So That Happened: Happy Centennial to the Goodyear Blimp
Editor’s note: Welcome to So That Happened, our editors’ takes on things going on in the manufacturing world that deserve some extra attention. This will appear regularly in the Member’s Only section of the site.
Morgan Li Rises From the Ashes
In 2023, I wrote a story that featured custom fabrication company Morgan Li. Earlier that year, the company suffered a devastating blow when its 230,000 square-foot finished-goods warehouse, one of its five domestic facilities, was destroyed by a massive fire. The third-generation family business made plans to build a new facility in the same Chicago Heights neighborhood where it lost its warehouse space.
Last month, Morgan Li celebrated the grand opening of the new 240,000 square-foot facility, which will consolidate all distribution and warehousing under one roof.
“It’s a true honor to be able to continue investing in the Chicago Heights community,” says Morgan Li President Jonathan Rosenband. “This is where our story began, and being able to rebuild right here – bigger and better than ever – is incredibly meaningful. This facility is a symbol of our commitment to creating opportunities, driving innovation and showing up for the community that has supported us for generations.”
In addition to more than 20 loading docks, the facility features advanced recycling systems for cardboard and metal waste. An additional 40,000 square-foot structure is home to a new paint line for finished products and refurbishment.
“For us, this isn’t just a new building—it’s a reflection of how far we’ve come and where we’re headed,” says Morgan Li CEO Andy Rosenband. “We’ve had our fair share of milestones to celebrate as a company over the last 80 years, but the start of this new chapter and what it means for our customers, our employees and this community might be the most exciting one yet.”
—Anna Smith
Electric Boat Makes History
History has been made by the Candela C-8, an electric foiling boat from Swedish boatmaker Candela. Last week, the C-8 sailed 24 nautical miles from Sotogrande, Spain, to Ceuta, North Africa. The one-hour trip marked the first intercontinental voyage by an electric vessel.
But the C-8 is no ordinary boat: it flies! Equipped with underwater wings called hydrofoils that can lift it above water, the boat is able to cut its energy consumption by over 80% compared to gas power.
The boat is also a win for those prone to seasickness; the hydrofoils automatically adjust up to 100 times per second using sensors that detect waves, wind, and current.
But, if you’d like your water travel to have a bit more room, Candela’s already operating its P-12 ferry, the world's first electric hydrofoil ferry, in Stockholm.
—Jennifer Ramsey
The Robots Are Coming For Our Jobs—And Those of The Sheep
The growth of solar energy around the country has created a market to take care of the land on which row after row after panels sit. Sheep have happily filled a large portion of that vegetation management gap—to the point that there exists an American Solar Grazing Association and it has more than 1,100 members.
But there’s a natural cap to a sheep’s capacity. The team at Silicon Ranch Corp., which owns about 50,000 acres and operates more than 180 solar farms coast to coast, is turning to a more automated solution as a result. The Nashville-based company this week announced it has invested an undisclosed amount in Swap Robotics, a seven-year-old Ontario company that makes heavy-duty robots that help with panel laying, materials staging and, yes, the cutting of grass and other vegetation.
“Following a successful pilot of Swap Robotics’ technology, we determined that the mission, operational model, and strong leadership team at Swap Robotics align well with our vision of innovatively scaling a fully integrated agrivoltaics program that can be deployed across our fleet,” said Reagan Farr, CEO and co-founder of Silicon Ranch. “We are pleased to make this strategic investment in Swap Robotics to help expand its business for the benefit of our entire industry.”
Silicon Ranch joins an investor group that includes construction company SOLV Energy and publicly traded manufacturer Array Technologies Inc. Those companies committed $7 million and $3 million, respectively, to fuel Swap’s development since early 2023. The goal now is to grow well beyond the “dozens” of robots that have been deployed into the field.
—Geert De Lombaerde
Birthday Blimp: Goodyear’s Blimp Celebrates Centennial Anniversary
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company already celebrated its 100th anniversary a quarter century ago: Now, it’s the blimp’s turn. On June 3, the Goodyear Blimp celebrated its 100th birthday at its hangar in Suffield, Ohio, outside of Akron, by hosting a variety of corporate and local athletic mascots.
Goodyear’s Aeronautics department was founded in 1910, and its first balloon was produced two years later, but the Pilgrim, its first “helium-filled non-rigid airship,” was first introduced in 1925: Its maiden flight was June 3, 1925. During World War II, the tire company hosted a pilot training program to train U.S. Navy airship pilots: According to the U.S. Naval Institute, blimps were used during the war as coastal escorts, mine spotters, and search-and-rescue craft.
—Ryan Secard
Product Recalls: Better and Worse, and What to Expect Looking Ahead
The product recall numbers are out for the first quarter of 2025, and they are better or worse, depending on your perspective.
The better: The 775 recalls issued in the first quarter were down by five from the 780 reported in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The worse: The volume of defective products in Q1 2025 surged by 25% to 125.37 million compared with the previous quarter, driven by the pharmaceutical and food and drink industries.
These data are courtesy of Sedgwick, which quarterly issues its U.S. Product Safety and Recall Index report. The index reviews five industries: automotive, consumer products, food and drink, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.
That 25% surge in volume is thanks in part to the 232% increase in the number of food items recalled by the FDA in Q1 despite a nearly 4% drop in recall events to 127. One recall event, for prepared chocolate shakes, impacted 57 million units alone.
In the pharmaceutical industry, both the number of events (up 7.4%) and the total volume (up 42.3%) rose in Q1 compared with the previous quarter.
Recall actions were down in the automotive and medical device industries, by 13% and 9%, respectively, according to Sedgwick’s report. By contrast, the consumer products industry had its most active quarter in 14 years, with 101 recalls.
The latest U.S. Product Safety and Recall Index report also notes that Trump administration actions have signaled “potential shifts in compliance expectations and enforcement priorities.”
“As the new administration’s regulatory agenda becomes clearer, businesses may face a dual reality—experiencing regulatory rollbacks in some areas while contending with more stringent oversight in others,” said Sedgwick’s Chris Harvey, senior vice president of brand protection.
—Jill Jusko
Clean Energy Fire Sale
2025 is shaping up to be a big year for companies to scrap clean-energy projects, with Republican states taking the biggest hit overall.
Since the start of 2025, 21 clean energy projects by companies including Bosch, BorgWarner and Proterra have been cancelled. That’s a total of $14 billion in promised company investment gone, according to the Clean Energy Tracker from E2, a nonpartisan business organization advocating for clean-energy projects.
That amount dwarfs the total for all of 2024, when $1.9 billion in private investment across 15 projects was canceled.
Clean energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act would be repealed under the domestic policy bill recently passed in the U.S. House. Backed by President Donald Trump, the bill is now under consideration in the U.S. Senate.
On the chopping block are consumer tax credits for new (up to $7,500) and used (up to $4,000) EVs, as well as tax credits for planned wind, solar, battery and geothermal manufacturing facilities that have not yet started construction.
Most-kneecapped is the battery/storage sector, with 14 projects and $10.3 billion crossed off the list. States with the highest clean-energy tax credit investment (and the most to lose) are Michigan, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.
Notable projects cancelled in 2025 include the Stellantis battery plant in Illinois (1,000 jobs, $3.2 billion) and the Freyr Battery plant in Georgia (723 jobs, $2.6 billion investment).
The study doesn’t mention that some projects canceled in 2025 were sputtering even with tax credits—for instance, projects in Oklahoma and Arizona from imperiled EV manufacturers Canoo and Nikola.
Sixty-one percent of all clean energy projects announced since 2022—72% of all jobs and 82% of investment—are in congressional districts represented by Republicans.
—Laura Putre
