Monday Manufacturing Motivation – with Bob Zaruta

Curt Anderson  00:01

Hey guys happy Monday sorry for the little delay we low tech challenges but man, we conquered those. Damon those tech challenges can’t take us down. They didn’t know who they are today. Did they? Right? No. So guys happy Monday, Damon, how was your weekend?

Damon Pistulka  00:16

It was great.

Curt Anderson  00:18

All right. ABS wonderful, amazing, beautiful weekend. We’re like full throttle holiday season. I know we’re here today like you know, um, you know, she’s got over Christmas shopping taken care of bless her. So, guys, welcome to manufacturing Monday motivation. It is an honor and privilege to be here every Monday with you guys. We just find these incredible, wonderful stories. I think they find us. He’s an extremely motivating opportunities going on in manufacturing around the country. And boy, this is a blockbuster event today. So Bob, happy Monday, my friend. How are you doing?

Bob Zaruta  00:53

I’m doing fantastic Kurt. And Damon, good to meet you.

Curt Anderson  00:58

Absolutely. So this is what also guys we have Bob’s Ruta. Bob, you are a repeat, man. We don’t get we don’t have a ton of repeat guests here. But yes, we had such a great time. Last time you run was about a year is perfect. It was October of 21. Man Time flies. And you guys are doing so much amazing work at the NW IRC. So you know what, but before we dig into NW IRC, and we’re going to talk about MEPs. Bob, my first question for you today, my friend. We’re going to kick things off here. I didn’t do I don’t think I’m going to here last time with you. I’m gonna go here. Little guy growing up. I believe you’re a Pennsylvania guy when you were a little guy growing up. Who was your hero? When you’re a little guy growing up in Pennsylvania man, you’ve had this illustrious career. You’ve fortune 500. Company MEPs. You’re just a passionate advocate for manufacturing. Who was your hero growing up?

Bob Zaruta  01:48

Wow. Okay, so even though Kurt even though I’m a Pennsylvania guy, when I was growing up, I was a big football fan. And my favorite team was America’s favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys. Nice. And so when the when you started asking that question immediately popped into my mind was Tom Landry. The guy was a class act, in my opinion. And he ran an organization. He was a forward thinker, innovative in many ways. And he just, you know, he just ran a top notch organization. And so that’s what came to mind. And that’s my answer. That’s your

Curt Anderson  02:24

story. You’re sticking with it. And boy, you know, anybody that’s a millennial, they’re like, Who are you talking about? So I was just the epitome of class boy, whether you like the Cowboys or hated the Cowboys, he was the epitome of cat of class. He had the famous hat on the sideline, you know, had his suit and tie on and boy was just a dynamo. great family man. Wonderful Christian guy. And so just a great role model. So Bob, that was that time Landry that was the first time we’ve had that answer in the on the program came you remember Tom Landry? A right. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you didn’t like the Cowboys? Man. They drove me crazy, because they did. Now they did was when, and he just displayed just great leadership. And that’s going to really go on with our theme today, Bob. So Bob, you’re the director, CEO of NW IRC. That is the you are part of the Pennsylvania network of MEPs manufacturing, extension partnerships. Before we take a deep dive into NW IRC. Let’s share with everybody that folks out there if they’re not familiar with the MVPs, what is the manufacturing extension partnership network.

Bob Zaruta  03:28

So the network is a group of 51 centers, one in every state and Puerto Rico with a common mission of helping the small mid sized manufacturing company improve their ability to compete, to grow to create and retain jobs, and source product here in the United States. So that is national network and the NW. IIRC is part of the Pennsylvania MEP. We’re one of seven centers with that same mission here in the state. Awesome. Well,

Curt Anderson  04:03

Bob, and what I love and so you know, you’ve been around the block, man, you’ve been, you’re a veteran of the MEP network, 22 years if I’m not mistaken. And so you’ve had a great career fortune 500 Talk a little bit about like, what attracted you to manufacturing and specifically the IP network? So go look that back backwards. We’re talking about Tom Tom Landry being your hero, you go off to college, you start your career fortune 500. Talk a little bit about your career, and how did you find yourself in this manufacturing MEP world?

Bob Zaruta  04:32

Well, in my past, prior to joining the network, I certainly worked with many manufacturing companies and provided them capabilities and services. But it was different. It was more of that a b2b. That commercial approach. Industrial Yes, but still commercial. Yeah, in this space that I’m in and have been for the past 22 years. What attracted me and what has kept me really motivated. and inspire throughout the years has been that it is a public private partnership. It’s a not for profit. It is about the true mission of the organization, and doing really important work and doing it really well. And then having the satisfaction and the reward coming from helping small manufacturing and mid sized companies to create more employment opportunities and better employment opportunities and be more competitive. It’s that good satisfying type work that takes you out of that b2b high pressured commercial. Yeah, not that it’s not high pressure, but it’s a different type of pressure.

Curt Anderson  05:39

And I had the honor and privilege I was with yourself and your team the other day, and we’re going to dig into your team, but you’ve put together talk about man, boy, I’m so glad you went with Tom Landry. There’s going to come a lot of themes with that conversation today. But you know, you You’re an amazing coach. I’ve gotten to know your team over the years and met everybody in person the other day. And so you’ve done an amazing job there. Let’s take a deep dive in on what’s going on in Pennsylvania, you know, very industrial state, you know, heartbeat of America, going back to like the stork, you know, in Pittsburgh, all around the state. Now, as you mentioned, I think you mentioned one of seven centers. You originally ran with the N E IRC if I’m not mistaken, right, the Northeast? Is that. Is that where you started off at? Yes. Okay, so we started with northeast. So of course, there’s seven centers. We got Philly, we got central western Alaska. So talk a little bit about like your experience with the Pennsylvania MEPs.

Bob Zaruta  06:31

Yes. So, you know, it’s my colleagues around the state, you know, we share the same mission. But we also have some uniqueness to each of our regions, which is, I think, makes us in Pennsylvania, a successful model within the MEP network. For example, in northwest Pennsylvania, we’ve got a high concentration of plastics in the Erie area, we’ve got a high concentration of tool and dye in the Meadville and Crawford County area, you go over just a little east, from Erie, and we’re in the north, the North Central Region of the NW ERC. And powdered metal in the carbon industry is like the capital of the world there, right. And then you went around the state, you can find that there is some similarity. So those sectors, but there’s different sectors that dominate the regions. And so what’s really, really, I think, important and meaningful within the IRC network is that the centers can, can be as close to the ground and to the manufacturer sectors that are that are that are dominating their regions and be able to respond. And I think that’s a uniqueness in differentiating, but you know, we have the same same challenges manufacturers across the state and across the country are right now challenged with a shortage of labor. And, and, and being able to not only attract, but retain their talent, and the better they can do that and be an employer of choice, the opportunities for those manufacturers to improve their competitiveness and grow, Will is better. And so that is common across the state and the nation for all intensive purposes.

Curt Anderson  08:09

And traditionally, at the MVP, so if somebody is out there, and they’re new to the manufacturing extension partnership, so you know, continue the lineup, the menu, the expertise that MEPs bring to manufacturers include things like continuous improvement, ISO, leadership, HR, you know, so all sorts of laundry lists. And we have some really cool things that we’re going to dig into today that you have, at the NW IRC. talk just a little bit of some of the, in the wealth of talent that MVP attracts, but just what walk folks through the process, or like some of the menu items at the MEPs and like how you guys come in and tackle a project once you roll up your sleeves and get

Bob Zaruta  08:49

involved. Okay. So I think it really begins with how we approach to manufacture when when our business advisors, and this is true across the network, they’re the first point of contact, they go out there doing outreach, to undertook to reach as many manufacturers to build relationships, position themselves as a trusted advisor because of their expertise, and really go about it from a very objective independent perspective. We’re not going in looking to to sell something we’re going in to understand what’s going on in that business. Where does that business want to go? And what are the challenges and issues they face and then be a responder to that and bring to the table the resources that can best match up with the highest priorities that that manufacturer has. So through that process, we identify where the most high priority needs are, and then we match up resources and those resources come from a deep bench of experts and we can call on other NDPs and other IRCs in Pennsylvania to tap their resources. Those resources can also be on staff at an MD up. And so we’ve got this big bench we pull from that bench, we match up the resources to the best of our ability for that company. And then what happens is the company says, Okay, I want to go forward with this project. And that’s when they commit to put their dollars into their improvement, everything up into that point is because of the public funding that we receive, to help us do all of that. And then once the company decides to go forward, then the company’s investing their dollars. And that’s that public private partnership that I mentioned at the beginning of today.

Curt Anderson  10:34

Yeah, I love that. And so Damon, we just had a dear friend on the program a month ago, mutual friend, Bob, Max Kreuk. And Max was program and so boy, just Jamin first shameless plug. So our max and myself, our daughters are figure skaters we just had our Christmas program, man, we’re like, We’re like two dads who are just like sobbing, watching our daughter’s, you know, beautiful ice skaters on this past Saturday. So I was with max over the weekend, Bob, and I shared that I’m like, Hey, Bob’s coming on the program. And he was talking about a wonderful case study that you guys have with a company Channellock I put the link in the check chatbox statement. The it is mind blowing. Bob, if I’m not mistaken, I’m gonna say like, remember, when Max was talking about lead times, he talked a little bit about a case study, yeah, 13 weeks and nine days, or I don’t know, like if I Bob, if I have that, right. But you know, just share, like some of these powerful experiences or how like you’re able to come in, and really make a massive difference with your manufacturer. Yeah,

Bob Zaruta  11:30

thank you, Kurt, for that Max has done great projects like channel lock, and has had a significant and through those projects, we’ve had a significant impact on that business. And, and we look to continue to do that with our clients. Of course, not just with one project, but those relationships. But that’s how we’re measured to so this whole national network has been doing this for gosh, I think back in the mid 90s, which was the right thing to do, they established this accountability, so that we can track the success of our project. So whether we go in to do a process improvement, like like Max did, or we go in and help a company become ISO 9000 certified, to allow them to get new markets and new business from those markets. Or maybe we’re helping like today companies with the cybersecurity piece so that they can get work within the DOD supply chain, all of that can have such a big impact on the company. And back to that accountability. When we work with the project with a client. We hope that down the road about nine months or so when when when they get a call to do a survey through our federal stakeholder that they participate, because that gives them the opportunity to say this project would end WRC or the Illinois MEP made a difference with our top line or bottom line, we created jobs where we retain job that that collection of data is being done across the country. And that’s a powerful way and that’s why we stay in business all these years, 30 plus years because of that results that we produce. Right that you know.

Curt Anderson  13:05

So by that I caught a little bit of our last interview and Damon at the end of the interview, Molly was she was behind the scenes. I’m like, I’m like Molly, I feel like I’m like ready to run through a wall. I’m like listening to Newt Rockne of football. Again, coming back to Tom Landry. So, guys, anybody out there you’re just joining us or see you’re catching us on replay. We’re here with Bob’s Ruta, the CEO, President of NW IRC, that’s a MEP Manufacturing Extension Partnership, located in northwest Pennsylvania, great manufacturing. Like you mentioned, Damon, right in your wheelhouse. Do plastic injection motors and yeah.

Damon Pistulka  13:40

Yeah, you know, the MEPs. I mean, the more we talk to the different states, the different areas within the states, it really is something how you as the MEP resources can specialize and go, Hey, our geography, we do this and that product predominantly, and really get good at it. Which is incredible to be able to help companies like that. Oh, we got Max

Curt Anderson  14:05

and Speak of the devil, you know, class act. I love working with them. So you know, and Max, so thank you, dude, we had a great time. I’ve gotten nice pictures of his daughter and our families together over the weekend. But, Bob, so you have a great, unique perspective. I’m going to dig into your team one second. And so that was a great segue from from Max. But you have a unique perspective because if I recall last time you and I spoke in camera in unite met in Chicago in person this year. You have gone around to MEPS helping with like different training. Can you talk a little bit about your your experience of like going to different MEPs and again, you bring that talent, that expertise back to your center. Talk about that a little bit?

Bob Zaruta  14:41

Yeah, sure. Well, this takes us back to the time when I was with the northeast, Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center. Nieper. And at the time of and this is back in the 2005 2006 timeframe. Unfortunately, there were a number of MVPs that had Some of their funding cut, mostly at the state level, things were turning in within the economy system states. And so those MVPs knew that they had to improve their ability to do the outreach that I talked about where their business advisors go out and build those relationships and help the companies to move forward with these improvement projects. So the area that I had expertise, and through some certifications, was a solution selling practitioner implementation called a subject matter expert. And so there was a methodology that I was able to I had, I was fortunate I had the privilege to go around the country work with a dozen MEP s, helping their staff to embrace the methodology to make them better at going out and more difficult times when funding was cut, but also to pull their manufacturers in and help some of their clients improve their marketing and sales as well. And it was through that three year period or so that I had a chance to meet many of the center directors and people down at NIST MEP and started building relationships that benefited me many times over from then on to current time. So yeah,

Curt Anderson  16:17

and that was awesome. And again, like you and I met in Chicago at the at the National MEP conference, and it was just, you know, just the demon, the energy, the passion of folks, you know, dedicated to helping manufacturers and everybody had a different walk of life. Every was like everybody came from somewhere, you know, had fortune 500 manufacturing, like you said, Bob, deep, deep bench of subject matter experts. Let’s dive into your team. You know, and I hope I’m not so we’ve got Tom, Andy, you’ve got lead. We’ve got to Lisa’s Lisa, your advisor, we got Lisa, in what you’ve done is Lisa, you have a culture expert. And so I’m hoping to get Lisa on on our program here. Super excited to talk about that. Dear, dear friends of Molly want to give a shout out lots of love to my friend Molly, Jennifer and I go way back, Robin, Mike, of course, Lori, I hope I’m not the nd I said Andy, I think I covered everybody that we get the whole team. So you’ve put together really I won’t even say all stars like you’ve put together a Hall of Fame team. You have several veterans, Mike, God bless them. Daymond served in the Marine Corps in at 911. Join the National Guard, where I’m located and was going down to the city and helping out at 911. Jennifer Baker served in the Navy Tom serve, you know, just the amount of talent is just off the charts on your team. My question for you, Bob, how’d you do it? Man?

Bob Zaruta  17:39

How do ya really well? Well, you nailed it, Kurt. It’s all about the team. And Kim and Teresa are included too. And they’re the CFO and the Accounting Manager. And they’re more behind the scenes but just as important to the team. Yeah, I’m blessed to say that we’ve got a strong team, some of the same players that were here when I arrived the six and a half years ago from Northeast Pennsylvania. And we’ve added we’ve added the other talent, and we seem to be doing things right. And and and I hope it continues. But, you know, this, you know, this piece of culture not only applies to the culture of our manufacturers that we’re helping them, but it’s also our own culture. Right. And it’s what what we do here, and I’ll tell you when you joined us last week with our team virtually and you know that you were you were on the card first. And then we add the rest of that day and another half day after that. Yeah. And by the end of the day and a half. I mean, the energy, the excitement, the positiveness of the staff, in many ways just kept coming out. And that makes me feel good. From my seat. Certainly. So

Curt Anderson  18:52

yeah, it was again, just an honor. You know, because a number of folks I knew virtually cup, Jen, you know, like Jen and I like crossed paths for years, we’d never met in person. And so like, just, you know, it just I’m glad you know, hopefully knock on wood COVID is lifting and just, you know, now we can get back in person and just to see Mike and then I saw like the gentleman that was speaking right after me. He and I are dear friends you know, Drew’s a cybersecurity expert, Damon, he’s gonna be in our program next year. So, you know, again, it was just a privilege. So you have just amazing rockstars that are going out with, you know, literally, you know, how many counties do you guys cover?

Bob Zaruta  19:28

So we have 13 counties, and wow, look at a map of Pennsylvania. It’s almost the upper quarter quadrant, right? Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s very, very spread out. We’ve got about 10,000 plus square miles. So there’s a lot of windshield time. Yeah. In between the towns and communities.

Curt Anderson  19:47

Yeah, and just you know, so David, just kind of give everybody a geography, you know, like, it’s just north of Pittsburgh, kind of like, you know, any State College, any Penn State fans out there. So he’s like, you know, kind of covering that whole area. And again, just a long legacy. Out of oil going, you know, these are manufacturers, some of our going back to the 19. You know, 89 Yeah. And there’s a long history of oil in this area. And manufacturing, as Bob has mentioned, Bob, let’s dig into the super exciting topic that we want to talk about. Now, last time when you’re on the program, I asked you a question. I said, What is so cool about manufacturing, there was a program going on, you know, throughout the Pennsylvania MEP. What’s so cool about manufacturing? And I think, you know, you and I started scratching the surface. But now you’ve got a year on your belt, you have high school and high school enterprise towards manufacturing, can you share what’s going on there?

Bob Zaruta  20:37

Yeah, thank you. This is, this is so exciting. So we, we launched this program three years ago, this is the third school year. And it began at high school in Erie, McDowell High School part of the mill creek Township school district. They, they certainly had equipment, and they had a lab, and they were bringing their students in to that lab for curriculum and, and some practical experience, what what we brought to them was the concept of a manufacturing student run enterprise, where the students would be running a business not just producing, but doing everything from the front end of marketing and sales to the back end of accounting, quality control, inspection, you name it part of the enterprise and, and then actually produce real parts for local companies or companies anywhere. And I mean, real parts where they would actually get the print, build the part, make sure it meets the quality ship, that invoice the manufacturer, the manufacturer pays the club at the school, and they learn how to drive a bottom line. And this has been lit needless to say, well received, the first year at McDowell they had they doubled their expectation, we thought we’d have eight kids in the program, there was 21, it went to 55 students in Year number two, and now it’s at 65 in the school had a cap it because they just don’t have the bandwidth right at the moment, but they’re looking at a big expansion that’s gonna allow that to go up probably to 100 students a year. So

Damon Pistulka  22:18

that’s incredible. That’s just

Bob Zaruta  22:21

because you know, it’s, it’s, it’s energizing Yes, people and given them exposure to something that I can’t tell you the number of students that said, you know, what, if it wasn’t for this program, I had no thoughts about maybe a career in manufacturing, I didn’t even know what that meant. And when they get exposure in this way, it’s like lighting there. You know, the light bulb goes out this, this isn’t what I want to do. Some are going right into the workforce, some are going on continuing their education, and now they’ve got manufacturing engineering in mind when they return to the, to the workplace. So all good stuff.

Damon Pistulka  22:57

Yeah. It’s so it’s so cool to see this. It’s so cool to see us because like you said, you know, even myself, I grew up in the Midwest on a big farm. I didn’t love building stuff. I didn’t even know what manufacturing was until my second year in college. Right? I didn’t even consider it as a career. And once I was inside a manufacturing company, I was like, Holy heck, I found it, like the sky opened up and the angel started singing. And these kids aren’t exposed to it. And there are so many people, so many kids. I saw with my kids growing up that kids do not understand that manufacturing, in the trades, or going to college has so many opportunities for everyone. Because it’s not just it’s not dirty, dingy or anything like people think anymore. It’s high tech, it takes a lot of skill it takes it takes a lot of skill just to make this stuff if that’s what you’re doing, or just to do the accounting and all levels of education throughout. It’s incredible. It’s incredible. And seeing the kids involved, I mean Matt goosey out of Wisconsin, he and his dad started the school machining enterprise outside of a school there as well and yours like I mean like tent not in the 90s but I think in the early 2000s or something like that. And Matt’s machining company has an average age employed less than 30 Right? How do you see that you have to get people exposed to this stuff. So incredible watch it this is

Curt Anderson  24:34

so mad I was like I don’t know who thought of the name of this program but manufacturing Monday motivation boy this is like so you’re giving me chills like I’m getting goosebumps like just so excited about this couple of shout outs guys here if you’re just joining us here we got cargo Margot are happy holidays to you my friend and hey, how about Whitney I forgot Whitney is a Penn State alum defense state Easton and she gives a little We are of course so guys We’re with Bob’s Ruta, the CO president of NW IRC today, MVP in Pennsylvania, and Bob is talking about this amazing, incredible program, a high school driven enterprise. Bob, take us deeper. Sure, like brainchild like, if somebody’s out there, if there’s an organization another a high school teacher, somebody’s out there like, man, Bob, how did you do it? How did you get this party started? You know, just share a little bit like the brainchild, the thought behind this, like, how did you get this off the ground? And how do you go from zero from an idea to 65? where it needs to be kept walk us through that process?

Bob Zaruta  25:37

Well, you know, it’s, yeah, it takes takes a little bit of an effort, mostly because of, you know, introducing the concept and getting that awareness out there. I will start by saying that, you know, we’re seeing a common trend, that generally speaking, the number of high school students that are going into the machining, whether it’s at the vocational technical program, or within the high school has been declining. And we’re trying to reverse that, right. So what we do is, we typically start with the school, we, we talk about that we find out where the numbers are trending, what’s the data? And and, you know, what are some maybe some of the vision that they have, and, and recognizing the importance of preparing students for these these great careers in advanced manufacturing. And so it begins with the school, I can tell you that since the success we’ve had make Tao, we now have three other school districts that are already launched a student run enterprise, to right now, this semester, and one in January, we got the next one tee up. It’s take a little bit of time, but we’re starting to get that economy of scale. But we start with the school district. And what we do is we bring in the manufacturers around that school, and have conversation so that we can best understand what manufacturers are looking for in the talent and the needs, we then look to the assets that the school has, and we create a list, we do an inventory of assets, and then we begin to say, Okay, this is what we have, right now we’ve got to work in what we have within the school. And so what can we make with that with those assets. And then we could put a wish list together to say, Okay, if we had some additional funding, what would you buy that can help the local manufacturers and create this this talent pipeline, this talent stream. And so that’s kind of the the steps that we have followed. And once we get all that together, we we’ve been fortunate that there’s a program in Pennsylvania training to career grant program that we’ve been able to, to put together the successful application for all these school districts. And then we help create that. And each of these schools I mentioned we have for now, they’re all different, they have different parts within their school districts. And we’ve got to be able to adapt the model so that it fits to what the school has. But we’ve been able to do that the good news, and now we go on to build that grant application, hopefully get some funding. And again, we’ve been successful, we get that pilot money to help kick that first year off that first and second year off. And then we look to build sustainability. And there’s different ways we do that as well. So wow,

Curt Anderson  28:18

Bob, can you talk about like, so you go from 21? So there’s some excitement, you know, you’re like, man, we thought eight kids 21, show up 55 up to 65? Can you talk like, what’s what’s inspiring the kids? Is there? Is there an internal champion at the school? Like, walk us through it? How are you generating that? Well,

Bob Zaruta  28:39

the first credit goes out to the instructor we have we have an instructor, for example, at McDowell eyes Caliburn woods, and I mean, the guy is phenomenal. Okay, the kids respond to him, right. And so that’s a key component. And, and so and we have those instructors identified at these other schools too. But at the same time, I think, you know, what, what we’re finding that the students really have gravitated to, is they want, they want that real world practical experience. It’s different if you go to a shop and you make something, and at the end of that period of time that you made that piece of metal or that part typically goes in the trash can, right? Not in this case, this is these are real parts that are going out in the real world. And the students actually know that they’re going to a Home Depot, or they’re going to, you know, a web tech or they’re going to some other company. And so that real world practical experience, top of the list, the next thing that they’re really looking for is the to be able to use technology. These younger kids love technology, right? Yeah. So if you get them exposed to advanced manufacturing, CNC operation, you know, the robotic welder, these are the technologies that you know, light them up, right. The other thing that they want is they want to be able to have change of job OB they don’t want that repetitive, mundane same card every day, they want to solve problems, and they want to go on and make something and then go on and make something else and solve another problem. Those are the ingredients that are attracting the students in all these programs. And we’ll continue to add, you know, so that’s, that’s part of the secret sauce. I think

Curt Anderson  30:23

that is awesome. And we just think about the excitement Daymond we’ve been our buzzword, Bob, that we’ve been talking about on our show is like the saga, you know, we had a gentleman that came on the program a month ago, and he was talking about, like, how do some companies separate themselves? How to some companies, you know, versus the companies that vanish or find themselves are irrelevant? And he was talking about, you know, like, just generating that buzz, the excitement and like creating a saga, that just the mission statement on the wall? Yeah, you’re in what you’re describing is like this, you know, again, like, you know, we were talking a lot about sports, but like in McDowell was a great sports, high school, and, you know, sometimes ranked nationally, a different sports, and sort of thing is, you know, I’m here like, you know, it’s almost like a sports environment like these kids are, you know, they’re high fiving. They’re excited. They’re, you know, like you said, just, you have a phenomenal instructor, can this be replicated in other places? What would it take for another, another school author that’s hearing this, what would it take for them to replicate this?

Bob Zaruta  31:19

Well, I’m glad you brought up about the spirit parts in sort of keeping with the theme of like football and other sports. But I got to tell you that this was by design at McDowell. And they really were the ones that, you know, enlightened me on the power of this, even though I’ve, I’ve coached high school football. So yeah, but what they did is they truly wanted this group of students to create that, that that team, and that pride that goes around, so they quickly got into their own merchandise where they, the students will wear their McDowell manufacturing logoed merchandising prices in the hall. And this is the stuff that’s, you know, rubbing off and create that excitement in the hallways, they were the ones that really, you know, made that happen. And we’re just, we just make sure that we communicate that, in fact, we’ll bring students from other schools up to McDowell and and when they leave, they’re usually get a little bit of McDowell merchandise. And when they do, they go out and they go back and they wear it, but they know what’s coming next is their own branded logo of their own enterprise. And that’s what they’re looking forward to. It’s pretty cool. So

Curt Anderson  32:27

that is brilliant, man. What the swag, I love it and you don’t again, and what you’re describing, go back, you know, you know, we were in school, but just a few years ago, guys, right, just one or two years ago, but go back, you know, when you’re an underclassmen, you always looked up to like, you know, the seniors, the juniors that run the sports teams, or whatever, and by what I’m picturing are like, you know, the seniors or the upperclassmen walk around with their swag, and the young now now you’ve created a pipeline, where like, the younger kids that Emily and look up to the upperclassmen are like, well, I want to get into this program. I mean, like, you’re really creating a snowball, you’re seeing it with the knobs, right? I mean, it’s

Bob Zaruta  33:04

Yeah, yeah. You know, and you know, we’ve had success stories where a high school senior almost like a signing day in athletics, right? Yeah, yeah, we’re in May, they are the ones that are going into the directly to work for someone in the workforce. They actually agree to go to work for that company in May before they graduate. And so it’s like a like a signing day. And that’s it. Yeah. And then then we also I just got an email was incredible. It was a student that was in the program in the first year. She’s now in her second year at Purdue University. She writes back to the instructor and I get a copy of it. And she tells the story that she just got a high profile internship with a major major aeronautical company and she gives so much credit to the practical experience she got at McDowell manufacturing She said her exact words if it wasn’t for that opportunity, I would not have gotten this opportunity with this major company and she is going to have a lot of success and so of all these other we’re going to have a lot of these success stories and testimonials that gonna make the program fly even faster down the road so

Curt Anderson  34:18

Okay, Bob on our program, we have these things called the moment of silence where we just like we just it was just dude that was like a total mind map. Alright, everybody out there. How about a round of applause let’s fight let’s digest that for a second. How well would that be you know if you’re a sports fan, you know your favorite alma mater and you know, the superstar five star kid is going to you know, sign with your basketball program, your football program or whatever. But what you just described like this young woman, just picture her like her senior year and she has like Purdue on the table and maybe you know, a couple other big 10 teams or whatever and she chose her Purdue hat or produced t shirt and like, now like recruiting this buzz this energy she’s got When went to one of the top engineering schools in the country, and now lands an internship, Bob, God bless you, dude. Like what? Like, how does that make? Does that make you feel like look at the difference you’re making.

Bob Zaruta  35:12

And again, that’s why I stay in this because, um, you know, it’s that rewarding that satisfaction of doing very important meaningful work and trying to do the best you can at it. So well, this is

Curt Anderson  35:25

absolutely phenomenal. Okay, I want to be mindful of everybody’s time. I know we could talk we could be here all day, Bob and nuts, man, just do it. I’m ready to run through a wall again, every day. The program I like I’m just so fired up, you get your football coaching is coming out in you today. So as we wind down, so again, MEPs continuous improvement, you know, if you go on the NW IRC website, I dropped into the chat, you can see the about us page, you can meet the team, you’ve got case studies, success stories, you’ve got as Mirifica drop your events page into into the chat box, you’ve got some great events coming up anything outside, I haven’t covered or that we want to put out there about what’s going on at NWA or the NW IRC?

Bob Zaruta  36:05

Well, I’ve got to share this one. Because it just ties to this, developing the talent stream, you know, going forward for manufacturing. And, you know, you might be invited me back, you know, maybe in a year for this one, okay? On the front end of it, but it’s often running and it’s uniquely able to Cat me. And it’s it’s taking individuals who are on the autism spectrum, a high performing level one. And they have the innate ability to do detailed repetitive self discipline work and with technology. So we have a program right now we have four students that are going through this pilot, they’re going to finish up in January, my guess is they’re going to be hired by manufacturers as entry level CNC operators. And these individuals and their families and the future manufacturers that hire them are all going to benefit from it. It’s so exciting. These students are just matched up so well, Tu, Tu, Tu, Tu that type of work. And we have a collaborative community partnership with a whole bunch of of entities that are at the table that have put this together. And you know, we helped they introduced it in Crawford County, we’ve got a pilot scheduled to go in Erie, and we’re looking to expand this as well. So

Curt Anderson  37:27

that is awesome. I know you planted the seed last time you’re on we’re talking about like, you know, as you mentioned, uniquely abled opportunities for folks. And again, there’s so much exciting opportunities in manufacturing, we’re just seeing a big renaissance of resurgence in US manufacturing. And it just it just such an honor and privilege having a front row seat of seeing what the MEPs are doing to really drive the ship and just, you know, help our manufacturers, our manufacturers are the heroes and a backbone of our economy. You know, I think we lost our way through the 80s and 90s. And you know, now we’re just like just seeing just a wonderful resurgence here, Bob, and I just, you know, our hat is off to you. We salute you applaud you on leading the charge here for you know what you guys are doing at NWA IRC. What a great role model that you that you’ve created to share with other MSPs around the country. So Bob, as we wind down, we give a shout out to your entire team. With our friend Max crew, you work with other third party resources. You’re not like you’re doing some programs. I know I’ve had the honor and privilege we’ve done some webinars so we’re helping folks with with marketing and what have you. My last question for you as we wind down so we opened up the program with our dear friend Tom Landry being your hero growing up, as in man, what a great motivation, motivating What did we spend 3040 minutes together here today? My last question for you today is matter of fact, you know, if you don’t mind, can I can I bring up our Chicago conversation with with our friend dusty, can I bring up that one? So I like to ask at the end of our program. Bob, what is inspiring you? We’re coming down to the end of 22 coming in 23? Who are what is your inspiration coming into the new year? And then I’m going to we’re going to talk about our conversation in Chicago.

Bob Zaruta  39:16

So you’re asking about my inspiration going into the new year?

Curt Anderson  39:19

Yep. Who or what is your inspiration going into the new year?

Bob Zaruta  39:23

Yeah, well, I’m gonna say two ladies in my life. Oh, perfect. And

Curt Anderson  39:29

that’s a perfect eye. Is that a segue for my conversation?

Bob Zaruta  39:31

My my mom, who is turned 87 and is battling a little cancer. I think she’s beating it. And she’s, she’s a motivator for her effort to do that. And my lovely wife, who in 2023 will be a couple 50 years. So I don’t know how many people are in that category. But I feel like that’s, that’s something that I wanted to share and tie into your question.

Curt Anderson  40:00

Well, thank you. What’s mom’s name?

Bob Zaruta  40:02

Teresa?

Curt Anderson  40:04

Teresa? Well, hey, first off, God bless Teresa. We’re sending thoughts and prayers. You know what? Cancer doesn’t stand a chance against Teresa, man. As matter of fact, I feel bad for cancer when they’re trying to take on Teresa. So you tell tell Teresa, we’re sending our thoughts and prayers in what’s your wife, Debbie, Debbie. So, Damon. So Bob and I are in Chicago, and we’re chatting. And I don’t even know how this came up. And I’m sitting with Bob. And next thing, Bob, you shared with me that you’ve been with Debbie for nearly 50 years. And I think 45 year anniversary coming up. Is that do I have that cradle? Next year? It’ll be 4440. Okay, 44 years, man. So hey, Bob. All right. So my last question was, who’s your inspiration? So it’s Teresa and Debbie. I have one last question. I’ll let you go. How? What dude, what’s the secret? What’s the secret to a long lasting, wonderful, happy marriage of 45 years?

Bob Zaruta  40:56

I would say what mentally comes to mind is to compromise. To You know, it’s not always your way. You’ve got to see the other side of it. And sometimes, you know, it’s not easy. But that is I think, part of our success. I will tell you, we just competed on we went we went on a vacation. We’re on this cruise ship. And we would never do this normally. But there we went to the watch it and we ended up participating. And they had these three couples, one recently married one mid mid married, like 1520 Some years and then the old timers. And so we went on to stroke on this life stage in front of a couple 100 People probably. And, and and we want and I guess it’s just because we know each other. But the one question was, was like, you know, I’m in a soundproof booth. And she’s in one at different times. And it was like, what does what does Bob do? There’s no issue, right? And she said, Oh, my gosh, she said the list is long. And here’s my first thing when I when when I was asked that question. That’s what’s my immediate response? The list is so long. Where do I begin? You know, so I think it’s compromised. I think it’s just knowing that you’re not perfect, and it never will be and you’re far from Yeah, yeah.

Curt Anderson  42:08

Well, I’d say bad. My respect, admiration for you, my friend off the charts. I love the relationship we’re building. And again, it just, it’s really a testament to you. You know, here we are in Chicago meeting for the first time. And that was one of the first conversations that came up. So hey, you’re doing amazing work. You are an inspiration to all of us out there. Thank you for the work that you’re manufacturing. Thank you for the lives that you’re changing at the high school level. Thank you for what you’ve done for manufacturers around the great state of Pennsylvania. And of course, this rockstar team that you’ve put together, kudos to you for what you’ve done. So, guys, we’ll wind down Damon, you’ve got faces of business on Tuesday and Thursday, three o’clock, Pacific six o’clock Eastern time. We have another Izmir fact Bob, we have another MEP on our program. Friday, we have Todd Underwood. He’s with SIFT, which is the Center of Excellence over in Northwest Ohio so your neighbor over across and he’s gonna be showing some amazing videos, that video work that they’re doing manufacturers at the Ohio MEP so that any words of wisdom, any parting thoughts as we close out our program today?

Bob Zaruta  43:16

I just want to I want to thank you, both of you, Kurt and Damon, for what you do. Your work is very appreciative, very important. You do it as pros. And I appreciate the opportunity to to share information. And I know that’s what this is about. You do a great job at it. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your passion for what you do.

Curt Anderson  43:39

Well, hey, thank you. Thank you, and so guys will wind down Hey, I’ve got a couple of you know, did I pull up Margo before? Yeah, so they did. case we don’t see you guys again. Daymond we’re not going anywhere. We’re still working. So yeah, if anybody we wish everybody safe, amazing, wonderful, incredible holiday season. And again, check out boy thank your local manufacturer. If you are a manufacturer, boy, I couldn’t encourage you, I implore you, I’m begging you. Do yourself a favor call your local MEP. Stop hanging out with us one second tell Teresa Debbie your entire family happy holidays to you and so hang out one second guys have a great rest your week and we’ll see you on Friday.

Damon Pistulka  44:19

Yeah