Metals Service Center Institute Annual Meeting today as part of the institute’s Centennial observances.
Measuring more than 5 feet by 4 feet and six inches deep, the piece contains more than 200 miniaturized photographs, publications, three-dimensional items and industry memorabilia in a collage of different metals and shapes that shows the breadth of metals end uses and scope of the industry’s history. The service center industry’s story unfolds in a counter-clockwise direction in a visual evolution that depicts growth and the vital role played by industrial metals in the 20th Century.
The piece was created by artist Lawrence Romorini of Silver Spring, Maryland, whose sole focus is three-dimensional retrospective displays. The piece took about six months to complete, using, among many other things, pipe, tubing, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, angle irons, steel rods, wire and more as design elements.
“We will very proudly place this at MSCI headquarters as a constant reminder of our industry’s rich heritage and ongoing role in the development and well-being of the North American economy and way of life,” said M. Robert Weidner, III, MSCI’s president and CEO. “Just like our industry, this commemorative work is intricate, exceedingly complex and equally durable.”
The dedication for 100 Years Strong reads: “In recognition of the integrity, tenacity and innovation that tens of thousands of individuals have displayed to make the metals supply chain the backbone of North American manufacturing for more than 100 years.”
100 Years Strong was introduced at today’s annual meeting session and will remain on display throughout this meeting. It will also be on display at the 2009 MSCI Aluminum Products Division annual conference before placement in its permanent home in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Through MSCI, Romorini’s One of A Kind Art Studio offers high-definition, full-sized photographs of100 Years Strong. The photographs can be customized with each company’s own historic materials, if so desired.
“In producing this piece and our other Centennial projects, we were of course aware of the economic environment and the fact that this is a period of great challenge and hardship for many people and companies in the metals industry,” Weidner said. “By the same token, however, the Centennial is a reminder to us all of just how durable and innovative our industry has been, decade-in and decade-out. The privilege and responsibility of representing our trade association on its 100th birthday fell to us this year, and it is important for us to commemorate our industry’s rich heritage and use that heritage to build for tomorrow.”
The MSCI Centennial commemoration and projects in it were overseen by Ann D’Orazio, the institute’s vice president, marketing and strategic growth; by Weidner, and by a Centennial Advisory Committee chaired by two former MSCI chairmen: Michael Petersen, president of Petersen Aluminum, and Donald R. McNeeley, president and COO of Chicago Tube & Iron.
Founded in 1909, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 400 members operating from about 1,200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere in the world. Together, MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 55 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers. MSCI’s membership also includes almost all ferrous and non-ferrous industrial metals producers in North America. Metals service centers inventory and distribute metals and provide first-stage fabrication services.
Contacts:
Jon Kalkwarf, MSCI vice president and CFO, 847-485-3007 or 773-835-6108.
Ann D’Orazio, MSCI vice president, marketing and strategic growth, 847-485-3019 or 219-614-3863.