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Creating connections is essential to building a community. It’s even more important when the people you’re trying to connect with aren’t in the same location. Businesses and companies have always found geographic distance to be a challenge to building a really great community-oriented culture. At Empowered Ventures, the same challenge holds true, which is why we decided to start Empowered Owners, the podcast that takes you inside Empowered Ventures.
In each episode, CEO Chris Fredericks will have a discussion with one of our employees to discover and highlight their distinct personalities, perspectives, and skills while also keeping you in the loop with exclusive news, updates on company performance, and a glimpse into the future plans of Empowered Ventures. Not only is this an opportunity for Chris to learn more about our amazing employee-owners, but it’s also an opportunity for you to hear regularly from Chris and others from within Empowered Ventures.
00:00:00:09 - 00:00:25:02
Chris Fredericks
Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Empowered Owners, the community Building Podcast by and for the employee owners of Empowered Ventures. Join us as we take you inside the world of employee ownership, discovering the stories, insights, and sometimes surprising adventures in a family of businesses where everyone's an owner. Now let's dive in. Kurt, welcome back to Empowered Owners.
00:00:25:02 - 00:00:31:00
Chris Fredericks
I think you are our first third time guest on the show. So welcome back to Impart Owners.
00:00:31:02 - 00:00:35:04
Curtis Elliott
Thank you Chris. Appreciate the invite and always enjoyed being on the podcast.
00:00:35:10 - 00:00:50:19
Chris Fredericks
Yeah that's great. So you're here to, you know, give an update on for Paramount on how the company is doing and how things have been going. And, you know, I think I appreciate, you know, that since this is our third time, we've got, you know, a cadence now of once a year, we kind of check in on things.
00:00:50:19 - 00:01:09:00
Chris Fredericks
And it's been an interesting couple of years, an interesting year for Paramount. And companies and the industry that Paramount is in. So why don't we just start off with a general overview of just how would you describe kind of how things have been going at at Paramount over the last year or so?
00:01:09:02 - 00:01:37:05
Curtis Elliott
Well, I think our primary market is cruiser, RV and marine, of course, and we've gathered quite a significant amount of business and especially vehicles RV. We service the class AA market. And even though from 24 to 25, even though 25 overall for the class AA market was down. We didn't take as big a hit because the higher end or premium units were actually a little bit up.
00:01:37:07 - 00:02:00:23
Curtis Elliott
So we've seen a little bit of tightening on the middle, middle of the market type of units. And of course the lower end users have kind of slowed down considerably. So albeit we've seen a little bit of a decline in the market. We've been able to sustain at least breakeven with what we're doing. Rates down 9% overall in the market is seeing some softening.
00:02:01:03 - 00:02:24:04
Curtis Elliott
We were able to, you know, pick up some some additional market share with with customers we had and it's been a positive from that standpoint. So again, we've been kind of break you and especially vehicles actually been pretty steady. We've got a couple of opportunities that actually have grown over that period. We've got a customer that seeing some girls over that same period.
00:02:24:04 - 00:02:44:24
Curtis Elliott
So all in all we feel like we've held our own. Not a market itself has been down or not, you know, as robust as post Covid for now, two and a half years probably. But we felt like middle summer of last year. We've seen a little bit of an uptick. It got some energy, kind of held off on doing hiring.
00:02:44:24 - 00:03:01:23
Curtis Elliott
At that point. You aren't sure if it was a real deal or not, and it turned out it's been a steady flow of orders. Shelton. We've actually began to try to write to crew and get it adjusted up so that we can make the orders. Got a little bit of a backlog during that period. Was all but got caught back up now.
00:03:01:23 - 00:03:15:00
Curtis Elliott
So it's been an interesting, challenging year in some ways. It's been good and overall numbers have been a little bit better. But all in all, still not, where we want it. Still not performing at the level we would hoped.
00:03:15:02 - 00:03:46:09
Chris Fredericks
Yeah, still a lot of potential to kind of grow and get back to some levels that Paramount saw in the past, but maybe just talk a little bit more about the industry, which really feeds that, which is, you know, during the Covid years, we're still kind of in the end, parts of dealing with a huge growth and fast growth in the RV and to some degree, marine market during Covid that when Paramount joined in late 2021, like we were right, Paramount was right in the middle of that, that huge growth.
00:03:46:11 - 00:04:04:15
Chris Fredericks
And then for like a lot of companies, actually, the Covid kind of thing fell off and it slowed down for a few years. And and it's been a little bit prolonged of a, of a slower slowdown coming out of Covid than maybe anybody expected. That's kind of what I've kind of understood. Is that kind of how you've seen it?
00:04:04:17 - 00:04:26:21
Curtis Elliott
Yeah. Being in this marketplace for almost 44 years now, I've never seen a cycle this this long. And I think we can all attribute that to post-Covid. Covid was, you know, during Covid people were looking for ways to get outside and spend time with families. And, you know, the RV made good sense because it could be by themselves, isolated, but yet at the same time, spending time together.
00:04:26:23 - 00:04:49:21
Curtis Elliott
Yeah, we're similar in that in that same nature was outside activities. I think the market absolutely exploded at the level that, you know, no one expected. And we began selling units like absolute crazy. And I think what happened was post Covid, those those, you know, that glut of inventory that was in the market obviously had to be reconciled.
00:04:49:23 - 00:05:09:12
Curtis Elliott
Yeah. But even then when we got back to normal, people didn't have time to go out and do the camping and boating like they had been. They found it to be, you know, not not as important to them. So I think a lot of units hit the market is used to that. And that created like a second glut of inventory that had to be kind of reconciled.
00:05:09:12 - 00:05:36:06
Curtis Elliott
So I think we're finally getting beyond that. There's no question that, you know, things like interest in and fuel economy and, fuel prices. I mean, those things have impact and they have an effect. So, you know, we're starting to see some, you know, some improvements in fuel costs, interest rates. We've seen several rate lowering. And I think that's starting to show some consumer interest in, you know, going back to, you know, doing some purchasing.
00:05:36:06 - 00:05:54:00
Curtis Elliott
So I think all in all we're on the verge of opening back up of the market. I think it's just going to take a little time here to get to, you know, get the remaining cobwebs out of the system, I think, and then we'll get back on our feet and get going. Yeah. We've seen a little bit of an uptick, like I said last summer.
00:05:54:00 - 00:06:09:19
Curtis Elliott
So it's I think this spring, depending on how we all come out on the, you know, this consumer interest rate drops, I think we'll see some activity. There's certainly pent up demand. I think and I think we'll see some activity at the end of that.
00:06:09:21 - 00:06:46:03
Chris Fredericks
Yeah. That's great. I mean, I think one of the things that's always impressed me about Paramount and I've been able to observe now for the last couple of years under your leadership, is like the approach to people, you know, during challenge. And I'd be curious if you would want to talk a little bit about how, you know, the the market, the RV market, the kind of region to that approach to people, how that's happened in most companies, like during these periods of fall off, and maybe how Paramount navigated that a little differently over the last couple of years than maybe some companies do.
00:06:46:04 - 00:06:48:08
Chris Fredericks
You know, in the RV space?
00:06:48:10 - 00:07:11:23
Curtis Elliott
Yeah, there's no question, Chris, that we had to navigate it differently. Being employee owners. Obviously every one of our staff expects that will be working. You know, they expect to have a paycheck at the end of the week, and they prefer not to be two and a half day paycheck. So, atypically in this county, as the labor begins to tighten, layoffs happen and people get cut.
00:07:12:00 - 00:07:32:16
Curtis Elliott
And what we had to do over the last year and a half is we had to find ways to employ people, even at the sake of their the monthly financials we had to keep them is so important to keep the employee under stabilized so that we're not, you know, we're not losing people to other opportunities and having to recreate those positions.
00:07:32:16 - 00:07:50:03
Curtis Elliott
So we ended up doing a very good job of it. We didn't. The financials some much weren't as as good as we'd hoped. But at the end of it, all we did is we did a fair a fair job of managing through it. And it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So we're at a point now.
00:07:50:03 - 00:08:09:19
Curtis Elliott
I'm, I, I'm excited that we're at the point where we're, you know, we're back to we're profitable. We're you know, we're basically, able to have a little bit extra, and the, you know, the income coming in. And that's been a blessing for us. I think, you know, we got everybody back to 40 hours. We're working a little bit over time.
00:08:09:19 - 00:08:16:22
Curtis Elliott
Even so, it's exciting to see us come back at least that level and not have to prop it up. Yeah. You know. Yeah. To get through.
00:08:17:01 - 00:08:37:08
Chris Fredericks
Operationally you if you had done huge layoffs like some maybe would have done, you know, you lose a lot of that institutional knowledge, the training that's been built up and obviously that some amount of loyalty, you know, with the team and the culture and then and then when things come back, you have to hire back all those people and train them.
00:08:37:08 - 00:09:05:05
Chris Fredericks
Then like it's just that kind of that significant fluctuation approach. And that brings with it a lot of negative external externalities to, to, to leading a company. And I don't know how you feel, but leading an employee owned company, to me, this is one of the big benefits, is you kind of stabilize through some of the challenges like that, and it's actually good for everybody, including leaders, to not have to go through such violent change.
00:09:05:05 - 00:09:07:12
Chris Fredericks
You know, when there's ups and downs.
00:09:07:13 - 00:09:32:18
Curtis Elliott
Yeah. There's no question, Chris. Turbulence is a big factor. And one thing that we've experienced before I came to, the opportunity with power, obviously I was in an atypical company here in Elkhart County where we laid off, for example, the 08 0907 0809 downturn. We were down below 50% of our staff. We cut so deeply that there was people at 15 plus years, and that was all that was left.
00:09:32:22 - 00:09:55:17
Curtis Elliott
Okay, so what you tend to find out and you're right, there's no loyalty from either side, from the company side or the employee side. And you don't ever develop that loyalty. And one thing that I've been able to enjoy through the employee ownership, here, it empowers that you not only build that loyalty, but you sustain it and it becomes part of the culture.
00:09:55:20 - 00:10:16:18
Curtis Elliott
And so we've got a tremendous culture that has developed here. Now, I'm really blessed to be able to work with the people we work with because they they really identify as a as a family. And, I mean, it's amazing when you're sitting at your desk and an employee walks in and says, hey, we're having an employee, birthday bash out in a plane at 8:00.
00:10:16:18 - 00:10:49:05
Curtis Elliott
Can you come out, join it? Yeah, it's that kind of connectivity that you build through that loyalty and that you're right. The benefit of that is you're not constantly replacing that, and you're not constantly trying to convince a group of people that you care about them. But you really don't when you have to, looks like that. And when they see that you're willing to invest into them for a year and a half and keep them earning their pay even though they know they were slower, that gives them the incentive to give back to the company during the times that they can.
00:10:49:09 - 00:11:26:11
Curtis Elliott
And I think that's that's where we're at now. We're really searching, a huge uptick and what I would call just raw throughput. People are just performing, producing better. And I think they're back to where we were during that Covid period, where we were hitting record sales weeks, and we were just so excited because we were hitting numbers we hadn't hit before were similar to that now, and that these people know what they can do and they know what they can accomplish, and even even the newer people that don't know what they're going to call, which these more seasoned or tenured employees are helping direct them along to get them to, you know, to get
00:11:26:11 - 00:11:53:01
Curtis Elliott
some jobs done, need to get done. So we we've really been able experience some some benefit and blessing through having that loyal tenure and longevity that a lot of companies here in Elkhart County have not been able to join. The other part of this safety, we've been really, really focused on safety here at Paramount, made it a big commitment, 25 early 25 to make some corrections on that and added some staff, some help with the safety program.
00:11:53:03 - 00:12:20:05
Curtis Elliott
We've we've really made a, huge improvement on that. And I think it's become more of our culture now. It's people recognize working safely is a very important part of being here at Paramount for our success. And I think and most companies in Elkhart County, you'll find that safety is like the last thing they worry about. And, and unfortunately for Elkhart County, we've had a couple major accidents at different companies that have taken people's lives.
00:12:20:05 - 00:12:32:19
Curtis Elliott
So we we really are focused on that this year. And or last year and this year now. So we're really focused on getting everybody in here, get them to get their jobs done and get them home safe. So nothing happens in the process.
00:12:32:22 - 00:13:03:24
Chris Fredericks
And I love that so much. So yeah, let's so I think keeping the conversation going on culture and people probably makes sense. So earlier this year you know Paramount like it like other companies had some internal challenges, navigated some internal challenges. And I think for me it's been so, so fun and neat to see the team come together and rally and not not end up ultimately pulling apart the challenges ended up kind of pulling the team together, I feel like, and I'm curious what that's been like for you to see and be a part of.
00:13:04:01 - 00:13:27:24
Curtis Elliott
I think for me, it's been a in a 44 year career has probably been the most significant thing that I've ever had happen. We've had so many people that have not only seen need, but stepped into that need and leaned into it. We were at a point where we were not convinced we could ever get back to those numbers that we had made before.
00:13:28:01 - 00:13:45:17
Curtis Elliott
We were, you know, we were having weekly staff meetings and we were bouncing around different strategies and things and, yeah, you know, kept coming back to maybe we will never get back to those numbers. And we began almost to believe that in ourselves that we couldn't make those numbers good. But I think what we did is we kind of push a reset.
00:13:45:19 - 00:14:09:19
Curtis Elliott
We pushed the reset button. We said, hey, let's let's start by making our objectives clear. Yeah, let's let everyone know what it is we're trying to accomplish, and then we'll talk through what it looks like to give them the tools to navigate those those, you know, those objectives. And I think once we got on the same page with report, we began to see traction and we began to, you know, obviously perform better.
00:14:09:24 - 00:14:28:24
Curtis Elliott
Our piece count went up or dollars. We're up and, all of a sudden we're hitting these record sales weeks again, you know, not only with on orders, but with backlog too. But we were able to move that backlog to a lot quicker by doing that. There was a very strong, almost rally amongst the team to hit hit those numbers.
00:14:28:24 - 00:14:50:24
Curtis Elliott
And we you know, we gave them some incentives to do so. And they kept hitting those incentives, you know, regularly and and you know, every, every time they hit an incentive, there's almost a reason to party, in other words. So we got really stoked and excited and started doing some special things. And, and, you know, not only meeting some of the old objectives, but actually exceeding them.
00:14:51:01 - 00:15:11:23
Curtis Elliott
And that's been phenomenal. And the support from them to me, on a personal level, I mean, I can't tell you how many stopped in and said, hey, you know, we we appreciate you all or, you know, we're pulling hard to get to sink back in the right direction. Yeah, I think it's important to to let them know what's going on to, you know, be honest and be transparent.
00:15:11:24 - 00:15:33:21
Curtis Elliott
Don't try to hide in a lot of circumstances. Thing is, you know, get a little sideways and we try to hide it. We don't want to be very transparent, but we're afraid it might send a signal or a message. And I think we didn't we didn't do that. We were very transparent. We were very open and, and, converse, you know, conversion of about it and, and got them on board and got them to buy in.
00:15:33:21 - 00:15:48:04
Curtis Elliott
And I think that's the biggest reason we've seen the, success we've seen in the latter part of last year. We just we got some momentum, we got some traction and then it's like, once you get that, that traction, it just repeats itself. And it's so encouraging.
00:15:48:06 - 00:16:12:09
Chris Fredericks
Yeah, that's been fun to see and really appreciate your your leadership through those through that. All of that is there. There's one other piece which I think is, you know, has been really fun for me to see, which is just various folks like stepping up, like you mentioned earlier, kind of seeing the need and stepping up. And it seems like there's a lot of people at Paramount kind of excited about their own ability to impact the business.
00:16:12:09 - 00:16:16:01
Chris Fredericks
And I'm wondering what that's been like for you to see.
00:16:16:03 - 00:16:30:18
Curtis Elliott
Well, I think, you know, I was one of the pieces of the culture that we had really tried hard to work on. In other words, from an individual's aspect, what can I do to make the bottom line better? And and I think we hadn't really made that full connection.
00:16:30:24 - 00:16:31:17
Chris Fredericks
Yeah.
00:16:31:19 - 00:17:05:03
Curtis Elliott
I think by having the, you know, the issues that we had, I think it allowed, you know, us to be more transparent, specific as to what it is or what we were looking for. And I think that's allowed them to identify more specific on an individual basis. What can I do to make this better? What can I do to, you know, make the my fellow team member or my lead or my supervisors a better and we seen a large amount of that start happening and it's contagious.
00:17:05:03 - 00:17:27:17
Curtis Elliott
Once you start seeing one doing it, then you get to and you know, the next thing you know, you've got a whole crew and a whole departments performing at levels that you haven't seen. Yeah. You don't see as much lackadaisical, you know, uncertainty as we used to see. So from a supervision level I'm excited. You know, we've got a very strong management team from the supervisor level up.
00:17:27:19 - 00:17:44:10
Curtis Elliott
We're still working on our leads. We're we're you know, we're encouraging them and training them to, you know, be specific in in their duties to get things done a certain way. And, more or less, you know, how to treat people with dignity, respect and keep that momentum going. I think now that they've seen it, they want it.
00:17:44:10 - 00:17:48:04
Curtis Elliott
They want to keep that momentum going. So yeah, that's been encouraging too.
00:17:48:06 - 00:18:12:05
Chris Fredericks
That's neat. So something I've observed on your LinkedIn postings is that you have an employee owner of the month, the Paramount. They everyone votes I think and pick someone gets picked as the employee owner of the month and seems like people really care about that that award and take it seriously. And I've noticed that that in the pictures that the number of people celebrating with the employee owner of the month has grown a lot.
00:18:12:05 - 00:18:16:15
Chris Fredericks
And I'm curious if that reflects any kind of cultural change.
00:18:16:17 - 00:18:33:21
Curtis Elliott
Well, I don't think any one of us has been, you know, that much specific to improving the, you know, the employee, the the employee that becomes the employee, the lunch. So I think it is more of all of us. Yeah. So we did encourage that. We did stop doing just 1 or 2 of us. And we've got pretty much old timer.
00:18:33:21 - 00:18:36:13
Curtis Elliott
Anyway, it's here that day gets to be a part of the photo.
00:18:36:13 - 00:18:37:05
Chris Fredericks
But that's.
00:18:37:05 - 00:19:03:23
Curtis Elliott
Awesome. It's a fairly coveted award. So the folks really like to. Yeah, we just awarded employee of the year, which, it's a 30 plus year employee with us here at Paramount. So why you know, that's that's really exciting when you, you see a guy who has 30 plus years seniority with the company. And, and when that employee of the year, it's an and you hit on an important part, the whole team gets to vote on it.
00:19:04:04 - 00:19:26:12
Curtis Elliott
I mean, they go straight from my position all the way. Everybody gets a vote. So it's it's a, you know, it's a majority vote that wins it. So that means whoever wins that employee of the month is actually by their peers accepted as the employee, the martinet. I think that's why it means something to all they know. It's not just the captain of the team assigned by the coach.
00:19:26:12 - 00:19:30:19
Curtis Elliott
It's it's the whole team gets to move right and decide who's going to be the captain.
00:19:30:21 - 00:19:55:11
Chris Fredericks
It's awesome. One more thing that's coming to mind that just kind of is an indicator of the family culture and the team. The camaraderie that Paramount has really developed is just the Christmas, the holiday party. You know, the last couple years, which I have been fortunate to attend and you know, I think a lot of companies can do holiday parties and sometimes it gets a little bit like, do people really want to be there, you know, and like it's it's fun.
00:19:55:11 - 00:20:14:23
Chris Fredericks
It's always fun. But that's not my experience of Paramount at all. It seems like people really want to go there. Their partners and family members come. There's a lot of fun and games. You really kind of let loose and, you know, take on the the auctioneer hat, which you could share if you want about what that means. But like it's just neat to see.
00:20:14:23 - 00:20:24:06
Chris Fredericks
Like you can tell people at Paramount just really care about each other, enjoy being around each other. So that's that's pretty cool and notable. My opinion.
00:20:24:08 - 00:20:47:19
Curtis Elliott
Yeah. Speaking to the, you know, one, two wanting to spend time together, obviously my wife and I are now in our sexes, so we tend to I tend to wear out pretty quick, especially on a on a Friday when we start out three in the morning. So I checked out a little earlier this year and of course a couple of my younger team members stayed behind, kind of made sure everything got tightened up and and put away, as it should have been.
00:20:47:19 - 00:21:06:22
Curtis Elliott
But I got to I kept texting back and forth, and the party was supposed to close out at 11:00, and one of my team members sent me notes that I may have to kick people out of here. It's it's she still, she still had a significant number of people there. So yeah, you're right. I mean, it's it's a it's a very good time.
00:21:06:24 - 00:21:33:03
Curtis Elliott
We gather we don't typically just pass out, pick up, prizes because. Yeah, we thought that that would be an unfair way of drawing a random drawing or whatever. Might not give an opportunity for a person to to win. So what we do is we give throughout the year, employees are able to earn what's called Paramount Bucks, and they earn those through doing significant, you know, significant things to help us hit our objectives.
00:21:33:05 - 00:21:39:14
Curtis Elliott
So we may give them 30, 40, $50 in Paramount bucks. So when they get to the Christmas party, monopoly money.
00:21:39:14 - 00:21:39:20
Chris Fredericks
Right.
00:21:39:20 - 00:22:04:06
Curtis Elliott
Cause it's monopoly money. Yeah. Yeah. It was pre preprinted, Paramount logo dollars. So what we do is at, auction time, they get to use those blocks to, to bid on things. We spend a fair amount on prizes for them, and it could be anything from a teapot to television and depending on how much they want to bid, they can build up to the highest bid, or they can just get in and make it interesting.
00:22:04:06 - 00:22:23:12
Curtis Elliott
So I'm the auctioneer. I go around the room and try to have a little fun with it, and it is fun. It is a lot of fun for everyone there. So it's not your a typical sit around and share stories. We want our other type of party but it's a very interactive, active party. I got up and danced last year with a couple employees.
00:22:23:12 - 00:22:47:09
Curtis Elliott
So yeah, it's it's pretty, it gets pretty fun and interesting. So yeah, this year I think we had 6 or 8 of them still there at 11:00, not one to go home. So yeah, we had to run them out. So it's it's cool. I like seeing it. I enjoy having that time. We have a obviously we go to the Lerner Theater and Opera, which is, you know, historically a very you know, very nice place to have a party.
00:22:47:09 - 00:22:57:23
Curtis Elliott
And we have a big, fairly nice catered in dinner, you know, deejay, we have music. And of course, the auctions are highlight of the night. So, yeah, we have a good time. Yeah. It's exciting.
00:22:58:00 - 00:23:03:18
Chris Fredericks
It's awesome. Looking forward, what are you looking forward to in 2026 let's say.
00:23:03:20 - 00:23:34:13
Curtis Elliott
Well I'm pushing you know wine is one of the objectives we have internally on our on the management side is to create new opportunities, not necessarily to diversify away from any particular segment, but to add new segments. You have to increase by growth by adding segments. We've had a couple, really solid things come up. I can speak about it, you know, literally speak about we've been working on some stuff for the defense industry, which we thought was going to be 4 or 5 vehicles, and it's turned into three vehicles a week now.
00:23:34:13 - 00:23:57:21
Curtis Elliott
So some of these have been developing into significant opportunities. And we you know, I'm looking forward to those opportunities coming into the fold and and helping diversify some of the overall, you know, market, RV market and very marketable that. So I'm excited about that. I think there's really a large opportunity here for growth. There's an extreme runway to pick up.
00:23:57:21 - 00:24:27:03
Curtis Elliott
For example, I recently learned there's a company in our, our region. It's in Fort Wayne, Indiana that makes 53% of cement trucks in the United States. So that's a that's a target area that I think I'd like to, you know, get involved with. So yeah. Yeah, there's a there's some opportunities out there. And I think we're just starting to scratch into some of that same time, you know, we've got opportunities to increase market share by getting with, you know, we're not in every RV plant.
00:24:27:03 - 00:24:45:01
Curtis Elliott
We're not in every boat, plant. But we could be in more. So we're trying to expand on some of those customers. And and finally, the customers that we currently have, we want to build with, we wanted to make sure we've got as much market a product as they have or they're willing to give and, you know, do the very best.
00:24:45:01 - 00:25:04:07
Curtis Elliott
We can't being completely on time and being within the quality range of what their their product line should be, and that's the goal. I mean, meet those three objectives. And I think we can see some real growth opportunity here that that I'm really excited about. And I think with the culture we're have, the current culture we're in, I think we're, we're we're primed for that.
00:25:04:07 - 00:25:06:11
Curtis Elliott
We're just primed to make that happen.
00:25:06:13 - 00:25:17:08
Chris Fredericks
Yeah. It seems like the team they've been celebrating hitting numbers that hadn't been seen in in few years. So it seems like they would. And really enjoy to see those numbers. You know, keep going up.
00:25:17:10 - 00:25:33:24
Curtis Elliott
Yeah I think they'd be extremely excited, especially with the idea that we could diversify into some new stuff and that they're always excited to see new things. When I talk about some of the projects I'm working on, they get they get really excited about it. They they like the idea of doing more and more with different, you know, different segments.
00:25:33:24 - 00:25:43:03
Curtis Elliott
Sure. Okay. We're I think with their support and our excitement, I think we've we're we're just really in a good position to take on new opportunities and growth.
00:25:43:05 - 00:25:52:05
Chris Fredericks
That's awesome. Anything else you'd want to share or anything exciting about the future personally, professionally or just anything else you'd want to note to close out today?
00:25:52:07 - 00:26:11:02
Curtis Elliott
Well, I think one thing or professional level is, as you know, by having such, great team behind me, I'm at this point professionally where I can begin to take some time off and enjoy, you know, my wife and my grandkids. And last year was was a tough year for us. We didn't get out much towards the end of the year.
00:26:11:02 - 00:26:31:22
Curtis Elliott
I was able to spend some time with the family. So that's, you know, my wife's really excited this year. She's going to be able to plan some vacation time with her. So that's exciting. I think, you know, it always feels good when you've got people in support positions that you know, you feel comfortable being able to take off and, you know, lean into them to be able to get things done while you're gone.
00:26:31:22 - 00:26:45:10
Curtis Elliott
That's, that's that's so important for especially a person in my position or. Well, it's, to have that support underneath you. You know, that you can you can leave the plant and it'll be here when you come back. So, yeah, that I'm excited about that.
00:26:45:12 - 00:26:51:07
Chris Fredericks
That's amazing. Kurt, thank you so much for your time and and the update today. I think this is awesome I appreciate it.
00:26:51:09 - 00:26:54:01
Curtis Elliott
You're welcome. Thank you for inviting me.
00:26:54:03 - 00:27:13:15
Chris Fredericks
And we're back for a little quick postscript here. I meant to ask you about something I know you and I both share, which is an interest in what's going on with IU football we are recording today. This will obviously come out after, so who knows how this is going to play. But we're recording today on the day of the championship game.
00:27:13:15 - 00:27:31:10
Chris Fredericks
So I use playing Miami in the championship college football championship game today. And I'm an IU alumni, and you and I have shared some fun talks about this as the season has progressed. How are you feeling and what are your thoughts and what intrigues you about this team and the coach?
00:27:31:12 - 00:27:53:12
Curtis Elliott
Well, this team is unlike any other, obviously, in the history of IU football because, there's been many stories that why would I you the student body would be given free tickets because I couldn't really get anybody to sit in the stadium during the game. So obviously this is a different era for IU football picking up Coach Signori last year.
00:27:53:14 - 00:28:13:15
Curtis Elliott
I know this team. I think first when they played, you know, some of the higher level teams and you began to see it differential. Obviously in the defense, the defense was aggressive and the offense was scoring points. And it was like, wait a minute, what's what's happening here? And during one of the interviews that he was right. It's rather comical now.
00:28:13:15 - 00:28:33:21
Curtis Elliott
But he says, you know, Google me, I win. And so of course I did. I Google him and I really see a lot of similarity between him and coach Lou Holtz at Notre Dame back in the day when they won the national championship. He's a little bit old school. He's he's very disciplined. He's very organized and methodical in the game approach.
00:28:33:23 - 00:29:08:18
Curtis Elliott
The game preparation and game approach. So yeah, I take it he's a different ballgame. He came from some he worked with, Nick Saban at Alabama for a short period of time. And then he took the route of taking the head coach and some of these junior programs to kind of work his way back through. And, you know, a year before last, he got the opportunity to step into the role at IU and of course, you know, the college football, the way it sets with portal and things, he was able to assemble, a rather ragtag if you look at the group, he's got, they're a fairly ragtag medium level.
00:29:08:20 - 00:29:13:02
Chris Fredericks
Right. Not a lot of the top tier recruits. There's barely any at all, actually.
00:29:13:02 - 00:29:35:08
Curtis Elliott
Yeah. Really? No, no real five star candidate. A lot of three star candidates. And he's just been able, through motivation and leadership, bring them together as a very cohesive unit and, one that's completely demolished. I mean, demolished their, their schedule this year. Everybody got in front of them. They're unbeaten of course, going into the night. Knock on.
00:29:35:10 - 00:29:56:01
Curtis Elliott
Miami is a decent team. I'm predicting they're going to win at least by seven. I say I use Prime to win this thing, and it's as exciting for the state of Indiana for the fans that's never seen it. I mean, I my previous employer was NIU, big IU alum, and I texted him recently said that, you know, you obviously got to be in love with what's happening.
00:29:56:01 - 00:30:13:01
Curtis Elliott
He said, yeah, I'm over the moon at certainly at one in a lifetime of that. Yeah. So it's it's an exciting time for Indiana. It really is. And, and and you know, we always joke there was only one football team in Indiana. Now we get two obviously. So we'll see how we'll see how we're Texas you know.
00:30:13:01 - 00:30:32:20
Chris Fredericks
Yeah yeah. Agreed. It's going to be fun. Knock on wood. We're not jinxing anything right now by doing this. And I've heard people say like his leadership approach, you know, it's probably going to be studied like this is a it's really a big deal the way they're winning, how well they're how much they're how consistently well performing these team as team is.
00:30:32:22 - 00:31:02:10
Chris Fredericks
Obviously they've got some great players. A Heisman Trophy winner and everything. But there's something about his approach that's extremely effective from a leadership perspective. So I actually think it's going to be neat to read about kind of what comes out in articles, books or whatever. Like there's something about his approach that's and I like your composite Lou Holtz, I can see that like very disciplined, very serious, but also very people oriented and people friendly and like the players just absolutely love them.
00:31:02:10 - 00:31:04:04
Chris Fredericks
But, you know, both of those coaches.
00:31:04:04 - 00:31:21:03
Curtis Elliott
So yeah, they're certainly level by it. And I think, you know, that's that's been important to the saying. Yeah. At 11. they did an interview with him and he said it'll make a heck of a movie. So I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure we're going to get to see that. Pretty sure. Yeah. An exciting movie to watch.
00:31:21:09 - 00:31:24:03
Chris Fredericks
Yeah, that would be cool. All right. Thanks, Kurt. That was fun.
00:31:24:05 - 00:31:25:05
Curtis Elliott
You're welcome. Thank you.