SPOTLIGHT ZAGO
Jackie Luciano, Zago Vice President
“COMPANIES ARE REALISING THEY NEED DIVERSITY” Zago Vice President Jackie Luciano sheds some light on the sealing manufacturer’s ethos and key focuses for the year ahead, while CEO and co-founder Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich discusses her career in the fastener industry so far...
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ince being born out of the New Jersey Institute of Technology Enterprise Development Center’s small business incubator in 1993, high‐tech sealing fastener specialist Zago has evolved into a fully‐ fledged global manufacturing company. The firm is active in several industries, in particular the military and aerospace sectors, and has lately seen growth in commercial‐type applications and indus‐ tries such as lighting, commercial vehi‐ cles, robotics and food. Most recently, the firm’s specialty high‐ tech sealing fasteners have been used in the manufacture of ventilators during the Covid‐19 crisis (more on pg. 18). Medical devices containing a suction or pumping mechanism can benefit from integrating Zago’s sealing fasteners with O‐ring tech‐ nology which prevents airflow leakage and ensures contaminants are sealed out. The firm’s intention is to make manufac‐ turers who are new to ventilator manufac‐ turing and its supply chain aware of Zago’s capabilities on this front, and to collaborate with them where possible.
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And it’s this engagement and presence within its wider community which defines Zago, says Jackie Luciano, the firm’s Vice President: “Our company is very big on sustainability – it’s not one part of what we do but encompasses everything the company does. Of course, this includes the basics like having a solar roof on our build‐
// Sustainability encompasses everything the company does. //
ing, but it also goes way beyond that in terms of the time we have spent focusing on our relationship with our local community. “We are very involved with the commu‐ nity, having started education and training programmes, internships, mentorships with students and even training within our own organisation to make sure the company continues to move forward in a sustainable way.” Zago's work with the local community extends to engaging with future genera‐ tions.. The firm has done a lot of work with local young people to encourage them to pursue a career in manufacturing. “We have started putting on tours for high school students where they come in for a factory tour and we talk them through all the different types of careers that there are in the industry and the different positions available,” continues Luciano. “We want to engage them and help them to understand what is avail‐ able in their own backyard, what the possibilities are, and what potential careers they could have.”
