[caption id="" align="alignright" width="293"] “There’s a mindset that maybe has to be tweaked a little bit, from a ‘college track’ to a ‘career track.’” – Jerry Sheldon, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance (Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News)[/caption]

Jerry Sheldon was ready for a career change but found a way to stay involved in manufacturing.

Sheldon sold his business, Lancaster Tanks and Steel Products, last September, and earlier this year became the first executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance. The group had about 35 members when established in 2010, and now has more than 120.

Sheldon spent about 20 years at Praxair in the Town of Tonawanda in engineering and management positions before leaving to buy Elmwood Tank and Piping Corp., a small mechanical contracting company. Two years later, he bought Lancaster Tanks.

Manufacturing attracts plenty of attention in Western New York these days, from the SolarCity plant being built in Buffalo, to the Buffalo Manufacturing Works center designed to help companies grow. Sheldon, a 59-year-old Williamsville resident, says he sees potential for the nonprofit BNMA to support the industry by attracting more members, connecting them with each other, and speaking out on pressing issues:

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