Do you want to celebrate US Manufacturing with us this month?
If so, join us for the next MFG eCommerce Success show where we have several US Manufacturing leaders sharing how they are competing globally and enabling new levels of success in their industries.
Our US Manufacturing leaders joining us are:
Mike Haragan, President, Indigenous Pet Products – Indigenous Pet Products is dedicated to enhancing the well-being of our beloved pets through a unique blend of science and nature. They take pride in crafting premium pet nutrition products with a team of experts who are passionate about pets and prioritize quality in the Super Premium – Pet Specialty market, offering innovative solutions for various health needs, including skin, coat, heart, joint, dental, and weight management.
Melinda Marks, Director of Project Management, Pedoc Power Solutions – Pedoc Power, a U.S.-based manufacturer, specializes in producing durable stainless steel outdoor power pedestals. Their UL-approved bollards are not only easy to install but also known for their heavy stainless steel construction, adhering to strict ISO certification standards to ensure top-quality products for a variety of applications, from food trucks and electronic devices to holiday lighting displays.
Joe Collura, Senior Operations Manager at STI-CO Industries Inc. – STI-CO is a leading provider of custom mission-critical antenna systems, leveraging over 50 years of expertise and cutting-edge technology to ensure the safety and connectivity of surveillance, military, transportation, and tactical applications. Their specialized designs are tailored to your specifications, ensuring high performance and reliability.
These business leaders will share what they see in their businesses and us manufacturing in general that is changing their businesses and driving new levels of success.
Key Highlights
• US manufacturing with industry representatives. 0:00
• Pet food manufacturing regulations in the US. 3:34
• Outdoor power pedestals and personal heroes. 7:10
• Technology and automation in manufacturing. 12:06
• Staying ahead of technology in manufacturing. 16:15
• Reshoring and onshoring manufacturing in the US. 20:30
• Supply chain challenges and benefits of domestic manufacturing. 21:49
• The benefits of local sourcing and vendor vetting. 24:49
• Benefits of working domestically with various vendors. 26:43
• Communication solutions for first responders. 27:54
• Manufacturing, innovation, and reshoring in the US. 33:55
• Reshoring manufacturing and pride in supporting local economy. 36:33
• Career growth and investment in a family-owned business. 39:12
• Manufacturing, innovation, and company culture. 43:47
Presentation Transcription
Damon Pistulka 00:00
All music always gets you going doesn’t occur.
Curt Anderson 00:06
Man up dude, I was fired up way before the music button. Yeah, well,
Damon Pistulka 00:09
it’s Friday and what does that mean? It means it’s time for manufacturing ecommerce cassette success and we are going to have a fun show today because we are with manufacturers celebrating manufacturing month and Curt, we’ve got some of our great manufacturing representatives here today, talking about US manufacturing, showing us the light man so I’m gonna turn it over to that guy over there. Over there the other side, Curt Anderson to take it away
Curt Anderson 00:41
Daymond Thanks, dude. Man What an absolute honor privilege is we’re just celebrating manufacturing month the whole month of October and so there’s this you know, we’ve covered a lot of ground so far this month, and boy today is going to be just pure Fire Man recover in three different cities. And we’ve got old school manufacturers here three totally different industries. And a goal is just kind of just seeing like, you know, like you take for granted your household goods, things you see on a regular daily basis and you’re just like man who makes this stuff and so we’re gonna dive into it. So hey, look, without further ado, let’s just dive right in. So we’ve I’m first off, I’m jumping down to the other corner there Damon below you my dear friend, my good buddy, Mike Haragan from Indigenous Pet Products coming to us live from Indianapolis and Indiana. Michael, happy Friday. How are you doing?
Mike Haragan 01:30
I’m doing great. How are you doing Curt?
Curt Anderson 01:32
I’m doing if I was any better, I’d be twins. Is that a good line right there. So I don’t know. Or you might have to call 911 If I was any better because it’s gonna get really juicy here. So hey, Damon, let’s climb up to a wonderful city of Chicago. And I know it’s so morning time in Chicago. So Melinda Good morning, my friend. Happy Friday. How are you?
Melinda Marks 01:52
Good morning. I’m doing great. Happy to be here. Thank you.
Curt Anderson 01:55
Well, you are David a couple of repeat offenders on the program here. Someone has been on the show now you know, Melinda I like it much better when you and I are live together and I’m sitting next to you but you know, we’re a couple of states away so we’re Melinda is coming to us live from paddock Power Solutions, man Are they an incredible company you want to check them out? And then last but not least our third light our third battery in the lineup today is my dear friend Joe. Joe. You’re coming to us live from Buffalo. And you are was STI-CO and STI-CO covert antennas. What’s going on dude? Good morning. Happy Friday to you. How are things?
Joe Collura 02:32
Things are great. Yes, Happy Friday to you Curtin. The team things are great and buffalo. Hopefully you’re gonna be doing a lot of cheer for Bill’s team. I gotta throw them out there. Right. I think those fans Right?
Curt Anderson 02:44
Absolutely. Right. couple bills. And Damon they’re literally like you could almost throw I can throw football that far. But they are right down the street from the Orchard Park, New York right down the street from those stadiums. So if you hate Daymond we need to get you over here to Bill’s game we can park raid and Staikos parking lot. We’ll just walk over right you guys are
Damon Pistulka 03:06
doing pretty good this year to your foreign to right now.
Joe Collura 03:08
Yeah. We’re there.
Curt Anderson 03:12
Copy loss and loss in London. But anyway, alright, so let’s move forward here. So I’m gonna go around the horn and what I would love to hear about how each of you are just crushing it with Made in USA manufacturing. Mike, my friend, can you just talk a little bit indigenous pet treats? How are you making the world a better place? What’s going on? What products are you making there?
Mike Haragan 03:34
Well, with indigenous, it’s a dental health bone, where we try to put a lot of good things, healthy things that will help the dog have a better life. The main ingredient that’s helping with the dental is we use kelp from the sea, which reacts with the dog and it creates saliva or whatnot in the dog’s mouth that reduces tartar plaque and gives them a fresher breath. And then we put a bunch of other good stuff anyone which is a prebiotic, we do salmon oil for the skin. We do sunflower Aletheia 10, which is also digestive aid, and just try to make it healthier product for your pets and doing it in the United States and America. Our people that buy this product have a higher sense of quality as opposed to something else that might be coming in from other countries that you really can’t track or be sure of what your ingredients are. I mean we have testing we have outside companies always coming in looking at our ingredients looking at our products and making sure we’re doing what we’re the right thing for your pets. So with every 50 states have their own regulatory body that we have to register with. I mean it’s worse than the food products I have. So we have 50 People and one in every state we have to go through to get registered and go through our ingredients statements and what we put in. And as such, it’s a ordeal sometimes to do all this stuff in America and get everything together.
Damon Pistulka 05:15
That is funny that you say that Mike because my brother talked about that many, many years ago when he was doing work inside the automation work inside the pet food plants. He said they have stricter regulations and people that’s kind of backwards. But then he said, No,
Mike Haragan 05:31
I’m not kidding. They’re starting to make a few changes. The FDA is starting to get involved so it’s more of a one body go to to get all the registrations. But for right now, every state is different, every state charges different and it’s a hodgepodge. So hopefully the hate to say this, the federal government can come in and straighten it out. But we’ll see if that happens. Yeah.
Curt Anderson 05:57
Well, that’s fantastic, Mike. So again, guys, if you’re just joining us, drop us a note. Let us know that you’re out there have you because we’ve got a we’ve got a great panel here. We’re talking Made in USA manufacturing. So Happy Friday, Debbie, we’ve got Benjamin so I want to side over well, first off, David, you got it, you know, for all of us with furry friends out there. So now for my Rottweiler. Not a little guy but for my Rottweiler. He loves my what’s funny, my my dog I’m definitely I’m definitely a second class citizen in my house, you know, compared to my dog right? And when we started using indigenous pet treats my wife is like literally like the dog is healthier the dog the code is shinier so this is not a shameless plug like she loves these treats for our rowdy so Mike thank you for that because you know Hey, happy wife happy life. So the more that my dog is doing your keep my marriage together, right? I’m just teasing so just hitting it every little bit helps man if my dog is doing great man and we’ve got you know, I’m just kidding. So I can relate. Yeah, you have a pet right?
Melinda Marks 07:10
I have 230 pound doodle and a 70 pound doodle and my I’m getting it right after the session we’re gonna be ordering their breath I mean out of the world what they’re doing or what we’re not doing that
Curt Anderson 07:30
Mike so Mike as the here so but guys if your dog is just a little shaky on the breath, order there. Let’s connect with Mike and that’s that’s for certain. So Melinda, let’s come to you paddock Power Solutions. Boy, you guys have just a dynamo company. I’ve had the honor privilege of taking a tour of your facility. Can you just share a little bit how do you guys that paddock make the world a better place? What’s going on there?
Melinda Marks 07:52
Sure. So Pedoc Power Solutions is a manufacturer of outdoor power pedestals. If you’re out there and you don’t know what a power pedestal is, it’s all right. Most people don’t but Kurt in our last session you had mentioned boy now that you know what our product is and you walk around anywhere out you know, outside you’re at a park you’re sitting on a bench you’re looking at, you know, some outdoor maintenance equipment being plugged in. Essentially, it’s a charging station for anything that requires power outdoors. So here is my marching orders. I don’t know if that’s the right terminology for everyone out there is as you’re walking around, just keep your eyes open for how those Christmas tree lights as holiday lights are being powered. And I guarantee you are going to see outlets that are knocked over the covers on them are gone and maybe they’re not even being used or they just look ugly and are unsafe. So paddock brings to the table a pedestal solution where it’s there forever, it’s stainless steel it’s it’s going to last and one of the things you know one of the reasons why you can count on panic is because we are 100% USA manufacturer and just like Mike talked about you can feel confident our customers are confident in what’s going into making a pedestal and the how they are safe which is huge, you know giving our customers a peace of mind that our products not going to fail you know it’s being made here under you know strict quality control measures and and supporting our country and number of different levels. So that’s how are making the world a better place place.
Curt Anderson 09:51
Well was born and again So Melinda, we have a couple of live so go check out our website. You can go back and catch a replay with Melinda and her sister company founded in the 70s, Dad founded the company. And so just a wonderful, wonderful history here at Pedoc and just looking at the legacy of USA manufacturing. Speaking of which, we’re going to slide down to our friend Joe. Now, Damon, I want to go here for a second you ready? Now, when we had Mike on I love to ask that first question. And I won’t ask the question yet. But Mike, you remember your answer. I believe it was a president of ours that you shared, right? It was Ronald Reagan was your answer. Melinda is a wonderful question to you that Dave and I love to ask week in and week out and your answer was your father. Hey, Joe, what’s going on? Dude? How are you man? So I have a little question that I’d like to ask you my friend. Since you are you’re on a maiden voyage and our little tiny program here Hey, happy Friday. Gail. Gail is a dear friend of the program. We didn’t we didn’t have Gail back on the show here. We miss you love us been busy. Yeah, she has been busy. So Joe, let’s go here. Joe is a buffalo guy. We’re talking to Buffalo Bills here a little bit. I see Matt goosey. Dr. Lee’s got we got a Packer fan in the house here. So Matt, Happy Friday to you my friend. Joe when you were little guy growing up? Who was your hero? Who was your hero when you were a little guy growing up? What did you look up to? My dad? Your dad. Awesome. What was dad’s name and what why did you look up to your dad?
Joe Collura 11:28
My dad Joe color for sure. But yeah, taught me a lot of stuff in my life. My second one was Joe Nemeth from the New York Jets.
Curt Anderson 11:38
Great answer. Here all right there been so anybody that can predict a win at a Super Bowl. So eight Daymond we haven’t had Joe Namath yet that’s a facet. So now Joe, I want to just slide in things. So Joe, I’ve had the honor privilege taking a tour of STI-CO so we’ve got STI-COand Orchard Park, New York, which is Buffalo. Now, Joe, you’ve been working at cycle for what one or two years? Looks like maybe
Joe Collura 12:06
four in front of it. 42 years?
Curt Anderson 12:08
42 years Damon? So 42 laws working at stake. Oh, is that crazy? When you meet Joe in person like I Joe, I’m not a few remember, I think I asked him to see his ID because I’m like, Joe, I go, would you start here when you were like, five years old stinks. Guy. And well, you you got a good gene. Not only was your dad a hero, he gave you a good gene. So my friend, you look super young. But lets us hear a little bit about how to stake will make the world a better place. What’s going on at stake?
Joe Collura 12:38
Well, first of all, we’ve been around since 1967. And we’ve been serving the public safety industry and the federal government within tightness for many, many years. And our purpose is to serve mission critical components for communication systems for the safety of us Americans and anywhere else antennas could be used. So we pride ourselves on that stuff. And when we look at an American made we do just about everything we can in house right here. Over the years, we’ve made a lot of investments, and our machine shop and manufacturing operations to go more vertical control our own inventory, and promote a lot of jobs for the industry. We have open positions now for our machine chat matter of fact, so we’re trying to keep everything in these walls here. And there’s everybody on the show has been talking about this by America thing. I mean, what a great cast of right it should be like that and always and it has been forever that we do as much in this country as we can. And I know when we’re doing that at speical we’re making the country a better place for not only us, our customers and everybody else so that’s that’s something we pride ourselves on for sure. Awesome.
Curt Anderson 13:56
That is awesome. Joe and again, Damon when you walk around the floor, I’ve actually posted pictures of psycho on LinkedIn and Nicole and I have been there and taking a tour and it’s just wonderful they’ve got the American flag like you could eat off the floor at this place it is immaculate a spotless is extremely inspiring. Joe and again on stage here today are all of our manufacturing friends it’s not just the you know like these employees it’s like families that they’re providing for these are people that are you know, you guys are providing dance lessons graduations, ballgames, like you’re allowed to grow up in, exactly go off to college. So it’s just so heartwarming, what they’re doing. He wouldn’t question I wanted to grab her demons. So we’ve got read two here today. I’m saying that correctly. I don’t know if anybody wants to grab that one or if this is relevant for you guys, but she asked, how has technology and automation influenced the manufacturing processes at your company? Does anybody want to grab that one? Does anyone hit that home with you guys?
Mike Haragan 14:53
I mean, if you’re not using technology and automation, you’re falling behind. I mean, you’ve got to do something to keep and keep the cost down. And the only way you’re gonna get that is through technology and automation. It’s a whole lot easier when you can just push a few buttons on the line and everything runs through. And we’re putting in a new line right now, when one of my other product lines mean, they’re putting in another line that’ll increase production by about 25%. The, and I’ve got the business to fill that line. So it’s all you got to keep updating and the technology and the automation just to stay. Even with everybody, because everybody else is doing the same thing. And if you’re not, you’re falling behind. Yeah. That’s cool.
Curt Anderson 15:45
That’s our first drop. That I that was probably, we probably had multiple drop, the mics are ready, but I’m gonna say Mike just dropped the mic right there on that one. So man, if you’re not staying ahead of the game, you’re just falling behind at awesome. Miles. Happy Friday. We’ve got we’ve got Chris. So guys, thanks for joining us. Melinda at your, at your facility. I know I saw firsthand, you guys have state of the art machinery, you’re adding new machinery? You want to chime in on anything from your perspective on that question.
Melinda Marks 16:15
Absolutely. And I wholeheartedly agree with you, Mike, staying ahead of the check technology. Kurt, you mentioned before that our business was founded by our father, who had that mindset going coming right into the, into the business in 1976. Already, so back in that time, you know, equipment was limited. I mean, if you needed to form a piece of metal, you either you know, try to use some hand equipment, or maybe you were lucky to have a press brake, you know, that you operated with your foot MX you know, you had to make sure your measurements, your tooling, everything was was there and even just setting up for that, that process was time consuming. So to think back from 1976, to where we are now, just the software developments, from taking orders to the engineering to communicating with technology from the engineering team to the floor. I mean, it’s huge, you know, just on top of the equipment, like you mentioned, Kurt, we do already have some state of the art equipment, laser CNC punch press, we are now proud to be adding a robotic welder. So it’s actually being installed, we’ve been prepping for it for the last several months and working on the installation right now. So absolutely agree Mike the technology, stay ahead of it, stay ahead of it.
Curt Anderson 17:52
They have been alright know, their job to migrate there. And again, Melinda, we’ve talked about it just you know, in, we have videos of your machinery running and just you know, state of the art. And this, you know, these are small family businesses, you know, these are not 500, you know, 1000 person companies publicly traded companies and how do you stay ahead of the game? Exactly, as Mike and Melinda are describing. Joe, you want to chime in, I know you guys are doing some really cool cutting edge things at stake. Oh, anything from your perspective, as far as technology on that side?
Joe Collura 18:21
Well, for sure work, you know, our philosophy, again, is to reinvest in the company. And that’s something that we’ve always had a keen vision on. And again, we’ve been pursuing machine shop equipment, we were kind of an old school machine shop to support our engineering and manufacturing processes. But we’ve been investing in a lot of the CNC stuff, and we will continue to invest. You know, I, again, Kyle is not on the call here, but we are a woman owned company. And, you know, that’s just we love pouring back into the employees for the technology and we are pursuing some Colac type equipment possibly down the road. Melinda, I love to hear that you’re buying a robotic welder, those things are fantastic. And if you can push that technology to the limit, go for it, because just keep on it right? Because you’re gonna fall behind if you don’t so, yeah, it’s just it’s always in our vision, always in our strategic plan to, to put back into the company and grow the technology, otherwise you’re gonna fall behind as we’ve been doing so.
Damon Pistulka 19:24
Yeah. And I think when I see these applications, I’m lucky enough to get the debt to tour some facilities once in a while when I see the things like the robotic welders and the automation. What I really see happening is we’re automating a lot of the tough positions in the factories, where people can get hurt, people can get repetitive motion injuries that really make it better for the people working there. And also, when you talk about something like you’re making Mike, we as as humans can’t make it as consistently as the automation equipment can in which your your kind of product, you know, your your first treat, or your 10,000,000,000th Treat has to be the same. And that’s, that’s a hard thing to do. So it’s, and it’s cool because it’s timing. I think this is all awesome, because it’s timing the right thing because in manufacturing, we have such an unemployment ploy II shortage that we have to automate, because you can’t there just physically not enough people. Right. Right. Right.
Curt Anderson 20:30
Exactly. Great point here, Damon. And so you know what, so let’s slide in here. So we’re talking consistency, we’re talking about that quality? Let’s go into this conversation. You know, since COVID, I think, you know, there’s been an exciting at least in our world, and exciting Renaissance, with Made in USA, you’re hearing a lot about like reshoring, onshoring, this whole rejuvenation with Maine, USA, you know, kind of, you know, back in the 80s, Mike, we’re talking about, like, you know, the Reagan years, if you will, it was actually frowned on and looked down on to get, you know, to get a career in manufacturing, hopefully, like we’re putting those days behind us. And there’s a whole new forefront of manufacturing. Let’s talk a little bit about the benefits, you guys are trying to scratch down a little bit. But I want to take it one step further. Some of the benefits for a manufacturer out there that’s thinking about that reshoring onshoring, maybe some of the major retailers out there, they’re like, hey, you know what, maybe we should start looking domestically. Let’s talk about like, you know, IP loss and translation. What are some of the benefits of doing business here domestically versus scrambling and trying to find, you know, manufacturers overseas? Mike, I’m gonna start with you, you know, in the pet, you touched a little bit about it, you know, you’re not sure what’s in those dog treats, when you buy from foreign, you know, foreign places. What are some of the benefits that you want to share as far as like buying domestically for manufacturing?
Mike Haragan 21:49
Well, first will be lead times, lead times, the United States, or within four weeks, it takes Well, I do salt pepper shakers, too. So it takes me a month to get a load container from Vietnam. So I’m already there for a month or month on lead time there plus for them to grind it plus for them to bring it here. And so you’re like three months out. So it’s easier to bring in product when it’s physically closer. I mean, that’s just basic. And then it just seems that most people in the US realize that, just in time doesn’t always work anymore. And you’ve got to have some type of inventory. And with me working in the food industry, and the retail pet industry, if I don’t have shipments on time, I get fined 500,000 bucks, 3% of shipment, 5% of shipment. And you can’t make a company run profitably if you’re getting all these fines consistently from everybody else. So you’ve got to raise your inventory levels and you’ve got to make sure your companies you’re dealing with in the US also have a higher level of inventory that you can bring in later.
Damon Pistulka 23:14
Yeah, that’s that’s a big thing when you’re when you’re going to import product is the cost of the cost of product. That’s a that you’re paying for the orders to get them produced. And and then you’ve got all the product that’s in process that investment because you might because if you’re selling a million dollars a product a month, and it takes you three months to get it that means I have to invest 3 million more dollars to or whatever the cost of that million dollars is. Say it’s 600 $700,000 I have to do that times three months in transit. And that’s it. That’s a that’s a sizable cash. And then what happens in this happen and a lot of E commerce companies this year when that when in 2022 and 2023 is that the demand fluctuates a lot if I have that on the on the water and in production. I’m getting it. Yeah. If I don’t need it in my warehouse is full already. You’re still getting it.
Mike Haragan 24:12
I tried to buy in American when I can but I mean pepper, they just don’t grow pepper and yeah, I have got to bring it in from somewhere. And just those lead times and all that storage costs and it adds up and so if you can do something more local, it’s a whole lot easier, simpler and cost effective. Yeah,
Curt Anderson 24:31
absolutely love it. So Melinda, let’s come at you. You know we’ve talked about flexibility Mike sitting on lead times you’re talking about the technology advancements that you guys are doing, you know, as a as a small manufacturer, what are some other benefits for that you share with your clients when they want to do business with paddock Power Solutions domestically?
Melinda Marks 24:49
You know, when you think about lead time, that’s that’s definitely a challenge or a benefit to us manufacturing, thinking of vendors and vetting our brand vendors, it’s very difficult to, to vet a vendor who’s overseas different timezone, you know, a 10 hour flight to get there just to check out their facility. You know, the face to face is limited. So, local sourcing for us has been instrumental in, you know, starting the company and growing it, it’s huge. I mean, we have relationships with our local suppliers, and even if they’re not across the street, some of them are even at you know, there are a couple states away, it’s, it’s possible, and it’s possible to do so quickly. It gives us that flexibility that we need, if there’s a change that needs to happen. I mean, I love the convenience of these lives, you know, webinars and things like that Zoom meetings, but the value of just that face to face connection and building those relationships. There’s you can’t compare, you can’t beat it. So So vetting, you know, getting on the floor, seeing what this manufacturer company is all about seeing you walk in and is it clean? The employees? Do they look happy? Does it feel like a safe environment, what’s their quality look like? So I mean, just even all the nonverbal cues that you pick up just from looking around and is is huge, and gives us peace of mind that we can continue with the quality, we pride ourself with it, it we rely on our vendors to provide that same level of quality, so we can pass it, pass it on. So
Curt Anderson 26:43
yeah, that is awesome. And again, you’ve shared like, you know, you have vendors literally down the street, like, you know, we’ve talked about the your powder coat painting, you know, company, you know, that’s a relationship goes back to your dad from 30 years ago. And, you know, so those relationships, you talked about the culture, you know, like being the ability to visit, just, you know, hey, there’s a lost in translation here. Can we just get on the phone and just kind of hammer this thing through. So there’s just so many benefits to working domestically, Joe add steak over again, guys, if you’re just joining us, drop us a note Happy Friday to you. I know. I think we’re at the top of the hour. So sometimes we get a little shifts. We get new folks in. So we’ve got Mike from Indigenous Pets, we strongly encourage you We welcome you to check out Mike at Indigenous. We got Melinda from Pedoc Power Solutions, doing amazing work in Chicago. Joe at stake. Oh, Joe, you guys are doing just fantastic work. You are helping keeping our first responders, our military folks safe. I want to get into a little bit of some of the solutions you’ve come up with post 911. Kyle shared that with us before? What are some of the things that you want to share from an onshoring reshoring? Meeting USA anything new that we haven’t already covered? From your perspective? For cycle? What are the benefits are? From your perspective?
Joe Collura 27:54
Yeah, thanks, Curt, for all your kind words there. But yeah, we’ve talked a lot about, you know, lead time and things like that. And, you know, I will bounce back a little bit off of what Melinda said, were huge and keep in business in the community and working with our vendors, nothing better than going in and shaking a hand and your facility and working things out very difficult when you’re offshoring things, but the quality of the product too, right? I mean, I just think the American May I know, for a fact, American made products, the quality is much better, I see that our own facility, what we you know, we make a lot of our own components to go into our custom product. So that I’m big, big, big and quality in the creation of jabs, too. That’s another one, you know, we’re, you could see I got I’m not an economist and everything but you know, there’s a whole there’s a glut of people that have left the industry. And yet there’s a creation of a lot of jobs with this by America, maybe we create, we create our own bottleneck, I’m not sure. But I know there’s people out there willing to work and we’re here to provide some really good jobs and opportunity through training. And, you know, that’s something we’re always focused on. And then I you know, the investment in America, right, this is our country, we should be investing in America, right, these products, what better way to put it? And, you know, I got I’m also on a green team, right, there’s a, there’s a lot of regulatory things that aren’t so nifty overseas. And I know over here when things are made and state things are under regulations of the pollution, you know, we’re in the, the world of right, the green and all that stuff, and you hear about how our atmosphere is changing and the everything about our weather is changing, right? I think if we can control more of that and bring more stuff over here, we might do a better job for the people for tomorrow on the kids in that so you know, that’s my vision on it and yeah, a lot to be said there. So a lot to
Curt Anderson 30:00
be said there enjoy one thing I want to I want to so first off, man, David, do you feel like running through a wall after that little speech or what? And that was like a Vince Lombardi that Lombardi speech? Well, Joe, let’s go here for a second when Kyle came on the show last time she shared with so we had some of the products on that we were actually showing on the live show, and she had one product in particular, she was saying how it you know, from, you know, the one of the greatest tragedies in our country’s existence 911 There were a lot of communication challenges and things that didn’t go as smoothly as possible. You guys created some solutions post 911 Do you want to share a little bit like, you know, like how you guys work with your customers work with your clients, those first responders post 911 Talk a little bit about some of the communication solutions that you guys offer to the to your customers?
Joe Collura 30:54
Well, great point, Curtin, thanks for bringing that up. Again, you know, we’re here to, we’re here to, to solve your, your issues, what can steak would do for your needs, and customizing ton of products and all that and, you know, going back to the days, you know, 911, even things, you know, since then, one thing from 911, you know, we all realize that the communication between all the departments wasn’t the best. It’s just the way our operating system was at a time. So we evolved, a couple of different kind of the one of them primarily is our quick deploy IoT case, system, dipole antenna, were able to put base station up with a command center vehicle, so multiple agencies could all work together, and certain tragedies and power outages and things of those nature, like the 911 occurrence. So hopefully, we never see that again. But again, our solutions are to help our customers and the government and whoever they may be work through these nuances and, and everyday occurrences that we’re going through right now. So, you know, that’s, again, what cycle is about, we’re always here to develop these custom products. And, you know, it’s a great philosophy that we have, and the 911. One is horrible is that was the outcome is, is on our side and all of our government agencies is we’re here to help develop some of these systems to help the communication of first responders do a better job today than they were doing yesterday with the communication side of that, the issue. So
Melinda Marks 32:36
that’s, I had to say anything other thing about 911, what happened and some other big events? That was anything I considered. Until now, Joe is education and how key it is. So thank you.
Joe Collura 32:52
Yeah, you’re welcome. I know, I’m getting a little, you know, the Goosebumps going on here. Ya know, we live in this world today. And you know, aside from some unusual activity we don’t like to see out in the public, you know, there is power outages and failures and natural disasters and things like that, where you need communication. So these, these base stations, these booms that we could put up with our antennas on it to provide communication for, you know, severe damages and things like that, it’s, it’s great to know that we’re here to help the people and serve the public. So,
Damon Pistulka 33:29
yeah, you think about what it’s like when a tornado goes through an area or a hurricane comes into the coast someplace and just rips out everything. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that that really saves lives, because now they can first responders put it up, we’ve got, you know, we’ve got our backup systems going, we were before that. It wasn’t as good. And, you know, there, there are good things that come out of bad situations. There are,
Curt Anderson 33:54
you know, unfortunately, with every tragedy, there’s an opportunity or a solution to you know, fall back on that, you know, you think of like baby car seats, like, you know how long it took us to get there, that type of thing. I’m old enough Daymond remember of you know, I remember flying as a kid on a airplane and they would have smoking. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. I mean, like, like, Hey, do you want to sit in the smoking section or smoking section on the airplane. I mean, now, it’s a federal federal crime. But I first off, I want to just thank each and every one of you for all three of you what you guys are doing for our economy, for our communities for our country. Joe? Man, you’re totally giving me goosebumps, you know, talking about some of the solutions. When Kyle was on last time we were talking about that. 911 I remember everybody on stage was kind of getting choked up. I mean, it’s, it’s it’s challenging to talk about that day in our history without having been having some type of impact. But even on a daily basis, you’re helping the police, the first responders, state troopers, FBI, CIA, I mean, you’re helping all sorts of folks, Melinda, you’re providing you know, great power solutions. And Mike you We’re helping our furry loved ones, you know, unfortunately, sometimes we treat our dogs better than we do our, you know, you know other other folks, right? Damn it. And so you know, it just so admirable and just the excite these are just three examples of just the awesomeness of what’s going on in USA mint manufacturing. So like, Guys, it’s manufacturing month please go out high five, give a hug a handshake or whatever to your local manufacturer because they are truly the heroes of our economy. Mike, let’s keep it rolling. Let’s come to you, my friend. What advice would you share for any of our fat manufacturers, retailers, consumers, like to anybody out there to say, Hey, man, you’re kind of getting me fired up? Do you have any advice for manufacturers that want to start reshoring themselves any thoughts there?
Mike Haragan 35:46
I mean, you’ve got to, you can’t keep doing what you’ve been doing. I mean, over time, people are going to catch up. So you’ve got to keep innovating and coming out with something new, and otherwise, you’re just gonna fall behind. Awesome.
Curt Anderson 36:06
Okay, excellent advice, words of wisdom brilliance there from our dear friend, Mike. Melinda, for any folks out there that are considering maybe if there’s a distributor out there that’s been importing, or maybe like, they’re, some of the big companies that have been on that have been on manufacturing has been overseas, we’re starting to hear some trends, where some of the bigger companies are starting to bring some manufacturing back, any advice, any steps that they could take to really start crushing it the way that paddock is as far as like, onshoring?
Melinda Marks 36:33
Sure, I mean, just like in any, any change, so there’s really got to do your research, you know, your research on what kind of equipment you might need, how you are going to attract and retain talent, your price point, you know, price points gonna be different. You get what you pay it, you know, you get what you pay for. So when you’re thinking about your pricing stuff, strategy, now there’s, like Mike said, I mean, it’s a huge just mind shift, to prepare just yourself for the entire team for on top of, of course, all the physical planning that goes goes involved, you know, if we’re getting something from overseas and is manufactured with a huge piece of equipment, just the sheer fact of having that space in your in your building and getting it hooked up and running properly. I mean, it’s it’s things that, that there’s just an awful lot of planning involved, but it can be done no and, and once you’re there, I think, just be proud, you know, and see, and there’s you know, there’s ways to always improve it, but the the biggest take away and advice I would have would be be proud be proud of that you are even considering supporting our country even more by bringing things back to the state. And when you get there, be proud and get it out there. Let people know Hey, this is what we’re doing and market it Curt, your Dynamo with that marketing and you taught us that, hey, make that front and center on your website. People know you you fully support our country’s support our workers, our economy, you want you know, you’re proud of our country. And so I would say take a lot of pride in it. Don’t be shy. Oh, man,
Curt Anderson 38:35
we’re just we’re just gonna take a moment and just savor that one right there. That was just so so Joe, you’re newer to the program. We have mic drop the mic moment. But then sometimes when it gets really juicy, then we just need to take a moment just to kind of savor what was just said there. So blended. That was spot on. Thank you. And what’s cool, guys, you know, like Melinda is providing solutions to companies like the Ritz major golf courses, hotels, so it’s just wonderful what you guys have going on? Joe, let’s come to you, my friend. Any tips, any advice that you would share with folks that are considering reshoring? Any thoughts that you have there?
Joe Collura 39:12
Absolutely. Again, hard to follow along with Melinda said and Mike, but I think we’re all on the path to the same goal, right? What do we do to keep America the way it is today and grow it right? Invest in your company, invest in your people, train your people, keep this stuff going keep in here right? And be proud. I love that. Be proud of what you do. Right? We we all have great companies make great products. We serve our community, we throw business around the community around the country, and that’s what it’s all about. Again, invest in the people too. I think the training, we’ve done a lot of investment in training we with the I’ll say younger kids Yes, I’m an old guy now I guess right. Young inherit but we’ve taken some young kids that He created careers for them that they didn’t even know that they would have them in the school and creating a vision for them. Right and, and that’s what it’s all about and you feel good about it right right here. You feel good about it and and you’re proud of it right and so you know, that’s that’s my advice to anybody out there listening and they own a company work in a company running the company overseeing or even if the floor sweeper it’s important everybody to try to grow a career path and invest right. And yeah, there’s my there’s my spiel. Opposites was awesome,
Curt Anderson 40:37
man. Oh, my goodness gracious. Are you guys fired up? Or what man? And Joe the cool thing is that psycho you if I’m not mistaken, you have multiple second generation of folks. Kyle’s the president of the company, her kids are in a company. I think Chris, Chris gets I think does it give us is a child in the company. So it’s great seeing that next generation coming in? You know?
Joe Collura 41:03
clewd my son, my son’s working here now. Yeah, awesome. Awesome. Yeah, it’s a family. They had family owned feel and that’s what that’s the guy. That’s great.
Curt Anderson 41:15
Yeah, I know. Andy, their sales rep hurt his daughter was in customer service for a while so it was great like you go in the company and it’s the second generation and Melinda you know, I get a kick out of seeing this one demon I walk them through. I walk into paddock and apparently like you need to you need to look like you’re on the cover of GQ to work at Petco because I walk in it’s like, these young college kids that are like, just strikingly handsome. I’m like, Who are these guys? And it was like it was it was her nephew and like all these young college kids and so same thing like you’re bringing in young folks to the company.
Damon Pistulka 41:51
I was sick and Kurt, did you iron your shirt before you went?
Curt Anderson 41:58
Gaming so we have a running joke when Damon knights Malveaux together he has to do by ironing because like I’m I’m Mike I’m a disaster. I’m like a fashion disaster. I’m like, never I travel without Damon I text him a picture of me trying to iron I’m like, dude. Well, yeah, so I walked in the paddock. And it’s like all these kids, they go to Iowa. And just, you know, Melinda, you’re bringing in young folks into the company, you’re doing a great job, and just wonderful people in the floor. You want to scratch on that a little bit of just like the young folks that you’re bringing into the company.
Melinda Marks 42:29
Sure. But I’m gonna start with the older first. Because we have a couple of folks that have been there since 1976. And my dad, it was actually my dad, investing in their development. And to this day, I mean, he talks so highly of my dad and what he’s done for him and his family. And so that’s, that’s, I mean, a touching. So
Curt Anderson 42:57
I met that gentleman that you’re talking about, right?
Melinda Marks 43:01
Was it hacked? Yes, it was.
Curt Anderson 43:03
I met Hector and so. So Joe, we’ve got somebody that has up. But you know, you know what, thank you for bringing that up, Melinda, because we’re Damon. We do that a lot. We talked about like young folks. But you know what? Somebody came on the program. We were talking about young people, I think it might have been Nancy O’Leary. She’s gonna be our guests in a week from Friday. And she said, You know what manufacturing is not just for young folks. And we had another one I said, like, women in manufacturing, and they’re like, it’s not just for young folks. It’s not just for women, manufacturing for everybody. And Melinda, thank you for bringing that up. Because Okay, let’s celebrate Joe 42 years at one company, Joe, what, like, how that is such a you know, you just don’t hear that anymore. Joe, what’s been going on for 40 years that just kept you on the hook at stake for 40 years.
Joe Collura 43:47
I don’t want to shock myself. But the company believed in me, I worked hard invested in me and did a lot of training been in school and grant different programs. But you know, given an opportunity, right? And I, I feel the same I put the any employee under my wing and if I see the same in them, no matter what, we’re going to invest in them. Right. But for me, yeah, I, I’ve always said this, I’ve worked for the same company for 42 years. But yet I feel like I’ve worked for several companies over the years because we’ve changed so much. And like Mike said, We’re not sitting back we’ve changed direction and and we went through some people and consultants and you know, other management, but we’ve stuck with it. We’ve changed we’ve grown and we believe in each other and again, I’m blessed and our company is believed to me and just like Linda said with the gentleman from 76 And your father believed in people, Kyle’s mom, she believed in me too. So I’m a believer. I love carrying people along and showing them a path and it feels good. So yeah. Me young at heart. I
Curt Anderson 44:59
hope you Well, God’s listening to this comment here Daymond. So hey, we celebrate not manufacturing, not just for what it is, but for what it represents progress, adaptability, and the ability to transform ideas into reality about this. So let’s raise a toast to the manufacturing sector and other people who keep the wheels of innovation turning. So man talk about a drop the mic
Damon Pistulka 45:24
there. Yeah. Yeah, it’s just the chats going crazy now after this, and it’s, it really is it’s a special thing, and the people in it know it. And I feel sorry for people that haven’t experienced it. I do. I just do.
Curt Anderson 45:40
It’s a great thing. So Michael, let’s, I know, we could keep you guys here all day. And I know you guys have super busy running manufacturing facilities and operations. So Michael, let’s start winding down. Let’s start taking it home, my friend, any words of wisdom, parting thoughts that you would like to share, other than we certainly we want people go to Amazon or into your favorite retail places to buy indigenous pet treats? Any thoughts that you want to share with anybody as we close out today?
Mike Haragan 46:05
Well, I mean, the Indigenous Dental, those do help your dog. I mean, it’s just, it’s a good product, and I’m glad to be making it. Because I’ve seen the effects and has had with other pets, and it’s just a positive thing to do when you’re actually making something where you can see the effects of it on other people or pets. And it’s, it’s a good thing when you can do that, and having such confidence that of the quality of your product that you’re actually making.
Curt Anderson 46:38
And it’s just, it’s just how warming is that when you just like, you know, Joe to use your word, you know, when you believe in your product, and you just feel just such a firm faith in it. And just and I’m telling you guys firsthand, it is an amazing product. My dog loves it. So Melinda, my friend, any parting thoughts, words of wisdom that you want to share with folks that kind of capping off our little conversation today? Sure. So
Melinda Marks 47:02
yes, and I have a quote, and this is so terrible, because I can’t tell you who said it is I’m sure you’ve heard it, everything you want is on the other side of fear. And to me, that just resonates so well. And so yeah, this is a big decision. If there are people out there that are considering moving things back to the States. It’s a huge it’s a big leap. It really is and requires a lot of planning and but but I think at least for me, sometimes I can get hung up hung up on should I should I you know, but it’s it’s just taking that leap. And so I’m embarrassed that I can’t think of who it was instead if you that’s a trivia question for you, Curt Come on.
Curt Anderson 47:51
I think it was Damon. I think I think Damon quoted No, I’m gonna give them a date. But you know what? Dropped a mic right there. That was just another profile, man. Oh my gosh, this thing was like 10 times. Like, Joe, my friend like you just been just everybody’s running through walls right now. Thanks to you. Any parting thoughts, words of wisdom that you want to share with folks today to kind of cap off the conversation?
Joe Collura 48:16
Yeah, man, just stay the course. You know, believe in people listen to the people. And you know, I do think he takes the risk and manufacturing to kind of hit it on the mark. But yeah, you know, the glass half full or empty, you know, have at it takes a risk. And, you know, bring some jabs back here. Let’s let’s keep the work going in here and grow this economy and stay strong. And you’ll get there right? Believe in your company and your people and all things will come out. We’ll give it a chance. Right.
Curt Anderson 48:46
Chance, man. All right, that and this was so good. All right. So we’ve got Cindy, jump to the comment here. We love manufacturing. And hey, Cindy, thank you guys. So Damon, did you have a lead? Did you have a little Did you have a little question here for our friends or
Damon Pistulka 49:02
what? Like did you know I’m good? I’m good.
Curt Anderson 49:05
You’re good. Okay, so, Damon, takeaways, Gods? Are you gonna read anything that you want to anything that, you
Damon Pistulka 49:11
know, just, there’s there, you know, I think is a whole new playing field, right? You go 15 years ago? offshoring was, was that you back 20 years ago, offshoring was really, really popular. And now you look and we’ve learned that there’s some there’s some risks in it. There’s some other costs that we really need to consider. And I wrote down someone that we know Harry Moser, who’s been, you know, part of the reshoring initiative for many years speaking about this and you know, he’s even got his reshoring calculator that you can get this thing is this is just really an exciting time to be in manufacturing.
Curt Anderson 49:50
It is an exciting time. So we’ll we’ll wind down on this so I we saw our last time we said hey, what’s everybody’s walk up song and so Hey Melinda you had TNT from AC DC Joe, do you have a walk up song like if you’re walking up to the plate to hit in the winning run Would you ever walk up song that you would that you want blaring on the loudspeakers or something that the bills game that you that really juices you up
Joe Collura 50:14
bills make me want to shout
Curt Anderson 50:21
will go for any nine bills. It’s hard to manage anybody’s at a Bills fan. But if you’re in Chicago and Indianapolis, maybe you’re not a Bulls fan, but we’ll just go with that song shout for everybody out there. So guys, if you’ve been sitting around for the past week, we’ve been going live for 15 minutes. I encourage you, I invite you if you want to give a stand up, it’s a great time to stand and stretch. And hey, let’s give a big standing ovation for our esteemed panelists here today. So a big shout out to my big shout out to Melinda Big shout out to Joe and guys, thank you, each all three of you. Thank you for what you guys do for our communities, our country, our economy. This was just absolutely awesome. And man, let’s close out in this. First off, I wish everybody an amazing, wonderful safe weekend as we’re starting to wind down the month of October. But I also encourage you, man just be someone’s inspiration. Gosh, if if you need inspiration, just hit the little come back and catch a replay and hit the little replay rewind button and listen to these three. And man you are just going to be so fired up spread the word with friends, family, your dog people you went to high school with let them know that lets them know that manufacturing is alive and well. Damon, dude, take it away, man. I gotta go run through a wall somewhere. So
Damon Pistulka 51:35
all right, Kurt. Thanks again, everyone, all of our guests today. Thanks for everyone that was commenting. And those of you that you need to adjust your settings a little bit in your profile so we can see your your face on here. But thanks for the comments anyway. But we just see LinkedIn user in here. But thanks everyone for stopping by. And Matt, I’m sorry, but I know you’re a Packers fan. But anyway, so I just had to go there had to go there. And Melinda is with me on that.
Melinda Marks 52:02
I went yeah.
Damon Pistulka 52:06
But we got to love him. Thanks, everyone for being here. Thanks to our guests. Hey, let’s just go out and make October the best manufacturing month ever.
Melinda Marks 52:16
Love it. Thank you.
Damon Pistulka 52:18
We’ll be back next week. Thanks a lot, everyone.