Leominster Champion: Rep. Higgins Nominates New England Apple Products for 2021 Manufacturer of the Year Award

https://www.leominsterchamp.com/story/business/2021/11/11/new-england-apple-products-company-2021-manufacturer-year-award/6301220001/

New England Apple Products Company in Leominster has been honored with a 2021 Manufacturer of the Year Award, nominated by State Rep. Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster).
This year marked the Sixth Annual Manufacturing Awards Ceremony hosted by the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus.
“Many people overlook the important role that manufacturing has across North Central Massachusetts,” Higgins said. “I am proud to lift up local manufacturers like New England Apple Products, who are not only job creators, but also continually try to find ways to give back to our community and neighbors.”
New England Apple Products Company came into being in the summer of 2011, but its roots run back to the end of the Civil War. Their owners, brothers Steve and Dave Rowse, grew up in their family’s business, Veryfine Products Inc. of Littleton; Veryfine traced its roots back to 1865. In 2011, Steve purchased the fresh apple cider-making business from Carlson Orchards of Harvard and moved it to Leominster. Dave joined Steve in the business a couple of years later. New England Apple Products presses apples and bottles cider all year long, and also produces in the summer months.
Additionally, New England Apple Products has a commitment to stewardship and sustainability. They have 960 solar panels on the roof of their cider mill building that produce a couple of million watts of power on a sunny day, which they hope will generate 100% of their electricity needs each year. They are also working towards zero solid waste and are currently at 95% recycled, and their leftover apple pulp is hauled away by a local dairy farmer who mixes it in with his other feed products to keep his cows well fed and happy. They donate as much cider as they can use to two local food banks, one in Leominster and one 10 minutes away at Devens, so that their client families can enjoy cider with their holiday meals.
October is Manufacturing Month in the Commonwealth. This year, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing, along with MassMEP, MassRobotics, Forge, WPI and the MassHire boards, hosted an exciting new conference to kick off October’s manufacturing month, the “Massachusetts Manufacturing Mash-Up” at Polar Park in Worcester.
The name hoped to inspire something new, unique and a place to see the “new face of manufacturing.” The “Mash-Up” included a mix of indoor and outdoor space throughout the park setting a new “vibe” for manufacturing, and offered numerous opportunities to meet new businesses or partners, find the resources to help manufacturers succeed, and gain the knowledge to join the advanced manufacturing world in which we now operate.