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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.
00:00:00:01 - 00:00:03:12
Eric Lothrop
We're out there when it's cold, you're out there when it's hot,
00:00:03:14 - 00:00:10:22
Eric Lothrop
generally unpleasant most of the time. But if you love what you're doing, and you love the craftsmanship, and
00:00:11:00 - 00:00:14:08
Eric Lothrop
you like the trade, then it's, you know, it's all easy.
00:00:14:08 - 00:00:18:01
Dan McGowan
My dad was a mailman, my mom worked as a health aide at an elementary school.
00:00:18:01 - 00:00:21:00
Dan McGowan
I grew up just admiring the heck out of my parents.
00:00:21:00 - 00:00:24:01
Dan McGowan
All the lessons they taught me about hard work and
00:00:24:03 - 00:00:25:09
Dan McGowan
how to be a team player.
00:00:25:13 - 00:00:29:13
Dan McGowan
But, you know, one thing that we didn't really talk much about is like,
00:00:29:13 - 00:00:30:06
Dan McGowan
finances.
00:00:30:08 - 00:00:31:08
Dan McGowan
We're out of the era
00:00:31:13 - 00:00:32:15
Dan McGowan
pensions. Like,
00:00:32:17 - 00:00:34:07
Dan McGowan
those rarely exist anymore.
00:00:34:13 - 00:00:42:03
Dan McGowan
But when you're in employee ownership, and you're in an Esop, you have those shares that you're accumulating throughout the years, and you really do have
00:00:42:03 - 00:00:43:04
Dan McGowan
that pot at the end of the
00:00:43:09 - 00:00:44:05
Dan McGowan
rainbow.
00:00:44:05 - 00:00:47:13
Rachel Wolf
I know that every hour that I put in benefits 50 other people
00:00:47:14 - 00:00:48:21
Rachel Wolf
and then some. Right?
00:00:49:02 - 00:00:52:14
Rachel Wolf
I know that my work here meant something, and to me that is
00:00:52:14 - 00:00:53:12
Rachel Wolf
irreplaceable.
00:00:53:12 - 00:00:55:06
Ian Kovach
Everywhere I've worked before, it's like
00:00:55:08 - 00:00:56:10
Ian Kovach
you just do your job and
00:00:56:15 - 00:00:57:22
Ian Kovach
people won't even look at you.
00:00:58:01 - 00:00:58:16
Ian Kovach
Here,
00:00:58:16 - 00:01:01:02
Ian Kovach
we all have a voice as employee owners.
00:01:01:06 - 00:01:02:07
Dennis Casey
It wasn't just
00:01:02:09 - 00:01:02:20
Dennis Casey
Luke
00:01:02:20 - 00:01:04:14
Dennis Casey
or Jack standing up in front
00:01:04:16 - 00:01:06:04
Dennis Casey
you know, giving a spiel on
00:01:06:04 - 00:01:07:12
Dennis Casey
this is what's going on.
00:01:07:12 - 00:01:08:21
Dennis Casey
It was the whole
00:01:08:21 - 00:01:10:15
Dennis Casey
group of guys out in the shop
00:01:10:15 - 00:01:13:02
Dennis Casey
asking questions, the right questions,
00:01:13:02 - 00:01:14:18
Dennis Casey
because they were concerned about
00:01:14:18 - 00:01:15:21
Dennis Casey
how we're doing.
00:01:15:21 - 00:01:20:02
Luke Orszag
We never had to dictate overtime. Everybody stepped up where they needed to.
00:01:20:02 - 00:01:30:11
Luke Orszag
And then adding employees to help keep up with the demand, the existing Firstar employees very willing to train, very willing to help out because they know at the end of the day that's going to help them, too.
00:01:30:11 - 00:01:32:12
Speaker 2
This is real.
00:01:32:14 - 00:01:34:08
Amanda Smith
This is not anything made up. I mean,
00:01:34:08 - 00:01:36:06
Amanda Smith
we are actually employee-owned.
00:01:36:08 - 00:01:39:11
Amanda Smith
We're doing something different than most companies are doing.
00:01:39:13 - 00:01:47:08
Tim Barnett
You know, going from nine years in commercial, industrial plumbing and heating. Just a number never appreciated.
00:01:47:08 - 00:01:50:10
Tom Bawkey
I've spent 20 years working for a guy that,
00:01:50:10 - 00:01:52:14
Tom Bawkey
he doesn't care about me, he just wants his
00:01:52:14 - 00:01:53:08
Tom Bawkey
cut, you know.
00:01:53:11 - 00:01:53:19
00:01:53:19 - 00:01:54:06
Curtis Elliot
There's no
00:01:54:06 - 00:01:54:14
Curtis Elliot
question
00:01:54:14 - 00:01:57:11
Curtis Elliot
that we had to navigate it differently being employee owners.
00:01:57:15 - 00:02:03:20
Curtis Elliot
Typically in this county, as the labor begins to tighten, layoffs happen and people get cut.
00:02:03:20 - 00:02:08:23
Curtis Elliot
What we had to do over the last year and a half is we had to find ways to employ people,
00:02:09:01 - 00:02:10:18
Curtis Elliot
even at the sake of
00:02:10:18 - 00:02:13:08
Curtis Elliot
the monthly financials. We had to keep them.
00:02:13:08 - 00:02:16:07
Scott Kroeger
Public companies had more of a quarter-to-quarter kind of mentality.
00:02:16:07 - 00:02:18:10
Scott Kroeger
They were much more short-term focused.
00:02:18:11 - 00:02:21:03
Scott Kroeger
My leadership style, I'm looking more long term,
00:02:21:08 - 00:02:24:09
Scott Kroeger
and trying to build something of a much longer-term value.
00:02:24:09 - 00:02:24:19
Luke Orszag
The
00:02:24:20 - 00:02:28:00
Luke Orszag
machining workforce is not getting younger.
00:02:28:02 - 00:02:30:05
Luke Orszag
There is a workforce shortage already.
00:02:30:07 - 00:02:31:04
Luke Orszag
This isn't just
00:02:31:09 - 00:02:31:22
Luke Orszag
a job for you.
00:02:31:23 - 00:02:33:06
Luke Orszag
This could be a career.
00:02:33:06 - 00:02:38:15
Rachel Wolf
I wouldn't know any other way except to lead with my hands and be on the floor with the people.
00:02:38:21 - 00:02:39:19
Rachel Wolf
Sometimes
00:02:39:19 - 00:02:40:18
Rachel Wolf
as a leader, if you
00:02:40:18 - 00:02:47:06
Rachel Wolf
don't see it firsthand, and you don't go experience it, it's too easy to just say, yeah, it's probably not worth spending X amount of money on.
00:02:47:06 - 00:02:51:09
Rachel Wolf
That's a real thing that happens at every business that I would love to see go away.
00:02:51:09 - 00:02:55:12
Rachel Wolf
And the only way I think you can do that is do the job yourself and be on the floor with the people.
00:02:55:15 - 00:02:58:04
Tom Bawkey
I want to do the best that I can. And I want to know
00:02:58:05 - 00:02:59:16
Tom Bawkey
that it's appreciated.
00:02:59:16 - 00:03:01:19
Tom Bawkey
And I think that in a employee-
00:03:01:21 - 00:03:02:11
Tom Bawkey
owned
00:03:02:11 - 00:03:06:00
Tom Bawkey
setting like this, I'm finding out that 100%,
00:03:06:00 - 00:03:07:14
Tom Bawkey
that's exactly what is needed.
00:03:07:17 - 00:03:08:08
Eric Lothrop
Whether it's
00:03:08:08 - 00:03:14:04
Eric Lothrop
going to be on display, like in a mechanical room later on or it's going to be buried in sheetrock. We try to keep the same standard
00:03:14:04 - 00:03:15:22
Eric Lothrop
in the same craftsmanship to all of it.
00:03:15:22 - 00:03:19:23
Eric Lothrop
Right? So whatever goes into wall, looks as good as anything that you're going to see outside of the wall.
00:03:20:01 - 00:03:21:23
Tom Bawkey
We’re not alone in taking pride in what we do.
00:03:22:00 - 00:03:23:11
Tom Bawkey
you know, making a good product.
00:03:23:13 - 00:03:27:22
Travis Adams
It's not just us little 80 to 90 employees anymore.
00:03:28:04 - 00:03:28:13
Travis Adams
There's
00:03:28:13 - 00:03:29:20
Travis Adams
bigger bunch of people.
00:03:30:02 - 00:03:32:00
Travis Adams
We fall on hard times,
00:03:32:00 - 00:03:33:14
Travis Adams
they've got our back.
00:03:33:16 - 00:03:35:04
Travis Adams
They fall on hard times,
00:03:35:04 - 00:03:37:21
Travis Adams
we've got their back. It's a big family.
00:03:37:21 - 00:03:39:10
00:03:39:10 - 00:03:44:13