Monday Manufacturing Motivation with the Purdue MEP (on Tuesday!)

Curt Anderson  0:00

And drumroll Here we go. So Wow, Happy Monday. Oh, wait a minute. Tuesday, man, this is like the weeks already almost over. So this is not everybody. Happy Tuesday. Hope you had a wonderful, incredible safe holiday weekend. And labored and rested and all that good stuff. So guys, today we have Rene Stewart, Rene. Happy Tuesday, my friend, how are you? Great. How are you? I’m happy to be here with you today. Awesome, man, we have so much to cover. I’m not sure where to start. But this is where I’m going to start. So the Purdue University and EP, that’s a manufacturing extension partnership. So I’m going to I did a little digging did a little background. So let’s just run through a couple things on our friend Renee. So you’re the associate director, and you are the statewide outreach and partnerships. Now you throw on a lot of different hats to my understanding, Renee, so you’re covering you cover all legislative relations, your champion workforce, you’re doing marketing and sales efforts. So you’re covering a lot of different strategies for your MEP MEP, is that correct?

Ranae Stewart  1:06

It is it is correct. I think there’s, you know, a couple other things we can throw on their lips and nails, and all of that. But no, but it’s it’s an amazing role. I love what I do. And we were talking a little bit before I joined you. My job is very easy, because I get to talk about the great things that the MEP national network does. Yep. And our work for manufacturers. It’s been kind of a long journey to get me here. But it’s been a great one. And I’m excited to talk about that in more detail.

Curt Anderson  1:38

That’s awesome. So let’s dig into that we’re kidding around like, Hey, you know, usually it’s like, hey, you’re not paid to think, well, we’re not paid to think we’re just paid to talk. Right. That’s how our lives. That’s how we roll. So well. This is awesome. So let’s I want to dig into so for folks that are not familiar with the MVP. I’m going to dig into that. However, I want to dig into Renee a little bit. So let’s, let’s do a little backtracking. And so you know, I know you have a heavy duty marketing background, the traditional marketing firm that you worked for, then you found your talents and skills, your experience at a major law firm and your area. Did some amazing things there. So talk a little bit about your journey college up to that point. And then what I’d love to dig into is like, why manufacturing? So let’s let’s let’s hear a little bit about your story.

Ranae Stewart  2:20

Boy, all good questions, I’m going to have to try and remember all those two or three of them. I actually went to Purdue. So boiler up. And

Curt Anderson  2:32

weekend, Oregon, I believe you be Oregon State.

Ranae Stewart  2:35

Yep, yep. And I lost. So that’s always a good. That’s always a good weekend for Boyd ago, I went to Purdue graduated with a degree in management and a marketing minor. And I really wanted to, you know, go into marketing and landed at a very small b2b marketing firm that was focused on manufacturing. And I really didn’t fully grasp the importance of manufacturing, not just nationally, but in Indiana, where the most manufacturing intensive state, you know, well over 8000 manufacturers. One in three people are employed by a manufacturing company in the state. And I got to learn that and I got to see all of the amazing things that are made and the state of Indiana. And that really piqued my interest out of school. And I loved going on the shop floor and walking through and seeing how things were made. And then I took you know, it’s like detour like you said, and to legal marketing for 10 years, those those attorneys did a great job and teaching me how to argue. And it served me well and raising two boys.

Curt Anderson  3:53

When you have teenagers need those skills, don’t you?

Ranae Stewart  3:55

Yes, yes, absolutely. And and at the firm, we did represent manufacturers. So still kind of you know, in the peripheral here of having manufacturing round. And then I kind of thought you know, I want to do something a little more mission driven, I want to have some purpose to you know, what I’m doing day in and day out, and I just on a whim look to see if there’s anything available with Purdue. And I saw there was a marketing role with the Purdue manufacturing extension partnership, and it was just like everything collided all at once. And I thought this is you know, would be a dream job to be able to work for my alma mater, and help the state out and help you know, small to mid size manufacturers and the stars aligned and I’ve been there since 2013. Got to see tremendous growth for for our center. We actually quadrupled in size since I’ve joined and it’s just been an incredible to be a part of this type of an organization.

Curt Anderson  4:59

That is What a great story. I absolutely love that. So I just I wanted to I did a little digging. And guys, please connect with Rene on LinkedIn. But I just wanted to share with you, Renee. So this is a testimonial about Rene. So if I know you’re very humble, but I’m going to share this. Okay. Well, this is what one of your colleagues wrote, I had the pleasure of working closely with Rene at my time at Purdue University, Rene came in into Purdue at a time of very challenging where we paid very little attention to marketing for a particular program. The message was muddled. Regarding the mission and the capabilities, Renee quickly developed a communication gameplan initiating branding effort, crystallizing the messaging throughout the state of Indiana, continues to say that ultimately, the program was hugely successful, increased funding for Purdue MEP in excess of 300%. So well done to you, in what I love. So I threw a ton of questions at you. But I love your journey, because I always love how, you know, we love you know, women in manufacturing, it’s it’s really, it’s an exciting industry. It’s not, you know, this dirty, ugly thing that maybe the perception has, there’s so much opportunity, what I wanted, what I’d love to share a little bit of, you know, how you were excited to come into manufacturing. And just talk a little bit about, you know, some of the exciting things when you came into Purdue, what that transition was like, so you joined like, six, seven years ago? Eight, eight years? Yeah, eight years ago. So talk about like some of the transitions that were taking place when you came in at that time. 2013 ish or so?

Ranae Stewart  6:32

Absolutely. So one of the things I want to make a point I actually wrote it down. So I wouldn’t forget. Because I know you and I get talking and we both get excited. Yeah, exactly. We are just a month out from Manufacturing Day. Yeah, it is a huge opportunity, for those of you that have school aged children to expose them to the careers that are available in manufacturing. So it’s always the first Friday in October, but there’s usually events all month, some of them are in person. Some of them are virtually, I’m not sure what it will be, you know, in COVID world right now. But it is an amazing chance for children to understand the types of cool things that are out there and the world of manufacturing, and really does a great job at showing, you know, it’s it’s clean, it’s automated, there’s great career paths. So we ourselves always participate in that event annually. That’s something that’s been new, in the past eight years that we’ve been involved with, I think maybe it’s the fifth, fifth or sixth year that that event has been around. So I would encourage you to take a look at that. or encourage, you know, manufacturers to participate in that because that helps with the talent pipeline. And that leads into another passion of mine, which is workforce development. You know, we are in a very unique position right now with the upcoming silver tsunami is a very, I would like to refer to it. So we have all these jobs that are open, right. And then you know, the impending retirement, you know, you’re looking at a few million jobs that are going to be open. So one of the things that we’ve done since I’ve joined Purdue MEP, is gotten into the traditional workforce development. So working with individuals that are unemployed and underemployed, maybe with barriers to employment and get them interested in manufacturing and prepare for a career in manufacturing. So we’ve been doing that for about the past four years, and we’ve trained over 1000 individuals in that time for a career in manufacturing. That is awesome. 1000 1000 and I you named the audience and then we have trained them every you know, we’ve been in high schools, we’ve gone to the YMCA, the YWCA, we’ve been in rehab facilities, we’ve been in correctional facilities, trained in combat workers, and it is just, it’s really awesome to go into the classroom and sit with folks that really had no image, you know, they even have misperceptions about manufacturing, they had no idea the opportunities that were out there. And you know, just to see the the gears start turning and the excitement and then having the manufacturers come in and you know, offering jobs on the spot is very incredible.

Curt Anderson  9:35

Right. So and I’m going to apologize, let me back up one second. So just if there’s anybody out there that happens to jump on, thank you for taking the time to join us. We appreciate it. We’re with Renee Stewart from the Purdue MEP by chance if anybody’s out there saying Hey, you guys keep saying MEP. What does that stand for? What is the MEP so can you just just explain to everybody what the MEP network is and and nest and just how that works.

Ranae Stewart  10:00

Yep, absolutely. So the manufacturing extension partnership is funded through NES Department of Commerce, there is a one MEP center in each state. And there’s 51. So every state in Puerto Rico, and basically, it’s the MEP national network, we were all actually together last week and Arizona sharing practices and learning from one another, and how we can all best serve small to mid sized manufacturers. So that is our ultimate, you know, directive is how can we best serve small to mid sized manufacturers currently, you probably know that maybe not everyone on the call doesn’t. When you take a look at manufacturers, they’re certainly the very large ones that everybody knows and recognizes, but over 99% of manufacturing companies are small to mid size, and that’s where we come in, right. So when you look at the work of the MEP national network, we we are in so many different areas. So how can we help companies implement lean manufacturing? How can we help them with quality management system? How can we train their incumbent workers? How can we prepare people to come in to the facility like the workforce development efforts? How do we assist with cybersecurity, industry 4.0, you know, all all of these things, we bring that expertise to those companies. Right. And it’s a very,

Curt Anderson  11:42

it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s very deep. And I think the great thing is, you know, so for folks are being exposed to the MEP network, and every state’s a little bit different, you know, and so, you know, is, you know, we do a lot of work with different MEP s throughout the country. So some are part that universities are University based, some are nonprofits, some are state based, so everybody’s a little bit different. And, you know, Purdue, which is awesome, you know, not only one of the top engineering schools in the country, one of the top universities in the country, you know, what a wealth of talent that you and your team possess, I believe you have over 40 employees at at the Purdue MEP, if I’m not mistaken. And just you know, and again, you know, hopefully you take this as a compliment, you know, just you know, what people are hearing just this enormous amount of talent, you know, you hear with Rene’s background and marketing, so on and so forth. But there’s going to be you know, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of your teammates, Kyle, Jean, Bill, Logan, Kelly, just everybody has different walks of life, and they’re bringing such enormous amount of talent skill set, and they have one purpose in place. It’s to help the manufacturer, you know, they can come in with objective advice. And like you said, Lean Six, sigma cybersecurity, you know, you can almost play that role of like, you know, like, Chief Operating Officer for a project or Chief Marketing Officer, you know, so like, these small manufacturers that are 20 employees or less, that don’t have that bandwidth or talent or, you know, so on and so forth. They can lean on me. So I dropped in the entire LinkedIn thread here, I dropped like, you know, you have some great events, you have wonderful success stories, you want to share a little bit about, let’s talk about some of the events that you have coming up. I know not for a seamless plug, but I know that you have like cybersecurity, again, Six Sigma, talk about like something it’s just relentless. Just you’re offering constant education opportunities for manufacturers just hear a little bit about your programs.

Ranae Stewart  13:32

Yeah, absolutely. So you know, from what we’ve found, and working with manufacturers across the state, they can’t always pause things to have us come on site, right, because business is still going to need to get out the door. So we’ve been able to find another way around that and offering a very robust, open enrollment public workshop schedule throughout the year, some of those are in person, some of them are being held virtually one of our more popular offerings is six sigma certification. As part of that the participants complete a project have to successfully complete and submit a project and show the impact that’s resulted from that. We also have lean practitioner series so individuals can understand how they can take those learnings and go back to their shop floor and implement five asks or value stream mapping. We do a lot within cybersecurity, where as you mentioned, we’ll be partnering with you going into a new, a new endeavor for us. So very excited about that. And then we also have some events around automation, which will lead me to talk a little bit about our brand new partnership. Let’s run this month.

Curt Anderson  14:56

Let’s do it. So let’s go there. Let’s jump right in You have some super cutting edge, exciting things. And I like what you said, if you don’t mind me just touching on this, you know, just a couple of things, you know, 8000 manufacturers in the state of Indiana, you know, one in three jobs are represented, you know, by manufacturing. So just I mean, you’re right in the heartbeat of America really always have been from agriculture to auto, you know, all sorts of different walks of life. And so you know, talk about in your scene on the cutting edge, you were sharing about robotics, this tech center, let’s let’s go read into what you guys have going on.

Ranae Stewart  15:30

Oh, awesome. So we, this month, we are launching a partnership with telemon robotics. So telemon is a large private employer here in Indiana. And they have created this space just for this partnership, to where we have a slew of technology demonstrations, hands on demonstrations. So a small to midsize manufacturer can go to this location. And they can actually see the technology they can apply the technology. Because as we talked about earlier with the the workforce issues, what we’re seeing is there’s more receptivity to industry 4.0 concepts because, you know, we’ve seen these jobs remain open. So we need to find new solutions, but we also need affordable solutions, right for these folks. So what we’ve done, I say we it’s it’s my colleague, Bob goose and Bob Goosen and Craig searing have gone out. And they’ve worked with companies to identify what are practical cost effective, affordable solutions that small to mid sized manufacturers can take an easily easily implement so cobots virtual and augmented reality? I think there’s actually a video of me somewhere playing, you know, our thing. Yeah, my kids thought that was amazing. By the way. Cool. That’s right. Hey, for about, you know, 20 minutes.

Curt Anderson  17:06

Yeah, yeah, I think every minute you can get

Ranae Stewart  17:09

Yeah. So and it’s not just okay, here’s a cobalt, it’s here, all the different end of arm tooling that you can have. And here are the various you know, they have them programmed. So you can see the various types of things that the cobots can do, you know, 3d printing, wearable technology, where you know, someone has an armband, and you can see if they have too much of a repetitive task that they’re doing. And, you know, that can also that can be used in so many different ways. But it’s kind of a one stop shop for people to go and see these things and determine Okay, what is what is what makes most sense for my company, because, you know, when when you talk to a lot of small to mid sized manufacturers, industry 4.8 point Oh, can be just such an overwhelming concept, right? And where do I start? This, this shows you, you know, here is where you start? And here is the solution or the solutions that could be, you know, right for you,

Curt Anderson  18:08

right? Oh, this is awesome. You know, and again, you know, think about that 20 person manufacturing operation custom manufacturer been around for, you know, decades. And, you know, again, like, you know, you know, at nine o’clock, they’re thrown on their HR hat at 10 o’clock, they have their finance at 11 o’clock, they’re doing operations on the floor next at noon, they’re like, Hey, I’m gonna grab a sandwich. And maybe I’ll think about marketing, right? So on so many different hats. And again, what’s great is that they can lean on their MEP manufacturing extension partnership, again, doesn’t matter what state you’re in. And there’s a lot of crossover, you know, like, you know, folks, you can catch the webinars at Purdue or in Indiana, or other states or whatever, you know, what have you and again, you have a wealth of talent, a wealth of skill set, enormous. I mean, like you added up the amount of experience that you that your team has, is just simply staggering. I want to back up one second. So last week, you shared that you were at the there’s a national conference for the MEP network. And so folks from all over the country came together in Phoenix, and we’ve had several of your speakers been in our program? JAMIE and Missouri, we had Kim loi from fuse hub in New York, she spoke talk, can you just share like Were there any what was the hot buzz? You know, coming out of COVID COVID a little shaky again, like what was kind of the buzz on the floor at that, you know, trade show for you know, the the conference for you? Well, I

Ranae Stewart  19:28

have to tell you, I think for for us as you know MEP employees, there was a little bit of just all the resiliency of manufacturers. It was just amazing. You know, they did not shut down. They you know, they kept going and they found ways to keep producing parts and you know, there’s supply chain issues and supply chain disruptions and trying to make sure that they’re, you know, still being safe and keeping their Employees healthy, and and they just made it work on top of everything else that they have. So there was a lot of talk about that like, man, like, how awesome are these companies? And how fortunate are we that we, you know, get to affiliate with them and work with them? There was a lot, a lot of talk about workforce development. There is a lot of talk around, you know, the future trends with industry 4.4 4.0 automation, of course, cyber security continues to be something that’s talked about. And then I think one of the most important things that that we’ve seen probably in the last 18 to 24 months is the realization that manufacturers have had, okay, it’s not just about attracting talent, it’s about retaining talent, and what are the best practices around that. So there was a lot of good conversation on on retention.

Curt Anderson  20:55

Awesome, and it must have just felt great, just like, you know, after being cooped up for 18 months, or 20 months, or whatever it’s been just to see colleagues or friends that you know, that you collaborate with and other states. And, again, from my perspective, you know, we work with a lot of MEP s around the country. And again, that common thread, that common bond, just amazing people in the MEP network. And again, it’s that it’s that common mission. You know, we’re all everybody’s just dedicated and just working relentlessly to help those manufacturers. But you know, let’s talk about those manufacturers for a second. Like you gave me chills talking about that. We had the the director of Temple University Small Business Development Center, and a couple months ago, Maura shaker, and she’s just a delight lover. We’re doing a whole manufacturing ecommerce webinar series. Matter of fact, we’re going tomorrow. And she shared the same segment that you did, you know, we talked about what the entrepreneurs face for the past 18 months. She’s like, the most inspiring thing is the entrepreneurs and manufacturers, you know, what their biggest concern was? their employees, my keeping them safe? Can I keep them working? Am I you know, can I stay sustainable, essential, all those things. So what’s great for like, folks like myself and you, Renee, is I like, you know, like the MEP network, small business development centers. I know you guys work with small business development centers, great agencies around the country as well. You know, these entrepreneurs feel like they’re in a silo, they’re on an island, they’re just not, you know, most of the grindstone just trying to make ends meet. And there are these incredible resources available. And we call them dream supporters, you know, the MEP network, are helping manufacturers hit those dreams, hit their goals, and so on, so forth with the programming. So I’m Thank you, I appreciate you sharing what went on at Phoenix and some of that background. Could you share a little bit? Let’s talk about the MVP network, you have your marketing hat on, you’ve brought, you know, great results for them up network? How has things how have How has your approach changed? Since COVID Cena past 24 months? or what have you seen change within the MVP network? To you know, kind of practice what you preach or share these practices with other manufacturers?

Ranae Stewart  22:57

Oh, that’s a that’s a very good question. So I think, you know, one of the things, as I mentioned earlier, is the the the receptivity and the openness to industry 4.0. Yeah. Just since those jobs have continued to remain vacant, you know, there’s been some some turnover with folks. I mean, you’re seeing just a, a change in employment, like you’ve never seen before people just completely go into different careers or retiring earlier than planned. So that has really kind of pushed manufacturers toward being more open to looking at automation, and robotics, and all of these types of things that we’re featuring at our digital manufacturing technology center. The retention piece has also been very important, you know, what are some unique ways that we can keep our employees happy, reward our employees? I think too.

Unknown Speaker  24:04

It’s

Ranae Stewart  24:06

just finding seeing manufacturers be more creative, and how they’re approaching things and how they’re doing things. And, okay, well, maybe we do need a social media presence, that, you know, maybe we do need to look into this whole e commerce fad that’s not going away. Right. Right. So I think it’s just and maybe it’s because of that resiliency that we’ve seen, like, okay, we’re we’re unprecedent on times doing unprecedented things, let’s just keep with the trend and extend it into other areas.

Curt Anderson  24:39

Yeah. And it is daunting, you know, again, for manufacturer thrown on a different hat every day. And, you know, again, with your marketing background, you’ve been around, you know, you’ve seen different walks of life as far as marketing and aspect from the law firm to the b2b firm. And what’s interesting what I like to say, you know, like manufacturers, they really kind of were able to fly under the radar of this whole marketing thing, you know, if we were targeting retailers, like Main Street was hit, you know, they were hit with the internet in 1999 2005. You know, all sudden, like, you know, I need a website, what does this website thing you know what social media, what does Facebook? Well, you know, plumbers, again, Main Street retailers restaurants, they had to stay with these trends all through or they just weren’t going to be relevant. If finally 1520 years later it is finally hitting manufacturers. And what I love to share on are kind of hit on Rene here, you know, a lot of manufacturers, you know, these may, you know, manufacturers were, you know, hey, we go to trade shows, trade shows, we have sales reps, I hit the road COVID hit kind of brought everything to a screeching halt a little bit of a deer in headlights. Now what do I do? So for those manufacturers that are at capacity, and they’re like, you know what, I’m really not looking at bringing on new, I don’t need new sales, I’m at you know, I can’t bring in enough labor, so on and so forth. But they need a social media strategy to attract talent. And a lot of times manufacturers aren’t thinking as that talent as customers, or that they need that social media presence. Talk, talk a little bit about like your workforce initiatives, you own your mom of two younger guys, you know, what are you seeing? What are some trends? Or what are you doing with an MEP network? Or what do you seen that manufacturers are doing? Well, from a social media marketing standpoint, so just not even to attract new customers retain or attract new talent?

Ranae Stewart  26:20

Yeah, that’s a that’s a really great question. And, and I think you’re seeing more and more the the increase and manufacturers with a social media presence, and utilizing that to not necessarily feature their products, but feature their organization and feature their current workforce, and showing the diversity that’s within manufacturing. Because I think, you know, when I left school way back when, and I was working for the agency, you know, they’re very frequently I was the only woman on the floor when we’re going through, and that’s really changed very drastically, in the past, you know, 15 years. So showcasing that and and showcasing the I’m trying to think the best way to say, you know, going into a career in manufacturing doesn’t have to be the traditional education path, right, you don’t have to, you know, high school four year degree, and then you know, you go into, there’s a lot of different ways that people find themselves in manufacturing, and sometimes it’s somebody that’s 40 years old, and they’re, they don’t want to do retail anymore, or they don’t want to be in hospitality, for example. And they kind of end up here and realize, well, gosh, I can have a, you know, earn a really good living, you know, a study reliable job with without, you know, a four year degree and, and that’s a little bit of some of the misperceptions that that has been changing, right. So I think manufacturers are continuing to be creative. And, and one thing, this is kind of off the topic that we’re on, but I wanted to go back. And you were talking about what are some of the changes that I’ve seen during the pandemic? And one thing is, a lot of manufacturers are looking more closely at their supply chain. They’re more of an openness to reshoring. And it’s not just COVID right. I mean, there’s been so many different things, the microchip shortage, what happened in the Suez Canal COVID is, you know, making them realize, well, hey, maybe I should be looking a little bit closer for these things. And that’s awesome. You know, what we can bring back here, the butter and there was a lot of really good conversation last week about how we as the MEP national network can support those efforts through supplier scouting initiative. So I’m really excited about that. I

Curt Anderson  29:02

love it that we might get a little USA chant going. Dear friend, Harry Moser, the founder of the reshoring initiative, I know he works closely with a number of MVPs works closely I think with magnet and Ohio iMac. You know, he does a great job of just being a cheerleader and just relentlessly getting that word out. And you’re seeing a lot of this you know, the folks that I run around with, you know, I throw out a bunch of names you know, they’re just you’re seeing like a whole new initiative just in a just a contagious enthusiasm for made in usa usa manufacturing again, like you know, just maybe we took out a little bit too far, like just so hammering cost, hammering costs, and sending everything abroad. Coming back to that social media piece would I you know, what I love what you’re saying is, you know, because I’m you know, I’m a I’m a Gen X sir You know, I’m, you know, if I had hair, I’m part of that silver, would you call it the silver tsunami, the silver tsunami, so I’m you know, I’m flirting with that generation. You know, folks, you know, you have a senior in high school, you know, when he comes out of college, these millennials 20s 30s. You know, these, these are folks with college degrees, these are people that are making buying decisions, you know, they grew up on their phones, they grew up, they are digital natives. You know, I’m, I’m a hardcore digital immigrant, you know, and I think, you know, for folks, my generation that own these manufacturers, you know, they might it we need to help them understand like that 22 year old, that could be a rock star on the floor with automation, or Mark marketing, accounting, whatever that job is, they’re going to check out your you know, they’re going to your website, they want to see like, Hey, what’s going on, on your social? What’s going on on Facebook or LinkedIn? What’s your culture? How are you treating your employees? And if they don’t find anything? Boy, I hate to say it, their their odds are they’re going to go to your competition. And I think that’s just such a critical component of a change of a change mindset for manufacturers. So I’m hoping if nothing outside of COVID, that that’s been a big transition. Are you seeing any of that? That component?

Ranae Stewart  31:03

You know, to an extent? Well, I would say we’ve, we’ve seen some of that, but I would, you know, I challenged those manufacturers, put you know, those those newer recruits that you have let them loose on, you know, the the social media challenge or social media channels. And yeah, I mean, I, we were having a conversation last week about you know, tick tock, right. I know where it is right now. And they’re like, oh, gosh, no, yeah, we can’t do that. It’s like, we don’t have to, I mean, you put that account in the hands of a 2526 year old. And they’ll just they’ll take it and they’ll, they’ll rocket and they’re speaking directly, you know, to the audience. So I would say, put that device in their hand and set them free.

Curt Anderson  31:52

Yeah, I couldn’t agree more are your friends. Matter of fact, she’s usually comes on our dear friend in Manhattan. Her name is Bonnie suss us stronger. She is a woman owned manufacturer in Manhattan, she has this incredible product, she is just absolutely destroying it on tic tac, she goes around Manhattan, and she has this really cool product and people she has people testing it, she has millions and millions of views. And again, like the the space that she covers in such a small cost and low maintenance. And again, we just need to kind of change that mindset. Somebody I know we’re coming into time, we could chat all day. So um, let’s so first off, folks can find you right here on LinkedIn. So please connect with Rene any of her colleagues, the Purdue MEP, you know, you have bunch of events, I put a link to your success stories. So do you Is there anything that you want to share as far as like any successes that come to mind, and whether it’s Lean Six, sigma, any marketing strategies that you’ve seen front and center for small manufacturers in your world?

Ranae Stewart  32:53

Gosh, there’s so many and I think one of the things that you know, first attracted me to this role was I this is the easiest marketing job ever, I have to tell their story. You know, what, what are what are they doing, and it gives me an excuse to go, you know, see all the cool things that are being made here. I guess you know, what, I would leave the audience with his, with the workforce issues that we’re facing. Maybe this is the time to think about non traditional audiences. And the the story that I will share is we were fortunate in that we received some funding to work with diverse young adults and the central Indiana area and train them in our manufacturing skills for success boot camp. And we partnered with a local parole district, and we had 21 people graduate from that program. And within one week, every single one of those individuals have full time employment with a local manufacturer. just phenomenal. You know, these are the types of things that you know, really, really excite me. And it’s you would just not believe how rewarding It is to be able to go in and sit with a group and see the light bulb go off of Wow, this kind of helped me reimagine my future and honestly, they are just so grateful and it’s one of the you know, the most rewarding things that I get to do and my job so I guess that might be my my story because it’s too hard to pick just one manufacturer. Yeah. many cool things being made an Indiana

Curt Anderson  34:49

well there there are and if you just I can’t let you go. So if you if you have another man I’d like to share. You know, I’d like to get into so again, there’s a manufacturer out there so we had a one Interview with Scott shine Scott shine is with Gen edge. And he just started this. I think he started august of maybe 20. And here’s the funny story about Scott, who’s who List of companies Lockheed Airbus, like you name it, he worked for him great. Went to went to Michigan, sorry, went to university Michigan just had this great, incredible career and could have like, rolled it out. He was he decided he left like this cushy corporate career and bought his own manufacturing operation. 20 employees, and I think I think might have had five built it up to 20. And just like was that the grindstone? 24. Seven, was not a cushy job. You know, like, you know, you’re the janitor, you’re this you’re this, you know, so it was like his friends thought he was crazy. Did that for eight years. And he was very fortunate. Bless sold his business during COVID. Just amazing story. So we interviewed him, I think back in maybe June. And so he wife was going to like, honey, you need to go find a job your this is not going to work out. We’re not going to make it unless you can find something to do. Right. So he just started scouring just like you did start scouring and he finds this thing called the MEP, had never heard of the MEP. Now he’s running like a national program, maybe you hope you’ll cross paths with him at some point in time. But it was just astounding to hear. He was like, for eight years, I desperately wish I knew about the MEP network. Can you just share? Okay, so somebody out there is listening to this. So like, what is this MEP? I have a 30 person custom manufacturing, I make circuit boards or fabricate metal, whatever. Talk about how the reach? How does the first initial initiation come about that first contact, kind of like walk through the process of like, how we connect with you, one of your consultants and just Can you just go through that process just for somebody that would be new to them?

Ranae Stewart  36:49

Sure. So So typically, so we find manufacturers and my manufacturers Find us on for a variety of ways, honestly, it’s usually word of mouth and repeat business. Yep. Because there’s all like I said, there’s a lot of manufacturers throughout the state. But usually, it’s just a, we have one of our outreach team members, go on site, to the facility, talk with them understand, you know, okay, what’s going on? What are your pain points, right? And then they come back and say, okay, you know, here’s how we think we can best help you. Yeah, and then working with that manufacturer, to determine, you know, at the, at the end of the day, how can we help you sleep better, right? How can we take some of these issues and burdens off of your plate, and that kind of gets the conversation rolling, and we typically just then it just keeps the conversation just keeps going, once we start working with company, we’re very fortunate that we are able to continue working with them and helping them improve day in and day out,

Curt Anderson  37:55

right, and you guys have a super deep bench, again, over 40 employees with all different walks of life, you know, like yourself, different backgrounds, folks with deep manufacturing, getting lean, or six sigma, all those things. So is as that count rep is, is in house. It’s not just that one on one relationship. It’s like they have a whole arsenal of folks. And you also have a third party network, where folks that are that are not necessarily say, you know, on on the immediate team, you can go one step further, and pull in another whole other layer of resources on something that’s maybe outside outside of your immediate team is that,

Ranae Stewart  38:33

yeah, absolutely. Just like yourself, like you’re not Jordan, and you’re helping, you know, supplement our bench strength so we can expand into new areas. So we, we are very fortunate that we have just a slew of end industry veterans, that are able to go out and walk that floor. And sometimes it’s just, you know, you need a different perspective, right? You know, you’re, if you’re that business owner, if you’re running that business, you’re you’re seeing the same thing day in and day out. So it’s just a fresh set of eyes that comes in and to you know, we’re in so many different manufacturers that that, you know, can translate into sharing best practices through throughout the state.

Curt Anderson  39:15

Right. And again, you know, and that’s what I love is like so many manufacturers that, you know, out of 8000 you know, unfortunately, not all of them, you know, are familiar with the MEP or wherever, whatever state you’re in. And, you know, again, what the point is, you’re not in a silo, you’re not on an island, you’re not alone. The government does an amazing job, you know, funding helping through the Department of Commerce through NIST, through the manufacturing extension partnership, folks like Renee, her incredible team at Purdue. So we’re unable to close out on this. So he shared a great story with me as I had to share it. So guys, as you can tell, we’re just an amazing dynamic personality. Again, this is just we’re we’re kind of getting underneath the hood of like all the incredible talent at the MEPs all different states. You know a lot of lot of folks come on let you know it’s a little nerve wracking. Come on live. You’re like a kid, I got this, you know, and, sure. You got to do a speech and your son was like, Mom, you’re doing what? Can you share that? Do you mind sharing that I just I didn’t have.

Ranae Stewart  40:14

Okay. So so I’m very, my family’s very blessed. My one of my sisters just got married. Graduated. Oh, yeah. And then my other sister just got engaged. Yep, like, the past week. And I, my sister and I were co maid of honor. And she did not want to do any type of a speech. Yeah. And I’m like, Okay, yeah, I’ll do that. And my 15 are soon to be 15 year old son. Like, Mama, are you ready for your speech? And he’s like, I could sense he was nervous for me. I’m like, yeah, I’m just I’m, you know, just gonna wing it music. What do you mean, you haven’t written it down? No, it’s a stall up here. I’m good. And he goes, I would melt into the floor. If I had to speak in front of people didn’t have it written down.

Curt Anderson  41:05

And how did it go? I think it went very well. I’m sure I’m sure you crushed it.

Ranae Stewart  41:10

I got a lot of good feedback. And my 15 year old he actually afterwards he said that outside of the goats that were present on the farm. That was his favorite wedding. second favorite part was my speech.

Curt Anderson  41:24

Awesome. Awesome. That’s, that’s phenomenal. Hey, my friend Trish. Stewart just dropped a note. She’s an incredible she she works with manufacturers on translation services. And Trish, you are an she’s a great you guys. Matter of fact, Trish and Renee please connect you guys would there’s a lot of chemistry symmetry between you guys. So Renee, so fifth grader, and you have in your 15 year old, what great is he and he’s a freshman. He’s a freshman so and I have a freshman as well. So hey, I want to first off, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for everything you do for helping manufacturers in a great State of Indiana. I’m enjoying our friendship that we’re building together. And I’m super excited. So I want to give a little shameless plug So no, yeah, November, September 16. So two weeks? No, it’s a week a week from Thursday already, man when Labor Day kind of throws everything up. So it’s a week from Thursday we’re at Purdue University. We’re doing a an e commerce webinar. Super fun, be fast paced. And if your custom manufacturer we’re really speaking to you, you know, I know a lot of manufacturers out there. You know, like, Hey, you know, the only arms they have this little e commerce advantage because they have a finished good we would program is certainly for the OEMs. But we’d also like to welcome the custom manufacturers and again take I dropped a dropped a link to some of the success stories and you guys have an i kudos to you and your team. You guys have an enormous amount of success stories at the Purdue MEP, you have an incredible lineup of events. Again, cybersecurity, Six Sigma, lean, we’re talking e commerce, you have marketing. So all sorts of information. Renee, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate this. Appreciate you and I wish everybody a phenomenal week and just go out there and crush it. So thanks Renee and hang on one second. I’m going to turn off the broadcast stick with me and you guys have an awesome, awesome day.