On November 15, 2023, Danko Arlington was honored to host the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Baja racing team.  During the visit, the team was able to witness the creation of their custom steering rack design.

Danko Arlington earlier collaborated with Mechanical Engineering seniors Tanner Saslow, Drive Train Design Lead, and Shaya Wachtel, Suspension Design Lead, to optimize their original cast part using SolidWorks and Magmasoft software programs.  

Seeing up close and in-person foundry processes including 3-D printing of the pattern, was great way for company showcase the theoretical engineering principles which the students have been learning in school.  The company too benefited by re-establishing closer relationships with UMBC Engineering — especially for awareness and recruiting future metal casters.

SCAM ALERT!!  On September 28, 2023, Danko Arlington was alerted about a fraudulent check cashing scheme and is actively prosecuting the participants and perpetrators.

Apparently, phony Danko Arlington checks accompanied by enticing letters have been widely distributed to random unsuspecting persons. The scam entices them to participate in some cash proceeds after depositing a fraudulent company check.   Due to company security protocols, those involved will never see the money.  

However, if a check is attempted to be cashed, the bank will hold the depositor personally liable for their loss. In addition, Danko Arlington will prosecute those who participate in this scam for felony crimes. These include forgery of a check and uttering a false check with criminal activity for possessing and concealing and using/consuming a false check.

Already the participants have left abundant leads for authorities to find them. The company is working with local and federal agencies to bring them to the maximum penalty and jail time possible.

If you receive one of these phony checks and letters, immediately tear them up and do not be tempted to profit from this stealing / get-rich scheme – it is an illusion and a serious crime!.

On Saturday, May 6th, 2023, Danko Arlington President, John Danko, was honored to participate as judge at the neighboring Howard County High School System’s Engineering Design and Development Expo.  Ten senior high school teams — all finalists from their school’s Project Lead The Way (PTLW) curriculums — competed for the top three places. 

The top three most favored were ‘Ez Pump’ — an electro-mechanical device which automatically squeezes gas pump handles for those with weak grip strength, ‘SHOCK LOCK’ – an innovative 3-D printed receptacle cover plate to prevent children from tampering with outlets, and ‘Blaze Block’ – a fire detection device which when mounted on an oven or stove provides an immediate life-saving fire alarm.

All ten projects demonstrated amazing collaboration, innovation, and creativity.   As a local manufacturer always seeking new talent, Danko Arlington will certainly become more involved with HCPSS PLTW students in the future.  These young people have an enthusiasm for a lifetime in manufacturing – something that gives local companies like Danko Arlington hope for the future.

On July 13, 2022, Danko Arlington, Inc. President, John Danko, was honored to brief The Secretary of the Navy, The Honorable Carlos Del Toro, at the Washington Navy Yard’s Admiral Gooding Center.    

Danko Arlington was invited as a certified Small Business HUBZone Concern to update Secretary Del Toro and his staff from various Navy branches on the current contracting climate.  The meeting was an unprecedented opportunity for the highest levels of Naval administration to openly listen to Small Business.   By sharing and discussing the current economic concerns together, both Danko Arlington and the US Navy have a better understanding of the challenges we together face moving forward.

Interestingly, Danko Arlington’s roots began at the Washington Navy Yard.  It was there during World War I that John Danko’s grandfather, Joseph O. Danko, Sr. worked as a patternmaker in their wood shop adjacent to the foundry.  After the war was over and after surviving the Spanish Flu Pandemic, he founded our company in Baltimore in 1920 at the age of 23.   In 2010, quite out of the blue, Danko Arlington was honored to sand cast in aluminum exact reproductions of the original hand carved rope and wooden anchors in the Navy Yard’s Latrobe Gate which dates from 1806 – which after two hundred years still serve as the official symbol of the US Navy.

The Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center (RIA-JMTC) hosted experts and officials across the government, military, industry and academia to discuss how
to best modernize and sustain manufacturing operations critical to national security at the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command Casting & Forging Summit on April 27-28, 2022.

The event was the byproduct of ongoing initiatives to ensure that U.S.-based entities, both government and private, are able to maintain the ability to conduct forging and casting
operations essential to producing military equipment that protects warfighters. The event enabled face-to-face discussions regarding the military’s product needs and outside perspectives from industry and academia on how to move forward.

Non-Ferrous Founder’s Society (NFFS) member John Danko (Danko Arlington) and NFFS Executive Director Jerrod Weaver attended the summit to represent the concerns and interests of non-ferrous foundries, especially those that provide castings as part of the DoD supply chain.

Mr. John Danko stressed the importance of clear requirements from the DoD as part of the provided technical data packages, and emphasized the need to simplify the contract
requirements for small businesses like Danko Arlington. He communicated some of his own foundry’s experiences and obstacles they encountered as they produced numerous different castings for the DoD and the DLA to provide examples where the procurement process could be improved.

Jerrod Weaver added that many DoD supplier foundries are actually small businesses and are facing the same labor shortages as other industries. As a result, foundries have the
luxury of picking which customers they will serve with their limited production capabilities. He stressed the need for the DLA/DoD to be better customers by providing clear and improved technical data sets, reduced qualification and FAT requirements which can be barriers to market entry, and enhanced lines of communication. “This Summit is exciting because together, we’re building the future of the U.S. Army’s manufacturing and sustainment,”
said Maj. Gen. Darren Werner, TACOM commanding general. “What we discussed here will have a direct impact on the future force and how we fight and win.” “The Army needs your help to determine what casting and forging capabilities we need for the future—what partnerships we need to put into place and ultimately what investments we need to make,” Werner said. “As we modernize the Organic Industrial Base, we must also leverage industry standards and best practices. Now more than ever, partnerships across the uniformed services and industry matter.”

The Summit provided immediate benefits by giving the at- tendees better understanding of their counterparts’ needs and requirements on the military and civilian sides of the
industry. Long-term, the TACOM Casting & Forging Summit laid the groundwork for the U.S. government to main- tain access to homegrown equipment for the next 30 years or more. The professional relationships forged during the event will also have lasting effects on national security.

This Article is republished from The May 22 NFFS Notes.

January 10, 2022. Danko Arlington is once again proud to be a sponsor for the Johns Hopkins University Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Baja Racing Team. 

Team Captain Eleanor O’Callaghan and Designer Theo DeGuzman decided to modify their past CVT Backplate designs to create a light weight, skeletonized version that performed significantly better.  This is a great move by the team to mimic the latest industry trends in 2022!  However stronger, lighter, and optimized castings can result in some odd-looking and challenging parts for the foundry to cast.

Despite the thinner walls and spider-web spokes, Danko Arlington was able to use its powerful solidification modeling software to create perfect gating, risering, and pouring temperature to validate a successful casting process. The students were able to then visit the foundry in-person to witness the recap of the simulation, the 3-D sand printing of the mold, the mold assembly, and the pouring of A356 aluminum in the cavity.   

Not surprising, the resultant single piece heat treated and x-rayed casting exceeded all expectations on the first try – a very thin, strong, high grade military casting with no misruns.  The risk that the students took has paid off! No-doubt, the team is off to a great start in 2022!

On October 26^th, 2021, Mr. William J. Santo visited Danko Arlington, Inc. 

Mr. Santo, who is now over ninety-years-old, was our Foundry Superintendent from 1965 to 1980.  Although Bill lives in the Baltimore area, he has not been back to the foundry in decades.  Now that the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions have eased, Mr. Santo was able to tour the company and even reminisce about the good old times with Mr. Edward Cooper Jr. — whom Bill hired in 1977 and is still working!  

At the time of Bill’s leadership, the company experienced many challenges including local civil rights uprisings in city, the oil crisis, and high inflation.  Despite the hard times, he was able to acquire new casting opportunities that were used in the Cold and Vietnam wars – including some defense programs which we continue to supply today.

Danko Arlington is grateful for Mr. Santo’s years of service and wishes him continued health and a happiness in his retirement.

2 September 2021. Danko Arlington was honored to host representatives from Roca Baltimore. 

Roca is an organization based in Massachusetts and now Baltimore which works with young people at the center of violence.  Their mission is to be a relentless force in disrupting incarceration, poverty, and racism by engaging the young adults, police, and systems at the center of urban violence in relationships to address trauma, find hope, and drive change.

Danko Arlington’s commitment to helping our fellow inner-city residents nicely complements Roca’s model. Both Roca and Danko Arlington will continue to forge safety and stability for those affected by urban violence in offering steady employment opportunities and life-saving career skills.

May 14, 2021. Danko Arlington was honored to be invited and to showcase its operation at the Baltimore City Public Schools Senior Recruitment Fair as an apprenticeship partner.  

During the virtual event, the company was able to present a brief power point and introduce students to a variety manufacturing jobs, including woodworkers, inspectors, molders, grinders, administrators, and our state-of-the-art machining / additive manufacturing apprenticeship.

The event was sponsored by the Employer Services of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development.

Danko Arlington looks forward to engage Baltimore City Public School Seniors for a career in the foundry industry!

March 16, 2021

With pandemic restrictions easing, neighboring Johns Hopkins University returned undergraduates and allowed the 2021 Baja team enough in-person activity to get back into the shop and manufacture this year’s vehicle – the model 17XT.  

However, unlike previous years, the university did not allow any sort of off-campus travel for groups of undergrads –even with masks and distancing. Nevertheless, Danko Arlington was able to work remotely with the students and their updated CAD design which included added plugs for the holes and extra height to the standoffs that determine critical spacing in the car.  

With the company’s help, the team was able to expand their first iteration of their four-wheel drive system from last year and design a new system with a custom front differential for the anticipated competition in Louisville, Kentucky in late May.

On November 4, 2020, Danko Arlington hosted a group of CTE teachers from the Baltimore City Public School (BCPS). The visit was facilitated by the BCPS College and the Career Readiness Office to discuss work-based learning opportunities.

Both BCPS and Danko Arlington are seeking to find ways to support virtual and in-person field trips/demos for students and teachers, promote 3-D printing awareness, and host summer internships/apprenticeships opportunities for city youth.

During the tour, representatives from Carver, Edmondson, and Augusta Fells High Schools saw a variety of career pathways at the company.  The event was such a success that one teacher returned two weeks later with a group of students interested in engineering and industry.  Both BCPS and the company look forward to resuming closer collaborations (post-pandemic) in the upcoming months ahead.

On August 31, 2020 at 1:15PM and On-Demand, John Danko, President of Danko Arlington, Inc., was honored to present the Keynote Address at the first virtual AFS Sand Casting and Additive Manufacturing Conference. 

This year’s in-person meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19, so Mr. Danko presented from his living room at home in Maryland. The title of the presentation was appropriately named, “Additive Manufacturing and Lessons learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic – Where do American Metalcasters Go From Here.”   Mr. Danko shared the company’s history and how it has remained in business since 1920 – now one hundred years!

Ironically, the company was founded by Mr. Danko’s grandfather, Joseph O. Danko, Sr., after he survived the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and started the company at age twenty-three years old!  Obviously, being able to adapt through changing times was the central theme of the narrative, including the company’s adoption of additive manufacturing in its operation.

31 March, 2020.  During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Danko Arlington was able to 3-D print several face mask prototypes on its two Stratasys 900MC Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers.  The printed design is known as a ‘Montana Mask’ and contains a removable filter frame.

Unfortunately, the masks could only be printed in polycarbonate, ABS, or ULTEM 9085 plastics which are normally used to construct the company’s durable pattern tooling. As a result, the masks were too rigid for a secure, comfortable, and tight face-fit.  In addition, the 3-D layers are porous and will certainly let unfiltered air pass thru the plastic.  Overall not great.  ☹   Only several masks were made before the project was withdrawn due to the equipment’s inability to print a more flexible material.

Throughout the country, other additive manufacturing users, however, were successfully able to 3-D print in softer materials like thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) which is a type of elastomer which is characterized by its high flexibility and durability – similar to rubber.   During the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shortage crisis, the additive manufacturing industry was able to demonstrate its unique capability to create essential components in little time, completely from scratch.

Although not suited to print flexible PPE, Danko Arlington’s industrial 3-D platforms which print in hard plastics and sand may certainly serve the need for future crises.  Lesson learned – additive manufacturing can immediately step-up to any challenge with little investment or lead time.

28 February 2020. Danko Arlington is honored to join neighboring Howard Community College’s Advisory Tech Advisory Board.

At first thought, one might wonder how a one-hundred-year-old aluminum foundry with seven smokestacks might participate. However, thanks to investment in cloud-software, the latest multi-axis CNC machinery, and 3-D printing, the company has much to share.

In reaching out, Howard Community College is looking for ways to help businesses get back-on-track as well as assist those persons that have been displaced through layoffs and downsizing.  HCC would like to develop training programs and courses that will assist those most in need.

Both HCC and Danko Arlington look forward to closer collaboration for special courses, programs, or skill sets that are needed for tomorrow’s successful graduate.  The industry/educational partnership is fantastic way to start!

21 January 2020. Danko Arlington is honored to join the American Foundry Society’s 3-D Printing Sand Committee. The first meeting of 2020 was held in Canton, Michigan, at the offices of Voxeljet America Inc.

The goals of the group are dedicated to empowering the metal casting industry through the advancement of additive manufacturing (AM) including casting deign issues, conversion from sand casting from weldments and fabrication, removal or minimizing the barriers to entry into AM, materials, equipment, economics/cycle times, production issues, dimensional accuracy, and surface finish.

The company is excited about the prospects of sharing its experience with other metal casters.

14 January 2020. Once again, Danko Arlington is proud to be a key sponsor for neighboring Johns Hopkins University’s Baja Team for 2020.

The team has added some changes to last year’s cast aluminum CVT Backplate for improvements to its 4WD 17XT model.  As the students are now used to foundry molding with 3-D sand, design changes have no cost or impact.

The company has been supplying castings and helping to educate students from the Whiting School of Engineering since 2013.  At that time, before the company acquired a 3-D sand printer, any changes had to be incorporated into the hard foundry pattern.  Today, with tooling-less printed sand molds, students can make all the changes they want without any impact on a pattern because there is none!

The additive manufacturing lesson taught at Danko Arlington not only yielded a perfect aluminum part within days, but demonstrated new casting freedoms for changes without impact on cost or schedule – something that these engineers will certainly remember and expect when they graduate.

December 12, 2019. Danko Arlington has re-confirmed its commitment to Carver High School by joining the school’s CNC Machining Advisory Board.

The company recognizes the mutual benefits from close collaboration with students and faculties of neighboring schools. Founded in 1925, Carver is the first vocational school for African American youth in the State of Maryland.

In addition to CNC machining, Danko Arlington has a lot to offer vocation graduates including foundry practice, tooling design, and general manufacturing, not to mention an accredited apprenticeship in CNC machining.  The challenge is to get kids interested at the high or middle school level, so that youth have an idea of how their studies are meaningful for the future.

October 9,2019. Danko Arlington was honored to host our neighboring Baltimore City fire fighters for a ‘non-emergency’ tour.  The fire fighters were actually called to the company for a fire alarm last Thursday night.  Fortunately, the emergency was not a fire, but a false alarm caused by a malfunctioning air compressor that spewed out a fine mist of oil.  While the men were at the company, they marveled over the 3-D printers in-action which prompted today’s special tour to explain it all.

The walk-thru was great opportunity for the fire department to see the entire operation where fire, heat, and smoke are a norm during working hours.  The juxtaposition of the foundry’s conditions are quite a contrast to the unattended, quiet, and repetitive 3-D printers which operate at night. Seeing the use of additive manufacturing propel a busy factory and create real jobs is remarkable.

The company is happy to share its story and collaborate with our first responders for safe practices. The tour was a mutual success. Danko Arlington is grateful for having so many outstanding and dedicated Baltimore City fire fighters nearby.  Just don’t put water on the 3-D printers!

On Thursday, October 3, 2019, Danko Arlington was honored to be recognized as the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) Employer Partner of the Year. The award was presented by Guy Loudon, JARC President, at its annual gala event, Evening of Hope, held at the Corradetti Glassblowing Studio & Gallery in Baltimore.

This year, Danko Arlington partnered with JARC to hire candidates to assist our Foundry Superintendent and Quality Manager with AS9100-Aerospace Quality Management System documentation, scheduling, milestones, and inspection.  These new employees have exceeded expectations for their knowledge, competence, and enthusiasm on-the-job.   The JARC graduates are also highly admired for their perseverance and commitment for personal reform.  The company looks forward to forging stronger partnerships with JARC in the months to come.

JARC provides high quality skills training and support to help lower-income and unemployed workers to achieve self-sufficiency so that people who work do not live in poverty.   Danko Arlington and Baltimore are lucky to have such an outstanding organization that fills training gaps and uplifts our community!

John Vontran, Program Manager of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training program joins Danko Arlington President John Danko and Machine Shop Superintendent Mike Allen with Jonathan Hite — the company’s newest apprentice.

March 21, 2019.  Danko Arlington is excited to announce that Mr. Jonathan Hite, a 2018 Dunbar High School graduate, is the company’s first CNC apprentice in twenty-three years.  Danko Arlington recruited Mr. Hite at Mayor Pugh’s High School Job Fair held at the Baltimore War Memorial Plaza last May. The company recently reinstated its apprenticeship program in September 2018 with the help of the Maryland Manufacturing Extensions Partnership (MDMEP).

Hard to believe that Danko Arlington’s apprenticeship program literally skipped a generation.   Well, then again, its not surprising.  As we all know, parents of millenials passed over potential blue-collar vocations for their kids — a  college education was the preferred route for certain success.  Companies also at that time had the luxury to hire from a middle-aged skilled workforce rather than start from scratch.  Today, those workers have retired or are near retirement, and companies can’t find qualified applicants to fill key jobs.

It’s also not surprising then that manufacturing companies like Danko Arlington are turning back to apprenticeships to train new hires in this booming economy – especially for complex jobs like CNC machining.   Yes, machines and robots have compensated for the much labor attrition, however, new automated equipment now requires a new type of apprenticeship training.  Danko Arlington’s apprenticeship program started in 1940. Obviously, the program has significantly changed since that time and even from twenty-three years ago.  For example, instruction in additive manufacturing or 3-D printing,  something unheard of in the past, is now an integral part of the new curriculum.

The company is certain that more apprentices will follow Mr. Hite. No doubt, word will get out and the company will replenish its manufacturing operation with careers for a lifetime.  We just hope the old-guard stays long enough to bridge the gap.

March 21, 2019. Danko Arlington is honored to once again host a bus tour of advanced manufacturing students from Carver High School.  Mr. Joseph Barnhart, who teaches the program, and Mr. Andrew Sherman, Carver Advisory Board Chair and CEO of American Bully Manufacturing, joined the group.  Founded in 1925, Carver is the first vocational school for African American youth in the State of Maryland.

The tour highlighted the foundry process, including tooling and sand molds made from additive manufacturing equipment.  The students were especially interested in programming and CNC machining.  Before leaving, the visitors joined the company’s machine shop staff to celebrate Danko Arlington’s first CNC apprentice in twenty-three years – a 2018 graduate from another Baltimore City Public High school. The apprenticeship program was just reinstated just six months ago.

The company’s efforts to engage local youth is essential for mutual sustainability and growth.  By opening-up its doors to city students, Danko Arlington hopes word will get around that manufacturing apprenticeships offer a unique opportunity to learn while getting paid.  Apprenticeships are debt-free alternative to college or mediocre entry-level-jobs.  New apprentices will certainly help to rebuild cities like Baltimore to their fullest economic potential – one skilled job at a time.

March 6, 2019.  Danko Arlington was honored to host a group from Baltimore City schools to learn about careers in manufacturing.  A group of select students joined CTE teachers for discussion and a plant tour.

The meeting was an ongoing effort by the company to engage local faculty and students directly.  Visitors from Poly, Western, Mervo, Patterson, Carver, and the Reach Schools were able to see first-hand how their studies will be used on-the-job.

Needless to say, the group was amazed to see the company in-action, especially the 3-D printing and robotic machinery.   The tour reinforced the need for high school graduates  not going to college to be proficient in computers, problem solving, listening, and following directions.   The company plans to continue pursuing our youth as well as making road trips to schools to spread the news:  American manufacturing needs them!

          Teaching Ancient Arts with New Tools

Danko Arlington to Grow Next Generation of Craftsmen with Revamped Apprenticeship Program

 

November 12th 2018 — Apprenticeship Week

Danko Arlington has relied on the talents of craftsmen for decades. Specializing in industrial patternmaking for both military and commercial contractors since 1920, the manufacturer was one of the first in Maryland to grow its own skilled workforce by offering apprenticeships. Over the years, Danko trained many Baltimore locals and immigrants alike as tool and die makers, skilled in making the company’s aluminum and bronze sand castings by hand.

But as the 21^stcentury arrived, bringing both new technologies and a new generation of young adults entering the workforce, Danko found it nearly impossible to maintain its now aging staff. Many of the company’s long-term tool and die makers had retired, and with the talents of metal and woodworking becoming obsolete, there were no young people with the abilities needed to replace them.

To stay ahead of its evolving industry and the defense sector’s increasing demand for critical mechanical parts, Danko introduced 3D printers to its machine shop. With the ability to now print tools and sand casts quickly and accurately by machine, the company no longer needed tool and die makers, but still found itself in search of young talent with a different skillset.

“With the onset of 3D printing, we’ve added technology to the very ancient process of metal casting,” says John Danko, president of Danko Arlington. “But now, instead of looking for young people who are just talented in making things with their hands, we’re looking for young people who can also draw on a computer. And while mechanical engineering and computer-aided design (CAD) are commonly taught in schools today, it’s still difficult to find workers with these blended abilities.”

With a need to recruit new talent skilled in both machinery and 3D printing, Danko decided it was time to revisit its apprenticeship program and once again grow the specific craftsman it was looking for from within. In order to ensure its new apprenticeship program met all regulations and captured the best talent, Danko turned to MD MEP.

“We wanted to be very careful and make sure our program was current with today’s laws, and that we implemented a standardized process, without any bias, to ensure we didn’t turn anyone away who might be qualified to work for us,” said John. “We felt the team at MD MEP were the experts and we could trust and rely on them to help us ensure our program met the national standard in 2018.”

With guidance from MD MEP, Danko created a new four-year, 8,000-hour apprenticeship program that will train workers as CNC Machinists, with skills in 3D printing, CAD, and the robotics needed to cut parts using machine tools. Apprentices will undergo a combination of hands-on training and classroom hours, which will be completed virtually using the Tooling U-SME online platform.

“As one of the first manufacturers in Maryland to ever hire apprentices, it has been an honor to work with Danko Arlington and help revitalize their program to incorporate today’s technologies and appeal to today’s worker,” said Michael Kelleher, Executive Director, MD MEP. “Throughout this process, John has taken great time and care to make sure every aspect of this program is done right, and we are confident he will see the return on his investment by attracting promising new employees who will help his company grow.”

With the framework of the new apprenticeship established, Danko and MD MEP are now in the process of creating the profile of the ideal candidate and compiling the assessment tools that will help them hire the right people for the program. Danko expects to be actively recruiting for apprentices early in 2019 and will rely heavily on outreach to Baltimore City schools to find applicants.

“We have a lot of great kids in Baltimore City, and I think we’ll be able to find a lot of eager candidates who will be perfect for our company, but people just aren’t aware of us yet,” says John. “We want to get the word out that manufacturing is fun and offers opportunities to make good wages right out of high school. At the same time, we want to emphasize to the school system how important it is to expose students to computers, programming, CAD and critical thinking in high school and even middle school, as this is the new skillset that employers are looking for across all industries.”

John is excited to see his new apprenticeship program not only create new job opportunities in Baltimore City, but to see a new generation of Danko Arlington craftsmen emerge.

“We have employees who have been with us for decades, and that is rare in today’s world,” he says. “I have always taken great satisfaction in seeing someone develop and mature and become a career employee, and I’m excited to find a new class of mechanically-inclined kids and help them apply their talents to create things using awesome new equipment and technologies. Our apprentices are going to carry on the legacy of manufacturing, just with new toys.”

Written by Lindsay Hebert; MDMEP Blog Post.

October 26, 2018.  Danko Arlington was honored to present at the 2018 American Foundry Society’s (AFS) East Coast Regional Conference.  Held at the Downtown Marriott and Convention Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the company presented two case studies on the use of 3-D printing for the foundry.

Both showcases highlighted military-grade spare aluminum sand cast parts made at Danko Arlington for the US Air Force’s KC-135 Aircraft.  The first example, a flap housing, was a cope and drag pattern and six core boxes with loose pieces made entirely from 3-D printed polycarbonate plastic.  The second example was the aircraft’s nose steering wheel made entirely from a 3-D printed sand core and sand mold.

The presentation illustrated how new technology can be used to save cost and lead times.  No doubt, these sophisticated printers will become less expensive and more prevalent in the upcoming years.  The additive industry is already disrupting traditional manufacturing – something that foundries should take notice.

September 21, 2018.  Danko Arlington is proud to host the 3^rd Q 2018 meeting of the Baltimore Workforce Development Board (BWDB).   Ms. Yariela Kerr-Donovan, Senior Director, Project REACH/Community Education Programs; Department of Human Resources, Strategic Workforce Planning & Development of the Johns Hopkins Health System, is this year’s Board Chair.   John Danko is currently the Co-Chair of the Business Engagement Committee and has been a Board member since 2015.

The attendance for this quarter’s meeting included over fifty Baltimore City leaders who work in government, business, labor, education, and philanthropy.   These key workforce stakeholders assist the BWDB’s administrative arm — The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) to bring together job seekers and employers.  MOED’s effort supports and drives our local economy.

Danko Arlington’s goal to engage more young people, especially with its reinstated apprenticeship program, nicely coincides with the Board’s mission to maximize both employee and employer potentials.

In this fast paced, low-unemployment economy, it has now crucial for companies to become creative in hiring.  Engaging with community workforce development is one option for awareness and recruiting. The close collaboration between Danko Arlington and the BWDB is a great example for other companies to follow.

September 19, 2018.  Danko Arlington is proud to host another bus tour group from DLA Aviation based in Richmond, Virginia.  The company has been hosting DLA Aviation tours since 2006. Sponsored by DLA’s Aviation Forging & Casting Assistance Team (AFCAT) and the American Metalcasting Consortium’s (AMC) CAST IT Team, government engineers, buyers, and product specialists had a chance to witness how castings are made within the military procurement system.  Showcased this year was the company’s new five-thousand square foot additive manufacturing center for 3-D printing of plastic patterns, and sand molds & cores made by exclusively by robotic equipment.

In addition to seeing how the company has adapted to the Warfighter’s needs for smaller casting quantities which are now produced more efficiently with shorter lead times, the visitors joined in discussions about current and future procurement challenges including post award requests, government inspections, first article tests, and deliveries.

It is unusual that a small company has a chance to directly engage with a government agency, especially the Department of Defense.  Overall the tour was mutual success — a true testament to AMC’s and AFCAT’s mission.  Danko Arlington is honored not only for the opportunity to be a DLA supplier, but to help bridge the knowledge-gap as well.  Together, supplier and government can make a difference.

Photo Courtesy of Governor’s Office.

September 18, 2018.  Danko Arlington is excited to reactivate its CNC machinist apprenticeship program with the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program (MATC).   The company’s machinist apprenticeship has been dormant for twenty-two years.  Originally established in 1940, Danko Arlington’s apprenticeships are some of the oldest in Maryland — established after Congress passed the FDR administration’s National Apprenticeship Act also known as the Fitzgerald Act in 1937.  Coincidentally, MATC personnel recently came across a parental permission slip from 1940 allowing a twelve-year old boy to enroll in company’s apprenticeship for patternmaking.  How times have changed.

Changed indeed, particularly as the new eight-thousand-hour machinist program not only includes three and five-axis robotic machining, but training in 3-D plastic and sand printing, supplemented with online education from the Society of Manufacturing Engineer’s Tooling University (Tooling U-SME).  The hybrid machinist/additive manufacturing apprenticeship is perhaps one of the first of its kind in the USA.  Danko Arlington has been working exclusively with Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MDMEP) to rebuild this state-of-the-art program.

The company’s reinstatement at the September MATC council meeting coincided with a surprise visit by Governor Larry Hogan to celebrate Maryland’s 10,000^th registered apprentice – the highest since 2008.  Already in 2018, Maryland has twenty-three new programs created and eleven programs reactivated – the most since 2003.  Unlike those days when a college education was perceived as the only way to earn higher wages, apprenticeships today offer a speedy, debt-free pathway to lucrative careers, particularly in today’s high-tech manufacturing.

“Today, we have more registered apprentices in Maryland than we have had in a decade, strengthening our workforce and boosting the competitiveness of our state economy,” said Governor Hogan. “This incredible achievement demonstrates our administration’s commitment.

Danko Arlington is honored to reinstate its program and train Maryland’s next generation.

August 24, 2018.  Danko Arlington is please to announce its renewal of the company’s Quality Management System (QMS) to the new aerospace standard revision AS9100D and ISO9001:2015.   The company has maintained AS9100 certification since July 10, 2017, but the standard changed from Rev. C to Rev. D with the new compliance deadline of September 2018.

The major differences between Rev. C to Rev. D are changes in the context of the organization, actions to address risk and opportunities, counterfeit parts, production safety, and no longer requiring quality manual and preventative action.

Danko Arlington is proud to maintain this respected word-wide standard — essential for  compliance and growth in an expanding aerospace market.

On Tuesday, August 7^th, 2018, Danko Arlington was very honored to host a group of distinguished visitors participating in this year’s Congressional Stakeholders Tour sponsored by the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Coordinated by Michael Kelleher, Executive Director of Maryland MEP, attendees included Maryland Congressman John Sarbanes, Maryland Commerce Secretary Michael Gill, Maryland Secretary of Labor Kelly Shulz, and NIST Director Dr. Walt Copan.  In addition, representatives from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office, and Maryland government also participated in the event.

The purpose of the tour was to showcase how MEP and NIST are working to assist small businesses with today’s complex challenges.  Danko Arlington is a perfect example.  The company is currently working with MEP to maintain certifications with new cyber security protocols, to reinstate its apprenticeship programs with new standards, and to diversify with new markets.

Thanks to MEP and NIST, Danko Arlington is now more knowledgeable, compliant, and confident — ready for tomorrow’s demands as it expands into the next generation of American manufacturing.

Thursday August 2^nd, 2018.  Danko Arlington was honored to be visited by neighboring Catholic University of America (CUA).  The company is eager to collaborate with neighboring colleges and universities for its additive manufacturing apprenticeship and training program.

Davide Prete, Manager of the Fabrication Lab, and Sergio Picozzi, PhD, Lecturer, found Danko Arlington’s practical implementation of 3-D printing skills complementary and beneficial for teaching students.

CUA’s Washington, D.C. campus is about fifty miles from Baltimore and offers courses in additive materials & manufacturing, and also boasts an AM lab, not to mention hosting a wide variety of other engineering electives.  The school is also pursuing an AM professional certificate with related training at partnering organizations.

Danko Arlington and CUA share common objectives and look forward to a closer relationship in the future.

On July 18th, 2018, Danko Arlington was honored to be visited by Voxeljet AG COO/CFO Rudy Franz and Director Investor Relations and Business Development Johannes Pesch.

The company is proud to showcase the first Voxeljet VX1000 PDB machine in the USA.  The 3-D sand printer has been in continuous use for the past seven months.  So far, it has exceeded expectations.  The PDB technology has enabled the company to produce intricate sand molds and cores for aerospace castings.  In addition, no longer are delicate cores received broken from 3-D subcontractors – a side-effect from transporting fragile sand across our country’s bumpy roads.

Acquiring new high-quality German made manufacturing machinery has been a tradition at Danko Arlington.  The VX1000 PDB replaces our retired and now obsolete manual pattern-making equipment.  Sixty years ago, the company’s pattern department boasted new lathes from the Meuser & Co. GMBH Werkzeugmaschinen-Fabrik and a state-of-the-art hand-cranked multi-axis pattern mill from Bohner Köhle (Boko).  At that time, many of our patternmakers were also from then West Germany who emigrated to Baltimore where they eventually became company-sponsored US citizens.

The company’s pattern shop will retain its manual equipment for future use with apprenticeship training.   Seeing the old and new German equipment still in the same shop is shocking. The solitude and absence of workers is eerie. Who would ever believe that those life-time craftsmen with their precise state-of-the-art equipment would be replaced by digital technology and unattended 3-D printers?  One can’t help wondering what will the next sixty-years bring our industry?

July 12, 2018. Danko Arlington was honored to participate in a discussion to educate Capital Hill staffers on the need for US investment and training in 3-D printing.  The lunchtime discussion entitled “Is our American Workforce Ready for 3-D Print Manufacturing?” was sponsored by the Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI) and HP Inc. and held at the Cannon House Office building in Washington, DC.

Tim Heller, Director 3D Printing – Americas, HP Inc. moderated a panel which included John Danko, Camille Caron, Global Director of Education for 3D Print, HP Inc., Ben Bouffard, Additive Manufacturing (AM) Lead for the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation U.S. Department of the Navy, James Tressel, President, Youngstown State University, with Keynote remarks by Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH), Co-Chair, House Manufacturing Caucus.

The working lunch focused on the need for our congressional leaders to support new educational programs and incentives to foster growth in 3D print expertise to advance the United States’ competitive positions in the global marketplace.   In attendance were staff representatives from the Manufacturing Caucus, House Education and Workforce Committee, House Appropriation, House Energy and Commerce, and House Science, Space and Technology, and House Armed Services.

CPPI’s should credited for its outstanding effort: bringing together congressional policymakers with industry, academia, and government innovators who have already begun educating, training, and certifying our next-generation workforce.  Together, we will continue America’s global leadership in 3-D printing!

July 9,2018. When the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) sought a manufacturer to create prototypes for new spine surgery instruments that could improve patient outcomes, the University didn’t have to look far.

It found its partner in Danko Arlington, Inc., a precision metal engineering and manufacturing firm in Northwest Baltimore. Danko, which was established in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in 1920, showed that it could enable UM neurosurgery researcher Charles Sansur, MD, to create two implantable devices that could potentially reduce serious complications from common spinal surgical procedures.

Dr. Sansur, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Director of Spine Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center, is a recognized expert in spine surgery. He specializes in revision spine surgery and in the correction of spinal deformities such as scoliosis. Because of his work, Dr. Sansur has conceived of numerous devices that could lead to improved outcome for his patients. His most recent invention disclosures describe new implantable spinal devices to be used to in spinal disc removal and fusion, and encourage regrowth of bone tissue, without the adverse events that can result from current surgeries. He needed a company that could convert his drawings and ideas into workable prototypes.

Working with Danko, Dr. Sansur converted his ideas into workable prototypes that he can use to demonstrate his ideas, namely:

• A Cloward-style cage device intended for anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), which is the standard treatment for degenerative disc disease and cervical stenosis. The device that Dr. Sansur developed reduces the need for subsequent ACDF revision surgery, which can lead to spinal cord injury, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, difficulty or discomfort in swallowing (dysphagia) and difficulty speaking (dysphonia).
• A lumbar interbody cage with a compartment to retain biological material. Interbody cages fill the gap between the two vertebral segments resulting from a spinal fusion procedure. The interbody cage developed by Dr. Sansur allows a surgeon to easily insert bone graft material into the gap. The bone graft material provides a foundation to grow new bone and eventually fuse the area. Current interbody cages do not allow easy placement of bone graft material and often result in the loss of that material during interbody cage placement.

Danko Arlington converted verbal descriptions and hand drawings from Dr. Sansur into sophisticated 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) models that could be manipulated by Dr. Sansur. The 3-D drawings allowed Dr. Sansur to work with the CAD designer to refine his invention until it matched his vision. Danko then used 3-D printing to produce the devices in plastic. Dr. Sansur was able to use the device in saw bone and cadaver models to determine that the devices performed as desired.

Since this partnership began, a leading commercial supplier of spinal devices reviewed the designs and 3-D-printed parts developed at Danko. Based on this review, UMB’s Office of Technology Transfer began negotiating with the company for a commercial license that will allow them to test and evaluate the device. Successful testing of the device is expected to result in the commercial development of the product. More importantly, these devices could be improving the outcome of spinal patients in the near future.

Danko Arlington, Inc. was established in Baltimore as an industrial pattern shop in 1920. It is currently run by John Danko, the grandson of the founder, Joseph Danko, Sr. The company was founded as Danko Pattern and Manufacturing Company and was first located on Light and Lee Streets on the Inner Harbor, Baltimore Maryland, and created metal patterns for the US Navy and the then-Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Danko Arlington was recently recognized for its unique manufacturing and employment practices by the American Foundry Society’s (AFS) as 2017 Metalcaster of the Year. The company is a second-chance employer and works with Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh’s Office of Employment Development (MOED), Catholic Charities, Jewish Community Services, Center for Urban Families, Gaudenzia, and a variety of other local employment agencies to hire and train Baltimore residents.

Article courtesy of UMD Ventures News   http://www.umventures.org/news/university-maryland-ventures-partners-near-century-old-metals-company-help-advance-new

On Tuesday, June 16^th, 2018, Danko Arlington was honored to host faculty members of Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) including Pat Mikos, Director of Operations and Services.  The meeting was a follow-up discussion from BCCC’s Vice President for Workforce Development and Continuing Education, Mr. Michael Thomas, who visited earlier in May.

Danko Arlington is expanding and committed to hiring Baltimore City residents.   The company is eager to collaborate with BCCC’s workforce training, related instruction, and job readiness programs.

With record unemployment across the nation, more and more companies are reaching out within their communities for employee recruiting and education assistance.  The BCCC Panther Team is a valuable local resource.  Danko Arlington looks forward to mutually beneficial relationship to mold Baltimore’s next-generation of manufacturers.

On May 21st, 2018, Danko Arlington was honored to host students from Carver Vocational-Technical High School.  Carver is located in Baltimore City, just three and a half miles from the company. The group was led by the school’s machine shop instructor, Mr. Joseph Barnhardt.

Founded in 1925, Carver is the first vocational school for African American youth in the State of Maryland.  In 2018, Carver boasted nearly nine hundred students from grades 9-12 with a 99% total minority and economically-disadvantaged enrollment rate. Last year, eighty four percent of Carver’s seniors graduated.

During the tour in May, the students observed the casting process and how this ancient art has been transformed with today’s technology including 3-D sand printing, laser scanning, CAD/CAM, and multi-axis CNC machining.  Needless to say, the kids were blown away.  Witnessing the concepts they have studied underscored the importance of their vocational training.

With unemployment at record low, employers like Danko Arlington, who have an “eye for the future” are reaching out to local middle and high schools like Carver.  Student and job awareness is just the start.  Moving forward, this close collaboration is a win-win for not only youth and employers, but for transforming neighborhoods, like so many in need of revitalization in Baltimore.

Danko Arlington is eager to develop the next generation manufacturer and offer job opportunities within our community.

Within weeks after installing its new 3-D sand printer, Danko Arlington began sharing this new technology with local students, including mechanical engineering undergraduates from neighboring Johns Hopkins University.

On February 7^th 2018, the company hosted Assistant Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Yury Ronzhes and his manufacturing class to learn more about this exciting mold making process.

Over the past years, the company has closely collaborated with the Hopkins Baja Racing team and their Teaching Laboratory Manager, Mr. Tom Benassi, to produce cast aluminum car parts made from 3-D FDM printed plastic pattern tooling.

This year’s team and racing captain, Brendan Szuwalski, made a few changes to their previous CVT backplate design.  Instead of the making modifications to the old pattern tooling, Danko Arlington was able to use the student’s revised CAD to produce a cast part without the need any tooling.  In addition to incorporating the design changes, a new mold cavity was printed without draft and without the student’s labor to ram-up the sand by hand.

This year’s build process was incredibly fast.  During the week of April 9^th, the team visited the company to program the 3-D printer on Tuesday, had the mold built on Wednesday, witnessed the part being poured on Thursday, and picked up the new CVT plate on Friday!

The 2018 JHU Baja Team not only has room to boast its use of a casting made with 3-D printed sand, but was able to enjoy a three day lead time – something unheard of in traditional manufacturing.  In racing, time is of the essence.  Winning is not just being first to cross the finish line, but completing all necessary preparations to get to that finish line before the race begins.

Danko Arlington is proud to showcase its new competitive edge for more win-win outcomes like this one in the race for new products to market.

Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

On April 12^th, 2018, Danko Arlington was honored to be one of fifty companies invited to the White House to celebrate President Trump’s Tax Cuts for American Workers.  Included in the audience were Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Small Business Secretary Linda McMahon, and select members of Congress.

Several guests formally shared their appreciation for the reforms, including personnel from a trucking firm from Omaha, Nebraska, a plumbing business from Las Vegas, Nevada, and a pizzeria from Belafontaine, Ohio.

Danko Arlington and its employees have also benefited from the tax cuts.  Just in the past few months, the company purchased and fully depreciated a new 3-D sand printer in December 2017, provided higher wage increases in January, renovated its seventy-five-year-old pattern shop into a state-of-the-art additive manufacturing center in February, and hired six more workers in March.

Overall the company is looking forward to the expanding economy — including increased funding for defense.  Danko Arlington is not alone.  According to a recent survey from the National Association of Manufacturers, optimism among manufacturers registered its second-highest level ever recorded (93.5 percent) in the 20-year history of the survey.

“This photograph is provided by THE WHITE HOUSE as a courtesy and may be printed by the subject(s) in the photograph for personal use only. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not otherwise be reproduced, disseminated or broadcast, without the written permission of the White House Photo Office. This photograph may not be used in any commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

Ask most students what the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Spring break, and they will probably reply with thoughts of surf, sand, and sun.  Ask some hard-core members of this year’s Baltimore Robotics team, and their response would be riding the wave of technology at Danko Arlington, especially watching a 3-D robot printer spread tiny layers of sand and glue heated by a sun-like infrared lamp – known as Phenolic Direct Binding (PDB).

On April 9^th, 2018, Danko Arlington hosted select high school students from the Baltimore Robotics Center to tour its new Additive Manufacturing Center.  Included were team’s Executive Director, Ed Mullin, and Executive Director of the Maryland Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWIB), Mike DiGiacamo.

During the visit, the group was able to witness how automation principles are applied to 3-D printed sand molds used for metalcasting. By seeing robotics at work in industry, the students now have a better understanding how their basic knowledge can be applied in their future.   No doubt, tours like this one will encourage today’s youth to consider a career in tomorrow’s advanced manufacturing.

January 22, 2018

Within days of installing its new 3-D sand printer, Danko Arlington is already producing complex molds and cores, including some used for casting KC-135 steering wheels.

Developed by Boeing in 1956, the KC-135 is used for aerial flight refueling.  Even though the plane will soon be replaced by the newer KC-46A, it is expected to be used until 2040.  Like many older planes, ships, and military vehicles, KC-135’s are constructed of thousands of parts produced from legacy tools and fixtures that are worn-out, expensive and difficult to procure — especially in small quantities.

For the past eight years, Danko Arlington has pioneered the use of 3-D fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing to create plastic foundry tooling. Sand with binder is rammed around the pattern, then removed to form a mold cavity.  Molten is then poured in the molds to produce a casting.

The company’s new VX1000-PDB sand printer now bypasses the need for foundry tooling entirely.  Perfected by Voxeljet AG in Germany, the PDB sand process uses a robotic machine to precisely lay resin onto tiny layers of sand which are fused together with infrared heat.

3-D sand printing is just in its infancy.   It will no-doubt disrupt military and commercial casting supply chains.  In addition, it will enable casting prototypes, short runs, and even futuristic designs that could have never have been made from conventional tooling to be printed quickly and efficiently without human hands.

Danko Arlington is excited to steer the course ahead!

On Tuesday, December 5th, 2017,  Company President John Danko  was honored to be a guest judge for the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Design Day at the University of Maryland.

Twenty-nine senior design projects were showcased this semester at the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building Rotunda in College Park.  Teams of Senior ME students presented prototypes built to solve engineering problems as a part of the Integrated Product and Process Development course, ENME472. Judging criteria includes professionalism, prototype quality and presentation.   This year’s judged projects included a device which shapes K2M MESA rails for the use of scoliosis corrective surgeries, an elevating shopping cart to reduce user effort, and a diffuser to be installed in older septic tanks to meet newer Maryland environmental standards.

Danko Arlington values the opportunity to connect with engineering students, particularly with UMD Design Day and SME Baja.  As one of the Maryland’s leaders in additive manufacturing, the company looks forward to helping students learn about rapid casting techniques as well as providing new job opportunities at its Baltimore City operation.

The following is the text from Danko Arlington President John Danko’s remarks to recent graduates from Christopher’s Place Employment Academy, 25 Fallsway, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, Thanksgiving  Week, November 21, 2017.

Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me.  I have been to Christopher’s place many times, but never had the opportunity to present to a graduating class. It’s not every day that one has an opportunity to share a few words with such an inspiring and diverse group.

I say inspiring, because you have overcome the odds to be where you are today.  Against great adversity, hardship, challenges, and tough barriers. So, congratulations.  I wish you the best of luck in your future!  I only have a few thoughts to share with you today.

As an employer of ex-offenders, I am often asked why we hire second chance applicants.

Why we do it is because it simply is the right thing to do.  Our company is located in Northwest Baltimore – an area which desperately needs jobs.    Personally, I have had only had one job in my entire life, and it is working at Danko Arlington – now full time for over 31 years, 37 years if you count my summer jobs in high school and college.   To inherit a corporation as the next generation bears much responsibility.   I am grateful for my mom and dad to teach me the humbling value that, “to much is given, much is expected.“

This inheritance also complements my Christian faith.  And as Christians, we learn that faith must be put into action, even in the working world.  What a better way to do both –working at the company and putting faith into action. Can this be done?  A recent canonized saint of our time, Saint Teresa of Calcutta said that it could.   Mother Theresa once remarked about her dear famous and wealthy friend, Princess Diana, that we are all called to action.  It does not matter if you are a princess living in a castle, she said, we all are entrusted with the same responsibility of faith.   Managers too also have this same responsibility.  We are all called to be love our neighbors and even co-workers as ourselves.

Our Christian faith teaches us that when we die, we will be judged.   When we are judged, we will not be judged on how much money we earned, our company’s balance sheet, where we lived, what kind of school we attended, or what kind of car or house we owned. Rather, we will be judged on “I was hungry, and you gave me food.  I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.  I was sick, and you comforted me.  Naked, and you clothed me.  I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”  And perhaps, I was down-and-out, unemployed, and unemployable, and you gave me a break – you gave me a job.   What ever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me.

When I was in my mid-twenties, I was also influenced by the politics of that time.  During the late 1980’s, I was greatly moved by a slogan coined by our forty first President, George H. Walker Bush — the first Bush President.   He came up with the notion of a “thousand points of light.”   This is where individuals, faith based groups, non-profits, churches, communities, and corporate America pitched in to make our country a better place.   Helping those in need was not the sole responsibility of Government, but responsibilities for you and me –like Catholic Charities and Christopher’s place.    We are all shining stars in this room – glistening and gleaming.

So here we are among so much brightness.  I am so proud of you!  Again congratulations! So where do you go from here?

As graduates, you will soon be entering the working world, that unlike your previous life at Christopher’s Place or in a recovery institution or behind the fence, you will not be provided and cared for.   Its all up to you how you succeed.

Companies like mine that hire ex-offenders are very forgiving and patient.  We understand that you are getting back into the workforce.  We give lots of second chances.  Third chances.  Fourth Chances.  But you have to be willing to improve. You have to be willing to overcome the internal and external barriers to keep going.  In our case at Danko Arlington, the lack of success with our ex-offenders are not the result of our efforts.  Rather it is the fault of the newly hired-ex-offender who starts to be late, leaves early, lies, eventually does not show up for work, and gets back in trouble again.

Years ago, when this happened, I used to get in my car, drive to the employee’s residence and knock on their door.   Most of the time, the employee was not there, or if they were, did not come to the door.   I should not have to do this, but I did so, because I cared and wanted our hires to succeed.  I and am so busy now, that I stopped this years ago.   To put in simply, your future job and your success is up to you.

The most important part of your future job is to show up – to be there and be on-time.   I can’t tell you how many employers like ours have this problem.   Not just with ex-offenders, but with everyone these days.   So, Rule #1 — be there!  Be on time too! Don’t leave early, and work a full week for a full-week of pay.  So many times, new hires miss time, then ask for a raise.  Why not just work your full forty hours to start out, then ask for a raise?

Actually, to be on time and working a full week is Rule #2.  Rule #1 precedes this.   Rule #1 is what you should be doing right now.  That is finding a job, and not just any job, but one you like.   Often, we see the job application process is like a factory worker standing on an assembly line.   In front of you are job opportunities that come by on the belt, and you pick and choose what comes up.    This is important, but not as important in picking the job, or seeking the job which you our like to do!    The secret in happy and long employment is to find a job that you will be willing to get up and go to work each day and enjoy.   Hard to believe, but this is more important than wages.   Don’t just get a job for the pay.  Get a job for what you like to do.  I you like to cook, find a job in a kitchen.  If you like to work with your hands, find a trade in construction, if you have a great voice, find a job singing.  But if you do not have a good singing voice, do not apply to be a singer!   Do some soul searching and come up with a job that you will like to do.  Then do your search. Most employers will train entry level workers for advancement, so ask how you can grow with that company, if you take a beginner job.

Please also keep in mind that you have been out of the workforce loop for some time, and as you are a starting over, it will take some time to work up to another level.   Often time, we see our re-entry employees frustrated, jealous, and envious of co-workers who advance in front of them.

Frustration is common among those in re-entry.  Perhaps it because one starting all over, the pay is not that great, no seniority, and you have more responsibility more than ever.   This frustration often leads to despair.   Avoiding despair is Rule # 3.

In my opinion, despair is the leading cause of new-hire self-destruction.   With a paycheck, you may have garnishments for child support and past bills.  You will also have to feed yourself, find a safe and secure place to live, and most importantly, you may have to find new friends.    Getting overwhelmed with this new lifestyle will certainly get you down.  Particularly because when you graduate, there are no safety groups like Christopher’s Place or counseling sessions.  Probation officers do not seem to fill this essential gap.  The biggest constructive criticism of programs like this one is that there needs to be a continuation of support once you graduate.   Without support, despair creeps in and, there is strong tendency to go back to your old self and just give up.  Don’t give up!

Instead, try to surround yourself with supporting friends and family.  If so inclined, volunteer once-in-a-while to help those who are less fortunate that yourself at this point.   Perhaps you can share or witness your experience, particularly with younger people who are already on the wrong path.   Join a church, or faith based group, or a support group if you can find one that is convenient.  Don’t bottle up your frustration, but be humble and seek out companionship and fellowship.

If you are frustrated with your lack of growth and development, seek self-improvement.   You may need better reading, writing, or computer skills to find a better job.   Don’t just waste your time watching tv, surfing the web, or playing video games when you are not working.  Learn to type, learn Microsoft Office, improve your handwriting.   These are all skills that no one will ask you to do, but are necessary if you want to advance in your job from a manual labor skill to a supervisory or administration position of more responsibility.   Manage your free time for constant self-improvement.

Self-improvement and confronting frustration will keep you from being angry.   Rule # 4 is do not be angry.   Anger on the job is sure to make you isolated and singled-out from your co-workers.   I realize that you have a lot to be angry about in your past, present, and perhaps your future.  Forgive yourself and move on.  I cannot tell you how many other employers are worried about hiring ex-offenders because they fear that there will be violent behavior in their workplace.   Solving conflicts on the streets is not the same we solve conflicts on the job.   Discrimination and sexual harassment are huge concerns at the workforce today.   You need to control yourself, your emotions, and your anger on the job.  Seek help if anger still consumes you – if not, it will eventually bubble over on your job and cause you to lose your employment.

Lastly, Rule # 5 – just as important as all the rest, learn how to save and how to spend.   At Danko Arlington, we have hired individuals who have never had a bank account, or even a job before!  You need to learn how to budget your income so you don’t quickly get in debt.    If your rent is too high, consider roommates, or staying with family.  Perhaps you need to work another part-time job for extra income.   Be careful in making those purchases.  Become frugal.  Save. Save. Save.

In summary, one of the most enjoyable parts of offering second chance opportunities is not only helping society, but seeing the remarkable transition from those who choose to start over, with little to transformation and success.  Success includes being at peace with themselves, getting custody of their kids back, getting an apartment, or car.  These are all huge milestones in completing your transition back into the community.   The ex-offenders that are successful certainly overshadow those who self-destruct.   If one ex-offender is successful, it makes up for the many who fell by the wayside.

Don’t be that one that falls by the wayside!  Employers like Danko Arlington are in great need of reliable workers.  Maryland unemployment is at 3.8% now, that’s less than the 4.1% national average.  Companies are screaming for workers.   Companies will train with skills.  This is a great time to look for work.   Don’t just be a robot or do the minimum, but concentrate on your continued success and improvement.

As this is Thanksgiving week, I want to close with saying thanks to you, Christopher’s Place, and all the other organizations that work with re-entry.  Thanks, because, you and these organizations have inspired me, our company, and so many countless other employers.   If you can overcome all the odds and adversity, we in business can overcome our daily barriers too – many seem so trite in comparison to yours.   Make every day count, and enjoy your renewed freedom – the future is all up to you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

March 16, 2017.  My manufacturing company has survived ninety-seven years in Baltimore. We have outlasted major corporations like the B&O and Bethlehem Steel as well as major regulatory changes and local crime, not to mention wars and major recessions.

Yet our company’s future will be uncertain if the $15 minimum wage set to be passed by City Council next week takes effect. For the sake of all of Baltimore’s small business owners, entry-level jobseekers, and broader economy, I urge Mayor Pugh to veto it.

I am the third-generation owner of Danko Arlington, Inc., a plant that makes custom aluminum parts for the defense industry. Most of our seventy-five employees already make over $15 an hour. We start employees at $11 an hour and teach them the specialized skills to make their labor quickly worth much more. Over one-third of our employees are ex-offenders. We also hire refugees and legal immigrants.

Because we face competition from companies trying to out-bid us in states like Pennsylvania, where the minimum wage is $7.25, we cannot afford to pay our unskilled, starting inexperienced employees at $15 and stay in businesses. Simply put, we cannot afford to pay journeymen wages to unskilled employees.

If this bill becomes law, my business will be forced to dramatically scale back its entry-level employment opportunities – including its ex-offender program — in favor of employees who require less training. In addition, our company is already making contingency plans to increase automation and 3-D printing, which can be maintained and programmed by a few highly skilled engineers. Other employers with fewer options than our company will certainly consider moving to Baltimore County, where the minimum wage will be 49 percent less than the city’s.

Indeed, the minimum wage threat is much greater for city small businesses that have smaller profit margins and lower entry-level wages than my company. Such businesses like restaurants, cafes, and retailers, which are helping gentrify blighted communities, will have to reduce job opportunities or close altogether unless customers are willing to pay dramatically higher prices.

Jay Steinmetz, CEO of Barcoding Inc. on Boston St said that a $15 minimum wage would force him to reduce dozens of entry-level business technology job and training opportunities because the costs associated with the hike would price his business out of competitive, nationwide contracts. And the owner of the call center CMD Outsourcing Solutions has said that a $15 minimum wage would force his business outside the city.

While our business models may be different, all businesses affected by the wage hike have something in common: We help to train the city’s workforce. We teach them the technical and soft skills necessary to quickly earn far more than the minimum wage. Rather than fighting for counterproductive wage mandates, we should be fighting for high-paying middle-class careers – a fight for $50,000 a year incomes. But before people can get a good job, they need a first job. And to protect these first job training opportunities, the entry-level wage must also be protected.

It’s clear that these aren’t job opportunities that Baltimore can afford to lose. City employment has declined by roughly five percent since 2000. Only one in two city residents aged 16 to 24 currently has a job. And in some parts of the city like Sandtown-Winchester, where the 2015 uprising took place, the general unemployment rate is nearly 20 percent, according to the most recent Census Bureau data. Now is not the time to be putting up artificial barriers to employment by outlawing jobs that pay less than $120 a day.

Based on her comments, Mayor Pugh understands these consequences. She has urged caution on a $15 minimum wage, implying that it would create more empty storefronts and threaten the city’s nascent and fragile economic recovery. This perspective may come from the fact that she is a small business owner herself and understands the consequences of higher wage mandates first-hand. She has said that a $15 minimum wage would force her to close her consignment shop an extra day a week to compensate for its associated costs.

For the sake of her business and mine, as well as the city’s entry-level jobseekers and economy as a whole, I ask her to please veto this bill.

John D. Danko,  President

March 1, 2017. Good Evening.  My name is John Danko.  I am current volunteering as the co-chair of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s (MOED) Baltimore Workforce Development Board’s Employer Engagement Committee.  Last year, I just finished serving a four-year term on the Maryland Correctional Education Council under Governors O’Malley and Hogan. I am here this evening, however, as the third-generation President of Danko Arlington, Inc.

My business is ninety-seven years old and employs seventy-five people. We make custom aluminum components on East Wabash Avenue.  We compete nationally with other companies located in other states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas as the low bidder for military spare parts for our Warfighters.  Plain and simple: we cannot afford to start unskilled workers at journeymen’s wages and continue to stay in-business in Baltimore City.

We currently start at $11/hr. and teach niche skills to our employees.   Most of our workers make over $15/hour.   Over one third of our employees are ex-offenders.   We also hire immigrants and refugees.  We receive no-benefit from any program, other that it’s ‘the-right-thing-to-do.’  In many ways, our company is a “poster child” for Baltimore City.  Mayor Pugh is seeking more companies like ours to step-up an offer second chances.  Recently, she has spoken to seek more investment in our Pimlico-Park Heights Community.

Training unskilled applicants, however, comes at great price because most of our low skilled people have a difficult time learning or holding on to a job.   By gradually raising the minimum wage to $15/hr., the city council is effectively incentivizing Baltimore employers not to take the risks to hire second chance citizens.

The Labor Committee has recognized the need for training by amending the bill’s discount for 18-20-year-olds.  However, there are tens of thousands of 28-30, 38-40, 48-50, and even 58-60-year-olds without skills.   There is nothing in this bill, other than interns, that addresses skills, training, advancement, or even apprenticeships.  So, employers will get nothing in return for the phased in higher wages, higher payroll taxes, higher workman’s compensation, and soon-to-be higher city taxes and water bills. As a result, businesses will simply re-hire more skilled and efficient people, downsize, close, or go elsewhere.

This bill is doomed to backfire – hurting those whom this was intended to help.  This is not even taking in to consideration that there will be triple the number of county residents applying for city jobs, thereby reducing the chances of hiring our re-entry workforce even further.  Even small companies, like ours, are already making contingency plans to automate and to replace low skilled people.  This truly sad for all our city employer engagement agencies, including MOED.

Why would the Council want to force employers not to hire?   Isn’t better to start with no skills at Maryland State minimum wages, than have no wages at all in Baltimore?  This bill assumes that there will be the same number of jobs available tomorrow.  This will not be the case if this bill passes.  Baltimore will not attract companies to invest in our city — resulting in stagnation and decline in our fragile neighborhoods.

Instead of opposing our job creators, business and government need to work together to teach our community new skills for life-time careers like promoting MOED’s Youth Works and more on-the-job training.  We need more businesses in our city, especially more minority businesses.  Why isolate Baltimore?  Why separate Baltimore so we cannot compete in a free economy like other regions?  This bill is misguided, and will hurt our residents, especially our re-entry community.  It’s a disaster and certain to fail, setting Baltimore back for generations.   Our City simply cannot afford it.   I urge you to vote “No”.  Thank you.

John D. Danko, President

On Monday February 12, 2017, Danko Arlington was honored to host a bus tour of faculty and students from the National Defense University located in neighboring Fort McNair, Virginia.

The visit included discussion and Q&A about a variety of topics including: Danko Arlington’s history, the company’s role in the DOD supply chain, workforce skills, training, and retention.

In addition, the group, under the leadership of CAPT Frank Futcher, Faculty ADMAN IS LEAD, learned the company’s strategy for future rapid/digital/advanced manufacturing with 3D sand casting, 3-D plastic patterns, solidification analysis, and new ERP software to produce superior war-fighting products with shorter lead times.

The National Defense University is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level training, education, and the development of national security strategy.

On Wednesday, September 21st, 2016, Danko Arlington hosted nineteen Defense Logistics Agency Aviation employees who participated in the annual AMC and DLA Aviation Forging and Casting Assistance Team’s (AFCAT) casting seminar and tour.

It’s hard to believe that Danko Arlington, DLA and AMC started this information opportunity ten years ago in 2006.  The seminar and plant tours have been extremely rewarding for all who have attended. This year, the attendees witnessed a large aluminum pour of a military gear box after just seeing the casting “virtually” poured in  solidification software which confirm the cooling rates, thermal gradients,  and absence of micro porosity or shrinkage.   The complex casting is subject to nearly eighty x-rays on each part with no room for defects.

Seeing the efforts behind the metal pouring, including the construction of additive tooling, brings to life each government contract from being just at technical data package (TDP) to a real-life quality product made from scratch used by today’s Warfighter.  Amazing!

Congratulations DLA and AMC on this milestone ten-year anniversary!

As a native of Baltimore and a third generation President of a ninety-six-year-old manufacturing business with sixty-eight employees located in Park Heights, I am opposed to the $15 min wage bill because it will hurt not only my company’s competitiveness, but hurt our entire city.

Baltimore needs more jobs, training, and skills to prosper. What entrepreneur with visions of making more than $500,000 in sales or hiring more than 25 employees is going to start a business in our city? How can existing, well-established businesses like mine, compete with companies in other states?  How is my company going to survive when we will have to start apprentices at journeymen wages? Won’t our existing journeymen want a raise too? Will our customers pay more for our products made in Baltimore? If not, how will we pay for the increases?

It’s hard to believe that our company, which has endured wars, recessions, depressions, outsourcing, off-shoring, and workforce shortages is being forced into economic hardship by our own city government. It’s also shocking to think that our local businesses will have to pay more for the same unskilled employees who will still have to be trained on-the-job.

At most companies, like mine, employees advance in wages based on attendance, merit, and job performance. This bill disregards those normal business practices, which will make Baltimore undesirable for employers.  As a result, there will be fewer jobs for the next generation – effectively hurting those whom the bill is intended to help as well as those who want to create more jobs in the city.

Overall – a LOSE-LOSE proposition for Baltimore!

John D. Danko, President 7_31_2016

By Lindsay Powers, Frederick News-Post; lpowers@newspost.com; Mar 11, 2016

John Danko, President of Danko Arlington, center, shows the key molds to onlookers from the National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton. From the left, Sister Dinah White, Sister Lawrence Marie Callaghan, Sebastian Arbona of Danko Arlington, and Ray Alcaraz, Director of Development and Stewardship.

For John Danko, the call last year from the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was both out of the blue and providential.

Staff at the shrine were looking for someone to make a copy of an original iron key that Seton had used for her Stone House in Emmitsburg, which is on the grounds of the National Shrine. Though the manufacturer didn’t know it at the time, the key would be given away soon by President Barack Obama to someone important — Pope Francis, to be precise. Danko, president of Danko Arlington, said his manufacturing company in Baltimore took on the project, creating a virtual replica of the historic key, with every scratch and dimple recorded. From that digital copy, a polycarbonate plastic copy was created using a 3-D printer.

On March 1, Danko Arlington went a step further. In a final stage of a complex process, the company used sand molds to create 30 silicon bronze copies of Seton’s key. Those keys, free of charge to the Shrine, will be placed in exhibits and used for gifts.  Danko is a third-generation foundryman, or someone who casts metals. His company’s work includes custom castings and often involves creating parts for the military or Fortune 500 companies.  The request was of particular interest to Danko because of his and his family’s connection to it and the area’s Catholic community. Danko attended seminary at Mount St. Mary’s University nearby.

“We know the Shrine very well as a family,” he said.  Those at the Shrine may not have known about his connection, but he thinks God “likes to pick good suppliers that can perform under pressure.”  Rob Judge, executive director at the Shrine, said when the U.S. Department of State confirmed with the Shrine that it wanted to use the key as a gift for the pope, staff at the Shrine had about a day to see if it could make a copy.

As Judge put it, Danko bumped into their lives. Judge’s assistant found Danko Arlington through an Internet search and the company’s assistance — within a roughly 24-hour period — allowed the organization to have a copy that could be replicated.  It was also a real blessing to have an exact copy of the key presented to the pope, Judge said. A second, slightly different original key to the house, is also at the Shrine.

The key that was given away “has a lot of rich symbolism,” he said, as both an intimate and an ordinary object. “That’s the kind of life she led, a very ordinary life in one way,” Judge said. But the way she lived her life became something extraordinary, particularly in how she cared for poor children and followed God’s will, he added.

Among her accomplishments, Seton founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s and started the St. Joseph’s Academy and Free School for girls, according to the Shrine’s website. In 1975, she became the first person born in the U.S. to be canonized as a saint.

Sister Dinah White said it was inspiring to watch the metal being poured into the molds to create the keys, a method with thousands of years of history. White is a member of the Daughters of Charity and serves as mission leader for the Emmitsburg campus that includes the Shrine.

She and others from the Shrine were given a tour of the company March 1 that included some history of Danko’s family’s work and some of the steps taken to make the replicas possible, including the 3-D printer. “It was just totally remarkable,” she said. “And then to watch the men pour the keys, I was so in awe!” White, who moved to Emmitsburg about a year ago, said the keys will become meaningful gifts that can help people recognize the good from God in their lives.

“To see anything that gives us the opportunity to share that heritage with others and hopefully give them confirmation in what their doing is a blessed honor,” she said.
White said she was also impressed with Danko’s “Christian spirit that just shone through.”
“He was just very gracious to show us the whole process and spend time with us,” Judge added.

Follow Lindsay Powers on Twitter: @linds_powers.

On March 8, 2016, Danko Arlington was excited to take part in a special Baltimore Development Corporation seminar held at the Baltimore Hilton entitled, “Workforce of the Future: Resources to find talented & motivated employees”

The program featured presentations from Bill Cole, President & CEO, Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Michael Galiazzo, Regional Manufacturing Institute, Secretary Kelly Schulz, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and Mary Sloat, Assistant Director, Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED).

The event consisted of speakers and panelists to discuss strategies to develop, recruit, and retain employees.  In addition, attendees learned how an industrial employer can connect to the training pipeline in Baltimore.  The City has outstanding resources to local business!

Danko Arlington’s interest in STEM, local schools, and working with local and city organizations such as MOED were shared as long term solutions for future skilled workers. No doubt, a shortage of talent is one of the greatest concerns of today’s manufacturers.

From November 15th-20th, 2015, John Danko was honored to attend the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth College as the 2015 Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems’ Minority Business Scholar. Danko Arlington is a certified SBA HUBZone concern and a supplier of aluminum castings to NGES.

The one week executive retreat entitled “How to Build a High Profile Minority Business” was held on campus in Hanover, NH, and mentored by world renowned Tuck faculty. In attendance were over sixty business minority leaders from around the country aspiring to sharpen skills in finance, management, and marketing.

The intensive program enabled the group to refresh the basics of a business degree, reflect on how to better their own organizations, as well as network with others with similar responsibilities in the challenges in growing minority businesses.

Northrop Grumman’s innovative sponsorship of the Tuck program underscores its commitment to both diversity and education as our minorities will soon become the majority in future American supply chains.

Danko Arlington is pleased to announce its investment in a state-of-the-art CNC machining center manufactured by Okuma Corporation, Japan.

The Okuma Multus U4000 robotic machine enables simultaneous high speed turning and milling capabilities in eleven axes within an envelope of 25.59” Diameter x 78.74” long.   The new acquisition provides Danko Arlington with the possibility to turn, mill, drill, and tap its aluminum and bronze sand castings in just one setup.

In addition to reducing multiple setups, fixtures, and operator involvement, the machine will also enable the company to offer complex 5-axis hogouts from ferrous or non-ferrous billet as an option to its sand cast material.  In fact, the decline of the foundry industry over the past two decades, as well as the advances in cutting tool technology have prompted today’s engineers to design whittled-out components out of solid blocks instead of using traditional casting processes.

The effect of this next-generation technology, also known as a “machine shop in a box,” will certainly decrease the company’s lead times while increase accuracy, reliability, and productivity for castings or hogouts.  Once again, automation comes to the rescue of America’s manufactures — not only surpassing the skills-gap in the declining trade of machining, but now enabling even small business to compete in a global economy.

August 2015

3-D Printed TVA Reentry Capsule

Credits: Contributed Photo / Near Space Corporation

 What’s faster than 3-D printing at Danko Arlington?  How about a 3-D printed capsule that traveled to an altitude of 101,250 feet then dropped – reaching a speed of 370 mph during its decent!

On June 21^st, 2015, a custom capsule printed at Danko Arlington and designed by Terminal Velocity Aerospace (TVA) of Atlanta, GA, was launched from a high altitude balloon in Tillamook, Oregon. During the over nineteen mile plunge, scientists monitored the effects of the reentry forces on capsule’s contents including electronics, communication systems, and a stem cell sample.

Funded by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program based in the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, the tests already show great promise for the future of astronaut mail.   Soon, scientists will be able to use inexpensive capsules to return experiments from outer space even faster than overnight shipping!

One June 13^th, 2015, Danko Arlington was recognized by the Associated Black Charities of Maryland (ABC) for the 2015 Community Investor Award at the 30^th Anniversary Gala Celebration held at Martins West in Baltimore.  Over nine hundred people were in attendance.

The Community Investor Award is bestowed on those organizations which support increasing the African American middle class which is the core goal of ABC’s  “More in the Middle” initiative (MitM).

ABC’s mission is to create measurably healthier and more prosperous communities through responsible leadership and philanthropic investment.

On May 12th-13th, 2015, Danko Arlington was honored to participate in a special Metalcasting Roadmapping Workshop held at the O’Hare Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois.

The meeting was hosted by The American Metal Casting Constorium (AMC) and was sponsored by the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST). During the conference, a small group of industry experts, technical associations, and research universities joined together to discuss and prioritize short and long term goals necessary for the viability of American metal casters.

Break-out sessions for special areas of interest included design, process, workforce, and awareness.  Overcoming the obstacle known as “tribal knowledge” was common concern, particularly as key people continue to retire and foundries close.

Danko Arlington was eager to share how employer engagement and the pioneering use of the additive manufacturing can revive a well-established foundry business into next generation manufacturing.

The survival of American metal casting is crucial to both our economy and defense.  The loss of casting suppliers of military components is becoming a serious national security crisis.   The collaboration of industry and government is therefore necessary to establish a mutual consensus how foundries can grow and compete in an ever-competitive world economy.

On Monday afternoon, May 11, 2015, Danko Arlington was featured on “Midday” on WYPR 88.1 FM– Baltimore’s public radio station.  Midday is WYPR’s daily public affairs program and is hosted by long time Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks.  The featured topic that day was the state of manufacturing in Maryland, including new skills and job creation.

With the recent wake of city unrest after the death of Freddie Grey, special focus was made on how manufacturing could address long-term poverty and relatively high unemployment in inner-city Baltimore and other cities.

Danko Arlington’s success with employer engagement, hiring from faith based groups, and collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development was able to provide listeners with hope for positive change in Northwest Baltimore.

Danko Arlington is honored to participate in the Associated Black Charities’ Volunteer Career Mentoring Program.

The program is designed to assist low wage African American workers who desire to advance in a career but lack the necessary skills to reach their goals.  As a mentor, Danko Arlington will help teach the essential soft skills required for successful, long-term, and self-fulfilling employment.

In addition, the company will assist in job training and counseling to ensure that participants can pursue their dreams in today’s expanding and exciting workforce.

February 2015

On January 22, 2015, Danko Arlington joined the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute also known as America Makes.

This public-private effort will accelerate U.S. industry utilization of printed tooling to enable greater supply chain efficiencies and further posture companies to be more profitable, globally competitive, and sustain manufacturing jobs.

Danko Arlington is now one of a handful of foundry organizations who are working to establish a network of printing services, develop and educate future workers, and enable knowledgebase management

On Thursday, January 15^th, 2015, John Danko presented “The Use of Additive Manufacturing in Sand Casting and Patternmaking” at the American Foundry Society’s Chesapeake Chapter (AFS) winter meeting held at the Bay City Restaurant in Hanover, PA.

During the event, local members learned how Danko Arlington has invested in 3-D printing technology to replace the construction of traditionally hand-made patterns.  Also discussed, were the accuracies, efficiencies, and benefits of plastic printed tooling over CNC machined ren-shape or metal tooling.

Overall the chapter benefited by hearing how additive manufacturing can overcome the lack of tool and die making skills today that have been so essential for the industry.  Also discussed were the new type of tech-jobs that Danko Arlington has created — new skills required for 3-D printing and CAD designers, new positions for lower skilled workers, including molders, coremakers, and grinders, as well as a glimpse of the metal casting in the future.

Needless to say,all who attended were in agreement that in order to survive, American foundries need to adapt, grow, and compete in an ever increasing digital world.

On December 9^th, 2014, Danko Arlington became the newest member of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board (BWIB).

BWIB’s mission is comprised of area political and business leaders who are committed to grow a world class workforce development system that drives and supports the local economy.

As a Baltimore manufacturer expanding with new technology, Danko Arlington looks forward to sharing with the Board how innovative technologies such as 3-D printing create new jobs, training, and advancement opportunities to local city residents.

John Danko exhibits a 3-D printed pattern to SBA Adminstrator Contreras-Sweet and Howard County Exectutive Allan Kittleman

On December 8^th, 2014, Danko Arlington was honored to present to Maria Contreras-Sweet, the head of the Small Business Administration and member of President Obama’s cabinet.

Sponsored by the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship and 3D Maryland, Mrs. Contreras-Sweet joined newly elected Howard County Executive Alan Kittleman and the Howard County Council to learn more about 3D printing/additive manufacturing technologies.

During the event, Danko Arlington shared how additive technologies has helped to expand its SBA HUBZone Certified Small Business  win new business, create new jobs, and become a leader in the American foundry industry.

Danko Arlington was honored to participate in a Tech Fair at the Annual Conference of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).  The event was held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harbor Place Hotel on June 2^nd, 2013.   SME is a non-profit organization which educates and shares manufacturing knowledge through special events, publishing, membership, and training.

The theme of this year’s Tech Fair was Additive Manufacturing where Danko Arlington displayed its innovative use of 3-D printing to make tooling, jigs, and fixtures for its aluminum sand casting operation.  This rapid technology has replaced the knowledge of traditional pattern making – a dwindling trade which is becoming scarce today.

As a result of 3-D printing, however, Danko Arlington has a bright future.  It’s hard to believe, but it’s true:  a well-established ninety three year old manufacturer with seven smoke stacks is now expanding and creating new jobs – something that has caught the attention of the Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who also attended the event.

Coincidentally, Danko Arlington operated from 1920 to 1945 just several blocks away from this year’s SME conference site.   In those days, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was crowded with Chesapeake Bay steam boats bringing in goods and services to and from the city.   The company’s SME exhibit included a hand carved toy boat made by Joseph O. Danko, Jr., complete with a working Weeden toy steam engine as a reminder of the business’s heritage.    Also displayed was a working Stirling Engine model which the company 3-D printed just hours before the Fair to illustrate the recent advances in manufacturing.

Over the years, Baltimore has transitioned to a science and technology leader.   The creative use of 3-D printing is a great fit for local businesses and entrepreneurs who are now making computer aided designs (CAD) come true.   Danko Arlington is a ‘poster child’ of success and boasts of having the largest 3-D printers in the Maryland.

Needless to say, Danko Arlington is also a great story for SME and how manufacturing is rapidly reinventing itself – literally!

                                

Danko Arlington is again delighted to host today over two dozen engineering students from neighboring University of Maryland, Baltimore County as part of ENME 412 — a mechanical engineering course that teaches component design, manufacturing and product realization.

The company has been helping to educate UMBC undergrad engineers for almost ten years now.  Over the years, the company has developed a special relationship with Dr. Dwayne Arola, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, who is the course instructor and facilitator of this special annual event.

During the visit, students learn and witness, first-hand, how patterns, sand castings, and CNC machining are integrated to produce complex commercial and military components.     Other topics discussed are the use of additive manufacturing (3d printing), sand casting design in CAD, and aspects of material science.

Mr. John Danko, President, who leads the tour and holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering himself, is particularly proud to point out that the foundry industry embodies all aspects of mechanical engineering, including metallurgy, strength of materials, heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics,  dynamics, statics, and design.

The plant tour is a great way for students to see how the manufacturing principles they learn in the class room and laboratory are practiced in a local business.

November 8th, 2012

John Danko,  President of Danko Arlington, spoke on ‘How Manufacturers are using 3D printing + other rapid technologies’ on  Friday October 12, 2012  at The Loyola University Graduate Center Timonium, Maryland.

Many thanks to Mike Galiazzo at RMI, Ryan Sybrant from Stratasys, and Mike Lahatte from Trimech for inviting me to share our interesting story.

You never know who you might meet at one of these conferences – so pay close attention!  The last RMI 3-D printing last conference was in April ’12 where we heard Dave Burns, President and COO of ExOne Corporation.  ExOne uses addititive manufacturing to actually print sand molds for the foundry industry.  After hearing and meeting Dave, our company started doing business together in a phenomenal technology which we never even heard about before – so you just never know what you will learn today!

The topic of my presentation this morning is ‘A Maryland Miracle – Sand Casting with Additive Manufacturing.’   The choice of wording for the topic is appropriate since we actually have two miracles:  One — that our company is now 92 years old and very strong in manufacturing, and in Maryland of all States!;  and two — that our company has embraced this new additive manufacturing technology which has transformed our business which was restricted by a limited skilled labor workforce to now having the ability to grow.  As a result, we are now a leader in our industry.

Danko Arlington is an unique manufacturing company consisting of a pattern (which is like a tool and die shop), metal casting foundry where we cast molten metal into custom parts, and CNC machining to mill, drill, and cut the parts to finished dimensions.

Before getting into the details about how we have transformed our business, it is appropriate at this point to play a short video about how our company operates to give you the big picture of our entire operation:

–Play the video DVD ~5 minutes (the video is also on our website www.dankoarlington.com)

So as you saw in the film, we are now using the additive manufacturing to supplement what we call pattern making or the ‘master mold making’ part of our business.    As our production quantities are often low, patterns have traditionally been made out of wood, as wood is abundant, cheap, and easily carved.   If production quantities are high, patterns are usually made out of metal and cast in a different process known as permanent mold or die casting.   Bear in mind that casting process is over five thousand years old and dates back to the Bronze Age.

My grandfather, Joseph O. Danko, Sr., was a patternmaker, and who worked for the Washington Navy Yard during World War I before starting his own business in 1920 in Baltimore.  At that time, and up to recently, most of the patterns to produce the mold impressions for casting in the foundry were made exclusively by hand.  One would become a journeyman patternmaker only after many years of experience and training.   In fact, the patternmakers at that time were highly regarded as professionals, so much so, that they wore on the job starched collared shirts, neck ties, and white aprons!   Pattern makers were never and should never be called a blue collar workforce because they were extremely talented individuals who incorporated math, complex geometry, and art in their everyday trade.

Today, with much of America’s manufacturing going offshore, pattern making, and metal casting is a dying trade.   Many patterns are still made by hand by near or part-time retirees or by computerized CNC machines, but these tasks require very skilled individuals to operate the equipment needed to construct an accurate pattern.

So how does a foundry that relies on pattern making to mold new cast products stay in business?  The answer is to use modern technology, or in our case, additive manufacturing with 3-D printing, to bridge the gap.

Two years ago, Danko Arlington purchased a Stratasys 900MC FDM printer.   FDM stands for fused deposition modeling.   Basically the machine has weed whacker style spooled high-strength plastic material that is melted layer upon layer on a descending platen until the part is constructed from the bottom up.  The 900MC can also print in size up to two feet by three feet by three feet high.

With our hand molding no-bake sand casting process, we are okay to use plastic tooling, as our production quantities are usually low and we produce parts which fall into the 900’s printer envelope.

The advantages of using the FDM printer are numerous.  Here are just six examples of some of the benefits:

One — What you can envision in Cad Cam design can be easily manufactured.  A designer engineer or ‘state-of-the-art’ pattern maker does not need to consider how the pattern is going to be produced.   You can print square corners, or polygons, odd angles, weird ‘potato chip’ like surfaces, reverse angles, or back draft, just for example.   Even the most complex shapes can easily be produced as five axis parts with the 3-D printer.

Two – The printer is extremely accurate in depositing the print material.   Our industry tolerances are plus or minus 1/32^nd of an inch.  The printer is accurate within several thousandths of an inch or the width of a couple human hairs.   No skilled pattern maker or even a clunky machine tool can reproduce these tolerances.  This is a huge advantage as closer tolerance tooling obviously produces closer tolerance parts.  Closer tolerance parts create less scrap and are often more desired by the customer.

Three – Features that used to be added after a pattern is made, such as pins, locks, countersunk hold down holes, offset parting, draft, and fillets, are incorporated in the 3-D print job.  The idea with using this technology is to keep as much human involvement out of the manufacturing process as possible.  Even the best craftsmen make mistakes and additional steps involve a loss of accuracy.  It is best to use the printer to do as much as possible as the extra print time should well outweigh the additional hours of labor that would have been involved to finish the project.

Four—reduced lead time.  Additive manufacturing has been also referred to as ‘rapid prototyping.’   The ‘rapid’ process is a huge benefit in pattern making.   What use to take weeks to fabricate by human hands now takes days, or sometimes hours to print.   The reduction of lead time is a big seller and puts your company well ahead of the competition.

Five—Lower Pricing.  We are even using the additive technology in the bidding phase of contracts as R&D modeling tool well.   We are able to provide better pricing to customers if we spend some time during the proposal stage of printing a full scale part needed to be cast.  In this way, we are able to get a better feel of the design that just reading a two dimensional blueprint.

Our managers then have better confidence and estimate with more accuracy and with less material than just taking an educated guess.   And speaking about the competition, there is nothing like sending that prototype part which you made during the bidding stage with your proposal.   We find that our customers are blown away and eager to do with a company that had done their ‘homework.’

And finally, Six – The process is extremely efficient.  One CAD CAM designer can do the work of ten pattern makers!   The engineer does not need an office or drawing board, and with a laptop, can do the design work anywhere.   Our large tool and die shop has become obsolete and replaced with a 3-D printer – that does not even make any dust!   Parts can even be designed at home and later remote downloaded to the printer.   How cool is that!

And this brings to mind an interesting perspective about employment, especially as talk about jobs has been on the forefront of the election politics.

As I previously mentioned, there are no emerging pattern makers today, so we are really not taking away any jobs with this technology.    We are really starting over by scratch as most the patternmakers are near or at retirement, or dead.   Even though one engineer can do the work of many craftsmen, having greater throughput in producing tooling, provides more projects for molders, grinders, machinists, administrative, and sales people.  So additive manufacturing is not as much as a job killer as one would believe, rather it is a job catalyst that can cause a factory to come alive.

This trickle down, positive effect, also makes the current high cost of this technology more palatable.  In our case, for example, we are just not growing and investing in our patternmaking business, but our company as a whole.  Justifying an expensive capital equipment purchase is extremely difficult, especially in this bad economy, but the justification for company wide expansion will be a given – something that the sales people at Trimech and at Stratasys would be happy to share with you if you buy a printer!

I should also point out, however, that we are still in an R&D stage even after using this technology for two years.  We are working through the bugs at present with help from Stratasys for optimizing FDM tooling for our sand casting process.   FDM printing is not for everything we do, or for every foundry, but we are certainly pioneers using this technology in our own sand casting niche.

In closing, I just wanted to share with you that last week I attended the Stevenson University Fall job fair at their Owings Mills Campus.  There were eighty four companies at the fair and ours was the only small business manufacturer seeking employment there!   Danko Arlington is looking for a recent grad that can help market and sell our products and this new technology!   Let me repeat if you were not paying attention: Danko Arlington — a Maryland Manufacturer in an old fashioned primary metals business with SEVEN smoke stacks is now hiring!!   If you remember nothing else today remember that because of our use of additive manufacturing, Danko Arlington is hiring!

Unfortunately, however, most of the students were interested in IT, web design, financial, and service industries.   This is the next generation!  C’mon people…where are the manufactures?  Where are the young people?  Kind of sad in my mind that young Americans have lost interest in making things other than new video games or i-phone apps.

The good news is that the students that I spoke to had no idea that cool ‘IT-like’ 3-D printing technology is complementing old companies like ours to propel us into the future.    Our use of additive manufacturing actually sparked a lot of interest in our company!  We are really having a lot of fun!

Danko Arlington is indeed a Maryland Miracle!

I am happy to share our story with you and inspire your creativity as well.   Additive manufacturing is incredibly exciting and hopeful for rebounding American business like ours.

Many thanks again for the opportunity to present and best wishes for continued success in your entrepreneurship and future ventures as well!

Danko Arlington was again honored for a second time this year to host the American Metal Consortium (AMC) and a bus tour from the Defense Logistics Agency.  The company’s close proximity to the DLA Aviation Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia provided engineers, buyers, and specialists an opportunity to see how the company’s  pattern shop, foundry, and machine shop work together to produce critical components for the Warfighter.

The visit also provided a good exchange of ideas and discussion on future technical challenges, including America’s loss of many manufacturing skills which may become a national security crisis.

At the conclusion of the tour,  the company was presented a beautiful framed photo collage taken from past AMC tours, as well as a Letter of Appreciation from Brigadier General Scott Jansson, Commander of  the DSCR.

September 19, 2012

Brookings study suggests focusing on strengths to expand long-shrinking base

By Jamie Smith Hopkins, The Baltimore Sun

6:59 a.m. EDT, May 9, 2012

The molten metal pouring from the foundry at Danko Arlington Inc. in Baltimore harks back to the early industrial era. But across the street in one of the company’s other buildings, workers operate an X-ray machine, a laser probe and a 3D printer that seems plucked straight from science fiction.

“We’re trying to do pioneering things here,” said John D. Danko, whose grandfather started the company 92 years ago.

He’s not alone. A new study suggests that manufacturers in the Baltimore region are disproportionately high-tech — and calls on leaders to build on local strengths, rather than writing the long-shrinking sector off as a dying field.

The Brookings Institution report, which is being released today, classifies 27 percent of the region’s manufacturing jobs as “very high-tech,” compared with 16 percent nationwide. A fifth of the area’s manufacturing jobs are in computers and electronics, the Washington think tank said.

That’s partly driven by the region’s reliance on defense contracting. Northrop Grumman Corp.‘s electronic systems sector — which makes radar, navigation systems and other cutting-edge equipment — is based in Anne Arundel County. Lots of smaller companies, including Danko Arlington, make parts for the military as well.

But local manufacturers think they’re all pretty high-tech these days. If they didn’t innovate, they say, they couldn’t survive.

The Domino Sugar refinery in Baltimore, for instance, has saved money using computers running “process control” programs that improve efficiency in such areas as energy use.

“Since we’re spending $1.8 million a month on fuel, it’s really important,” said Stu FitzGibbon, the refinery manager.

The Brookings study, which looks at manufacturing in metro areas across the country, concludes that what is made in America varies widely by region. The report suggests that state and local leaders must take the lead to help manufacturing thrive because it’s not monolithic nationwide.

What would work for Detroit, in other words, wouldn’t necessarily do much in Baltimore.

“If you’re really going to promote manufacturing in an effective way, you need to understand what assets a community starts with,” said Susan R. Helper, a co-author of the report and an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Brookings has been advocating for more efforts to expand domestic manufacturing because the sector pays well, and still offers career opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers without college degrees. In an April report focusing solely on Baltimore’s economy, Brookings argued that manufacturing was among the industries the region should help grow.

The average manufacturing wage in the Baltimore area is nearly $72,000 a year — and more than $110,000 a year in very high-tech manufacturing industries.

“If the goal is to have shared prosperity, it’s not enough merely to provide good opportunities for college-educated, white-collar professionals,” said Anirban Basu, a Baltimore economist who agrees with Brookings’ expand-manufacturing sentiment.

But for many, many years, the sector has shed jobs. To the cheaper South. To foreign countries. To automation.

Statewide, there are 68,000 fewer jobs in manufacturing today than there were two decades ago, a drop of almost 40 percent.

It’s to the point that local manufacturers feel forgotten by government officials, as if the sector had actually disappeared. What have local leaders done about manufacturing “given the awful decline that’s occurred?” asked Mike Galiazzo, president of the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland. “The answer is ‘not enough.’

“There’s some common-sense things that we ought to agree on doing to secure manufacturing, to stop it from eroding,” Galiazzo said.

He suggested economic development officials call manufacturers just to ask: What could we do to help you add jobs? It’s a particularly important question now, as defense contractors gird for cutbacks.

But Galiazzo is excited by the possibilities for the emerging manufacturing technology that Danko Arlington is using: printers that produce in three dimensions rather than two — literally printing out prototypes or finished products.

“The definition of manufacturing 10 years from now is going to be really, really different,” he said.

Danko Arlington uses its 3D printer, purchased about a year ago, to make mold forms. Those are pressed into sand to make the molds into which workers pour molten aluminum. The printer makes plastic prototypes in a few days, rather than the weeks it takes to program and run the robotic cutter that make the forms from wood.

The large printer hummed Tuesday as it laid down layer upon layer of plastic.

Elsewhere in the company’s complex in the Park Heights area, a radiographer examined X-rays to look for bubbles or other problems in finished products. Another employee scanned products with a laser — useful for reverse-engineering parts — and scrutinized them on a screen. And, at the other end of the technology continuum, workers pressed down pumpkin-colored sand with gloved hands and poured liquid aluminum from a rumbling furnace into the resulting molds.

The 3D printer isn’t taking anyone’s job away, said Danko, the firm’s president, because the mold forms have long been made robotically. In fact, he’s thinking of reviving the company’s apprenticeship program to help train “hybrid” workers with skills in both information technology and tool making.

He hopes innovation will help old foundries like his expand. “Once we do that,” he said, “then we’re able to hire.”

jhopkins@baltsun.com

On April 18, 2012, Danko Arlington was honored to host a group from the American Metal Consortium and the Aviation Division of the Defense Logistics Agency in Richmond, Virginia.    The visit provided  key DLA personnel with  an overview of patternmaking, metal casting, and CNC machining processes.

Danko Arlington is proud to showcase its newest technology with such a distinguished audience as well as flattered to receive so many gracious complements in return:

DLA Thank You letter 4_18_2012

AMC Thank you letter 4_20_2012

What do a traditional foundry and 3d printing have in common? A lot if you are talking about Danko Arlington located in the Park Heights section of Baltimore, Maryland. Danko Arlington is a third generation, family-owned business and an example of traditional industry staying competitive by embracing rapid technologies. About a year ago CEO John Danko purchased and integrated one of the largest and most accurate 3d printers on the market, the Stratasys Fortus 900mc for patternmaking, one of two in the state of Maryland. 3d printers decrease the time it takes to bid a job, get prototypes to the client, and ultimately decrease the time it takes to get a product to market. In short, the process is vastly more efficient than conventional methods.

John Danko will be speaking at the NEXTgen-M Rapid Technology Conference, the first of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region. The conference is being held on April 27, in Timonium, Maryland. NEXTgen-M will bring together some of the most innovative minds around this topic to discuss the far-reaching implications of this globally transformative technology.

“Danko is a perfect example of a manufacturer who implemented rapid technologies to create a technological competitive advance that works. The conference is meant to show how this technology is working in business today and how it applies to various manufacturing settings.” said Mike Galiazzo, President, Regional Manufacturing Institute. The purpose of the April 27 conference is to introduce how rapid technology is finding a growing role in advanced manufacturing and to identify people in the Baltimore region who wish to support the advancement of rapid technology.

“Danko Arlington is an excellent example of how traditional industry adopts rapid technologies, namely 3D printing or rapid prototyping and digitizers, in order to compete in today’s digital world. They are sustaining and growing their business; creating jobs and keeping jobs in Maryland. Danko Arlington illustrates how rapid tech cuts across industries and sectors enabling industry to compete in today’s fast-paced global world.”
–Professor Jan Baum, Director of the Object Lab at Towson University and a member of the RMI Board of Directors

Danko Arlington uses 3d printing in lieu of traditional patternmaking, a skilled trade or, more specifically, a specialized form of master woodworking. Joseph O. Danko, Sr., founder of the company, started off as a patternmaker. Patterns, used in foundries, are replicas of objects to be cast, used to form the cavity in which molten metal will be poured during the casting process. While rapid prototyping has diminished the need for as many patternmakers, it hasn’t completely replaced the need for having experienced tradesmen on site and at the same time has helped the company garner new contracts which means jobs. While touring the pattern shop John Danko pointed out a patternmaker who has been with the company for several decades. The addition of 3d printing technology has reduced the time necessary for patternmaking from weeks to days. When bidding on new contracts, John Danko can put high quality, scale replicas of finished products into the hands of potential customers faster than ever. The resulting reduction in lead time, resources, and labor costs have positioned Danko Arlington as one of the more competitive foundries operating in the Mid-Atlantic region today. 3d digitizers and scanners are used to analyze the products/parts for tolerances and structural integrity, a key to maintaining their reputation and assuring future contracts.

Founded by the current CEO’s grandfather in 1920, Danko Arlington is a proud Baltimore company carrying on the city’s great foundry tradition. The first location for what was then known as, Danko Pattern and Manufacturing Company, was established at the corner of Light and Lee Streets on the Inner Harbor where the Harbor Court Hotel is now located. The current facility, in the Arlington neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore, is an anchor in the community and employs several local residents. It has served the nation by providing service to the federal government and it has served its city in various ways including providing cast aluminum seat brackets for Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium for a seating capacity of 31,000 fans.

The Danko Arlington story is one steeped in strong values, infused by the family who established the company nearly a century ago. Their history is an important component to the history of Baltimore and a great example of how embracing new ideas has enabled this company to evolve and thrive in uncertain times. In addition to embracing new technologies, Danko Arlington is also a green company recycling foundry sand and aluminum, using high efficiency lights and motors, and creates no contaminated waste water. This advantage, and new revenue sourced from providing rapid prototyping services for other organizations, has helped Danko Arlington forge boldly ahead into the 21st Century.

To hear the Danko Arlington story first hand, from CEO John Danko, reserve your seat at the NEXTgen-M Rapid Tech Conference being held on April 27, in Timonium, Maryland. NEXTgen-M is where you will find current leaders and influencers advancing the rapid tech agenda for the greater Baltimore region, a technological shift that is already shaping the 21st Century.

April 2, 2012 By Justin Allen

Danko Arlington was honored to host Art and Design students from neighboring Towson University to see how digital technology is transforming creativity and manufacturing.

Earlier this year, Towson University opened a new state-of-the-art facility named the Object Lab which is a research-based educational, rapid technologies, and digital fabrication training center.  Under the direction of Professor Jan Baum, students in the Object Lab learn first-hand cnc milling, laser cutting, 3-D imaging, digital modeling, and rapid prototyping.

The field trip to Danko Arlington gave students the opportunity to see how an older, established company is using rapid technology to expand its business and become a leader in local industry.

March 29^th 2012

On November 30^th, 2011, at the Center for Urban Families STRIVE Baltimore’s 2nd Annual Employer Appreciation Breakfast, Danko Arlington was recognized for its commitment and dedication to helping fathers and families in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area.

CFUF was originally founded to provide parenting and workforce development services to low-income fathers because “men—the most disconnected and underserved citizens in urban communities—who connect with women, their children, and the workplace are key to the restoration of stability and optimism.”

CFUF’s programs later evolved to assist both men and women to restore hope, self esteem, reunite family life, and tackle tough issues such as high unemployment, substance abuse, addiction, and social responsibility.  STRIVE Baltimore is part of CFUF’s workforce development which prepares candidates with career readiness through “attitudinal training.”

Danko Arlington is proud to be a long standing Baltimore City employer who gives back to the community.

Danko Arlington is honored to have cast a prominent cross for Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church located at 905 Frederick Road in Catonsville, Maryland.

The metal cross,  an exact copy of a wooden original,  now adorns the church’s new octagonal shaped portico.    The piece was handmade  and cast in a solid, aircraft-aluminum alloy and  powder coated gold color to resist the outdoor elements.

The new cross now stands to greet future generations who enter this sacred space.

Salem Lutheran Church was founded in 1849 by German immigrants who originally worshiped and educated neighboring children in their native German language.  The congregation later expanded to their present Catonsville location in 1903 and has become a landmark in the community.

October 2011