Reflection on a Leadership Legacy
by Bob Zaruta, President/CEO, NWIRC
Wow, my last article for The Advisor. As I indicated last month, I wanted to use this final opportunity to reflect on my time in the role of President & CEO at the NWIRC. Reflection is a critical activity for personal growth and development. Throughout my career, and life in general, there were not many times that I left a meeting or a conversation and didn’t think about what I could have done better or said differently for a better outcome- or observe something that someone else did and said to myself, “that’s a keeper”. The value of reflection soars when we weave in the challenges, uncertainties, and newness of the times. For this final article, my reflection will focus on the latter with gratification, celebration, legacy and departure in my mind and my heart. I’ll begin with a conversation I had 9 years ago with Debbie, my lovely and always supportive wife of 46 years. We were in the kitchen of our home in Shavertown, PA when I told her about this job opportunity in Erie, PA where I can lead the NWIRC. Her initial words were, “Erieee, it snows sooo much there and I hate the thought of leaving Maddax (our only grandson at the time and just 2 years old)”. Obviously, I got the offer and accepted it. I started the job while Debbie spent the next 6 weeks downsizing the home we lived in and raised our 3 sons over 35 years and getting ready for the big move from northeast to northwest Pennsylvania.
While I had senior leadership experience and confidence that I could deliver as the President & CEO, I knew I would face new challenges, be stretched, and have my share of newness. I had no idea of the vast 10,000 square miles of landscape in the 13 counties that NWIRC serves and all the small communities and rural roadways. I did not know any of the 1400 plus manufacturing companies in the region and what they did. I had no business relationships with them nor with leaders from economic, education, and workforce development organizations that would also be important for success. I had a Board of Directors, most of whom I had never met, to report to and a staff that didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. We did have our son Bob and his wife Laura who had moved to Erie the year before. We’ve been blessed to have them and now two grandsons, Connor and Luke, just around the corner.
During my first six months on the job, my plan was to be out in the field meeting as many leaders as I could with the hopes of establishing relationships, learning about common challenges and opportunities, and getting to know the local geography. I remember in those early meetings talking about “the big move my wife and I made (at a later stage of our lives) moving from northeast PA to Erie” and strangely not getting much of a response let alone any empathy. Once I learned of the borough of North East, PA, I revised my story and got some empathy and a few laughs.
I learned early on about a common challenge manufacturers were having in sustaining a culture of continuous improvement despite investments in lean manufacturing training and events. I learned about the success several business leaders and their companies – including Kelly Goodsel (Viking Plastics), Charlie Rutkowski (Industrial Sales & Manufacturing), Dan Ignasiak (SEPCO), and Scott Eighmy (American Turned Products) – were having with the implementation of Paul Akers’ 2 Second Lean when a light bulb went off and Lean Together™ was launched. That was early 2017 and, other than a pause during 2020-2021 due to COVID, NWIRC has successfully facilitated one or two cohorts of the Lean Together each year assisting companies in developing a culture of continuous improvement where everyone gets involved making small incremental improvement as part of their every-day job. I remember joining Molly Reichard from our staff at a Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) national conference in Atlanta and sharing the Lean Together program structure and best practices with our peers from around the country. In attendance from the Montana MEP was Shane Cantrell. We connected, stayed in touch, and today Shane is NWIRC’s Operational Excellence Specialist and leads cohorts of Lean Together. Fundamental to NWIRC’s mission is our ability to address the most pressing issues that small and mid-sized manufacturers in our region face. We’ve strived to do this through innovative programs and differentiated services that are tailored to a client’s specific needs. It’s what makes our jobs so meaningful, rewarding, fun, and exciting.
In 2018, recognizing the need to help address the shortage of skilled workers, NWIRC began developing client services designed to help them attract, develop, and retain employees. As part of this strategic priority, NWIRC positioned Lisa Pustelak as our Culture and Employee Development Specialist and later, as client demand and staff grew, the manager for these critically important client services. In 2019, recognizing the need to be part of the solution to grow the future manufacturing talent stream, NWIRC helped launch the first student-run manufacturing enterprise at McDowell High School. Today, there are student-run manufacturing enterprises at 8 different high schools in northwest Pennsylvania and two more schools looking to do the same. Come this fall, over 300 students will be learning and performing various jobs in manufacturing and running all aspects of a business from within their school. Students are making real parts for real companies and getting excited about manufacturing careers while building relationships with local employers. The number could be 10X times or greater in just a few years with the success of HSSR Enterprises, Inc. dba SRME – a company launched in 2024 to help school districts anywhere in the country that want to implement a student-run manufacturing enterprise.
With the goal to further our help in developing the future talent stream for manufacturing in our region, in 2023, NWIRC applied for and was awarded a PA Manufacturing Training-to-Career grant from the Department of and Community and Economic Development for our Project Manufacturing Talent Stream. Tara Lawrence joined NWIRC’s staff and through creative, practical and effective programming connects thousands of K-12 students and out-of-school youth with local industry for career awareness, exploration, education, and training.
In 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in a weeklong intense study of the world-renowned Dual VET, Vocational Education and Training Apprenticeship System of Germany. Our small group, mostly colleagues from the MEP national network, visited manufacturing companies and vocational schools in Bonn, Koblenz, and Mainz to learn about their apprenticeship programs. We met with administrators, instructors, and apprentices to gain fresh perspectives and new insights with the goal to enhance our efforts to develop the future talent stream back home.
Throughout the years, I needed a steady diet of engaging with manufacturers to see first-hand and understand what each does and how they do it. Touring and then dedicating a column in the Advisors to feature the company and share my new learnings was very special, as was the 14 Recipes for Manufacturing Success podcast recordings with manufacturing leaders over the past year and a half.
Collaboration with other regional entities has also been not only a strategic priority for me and for NWIRC, but also an enjoyable and memorable part of my work. Unfortunately, the available space my amazing Communications Specialist, Laurie Knoll, carved out for me for this article has already been exceeded and thus I can’t even begin to list the many.
Then, there are the annual Hill Days in Washington, DC, with the last three in particular being extra special featuring a different high school student-run manufacturing enterprise each year. Truly an incredible display of collaboration and support I will forever be grateful for and will cherish.
NWIRC has the most incredible staff that I have had the
honor and pleasure to know and work with over the years.
A staff that truly serves manufacturers with PRIDE ((Passion, Responsiveness, Integrity, Dedication, and Experience) – our organization’s core values. And, NWIRC Board members who throughout my tenure not only provided direction and advice but incredible support. And, my church community at Saints Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church which I have been part of from day one and which has been, and will continue to be, such an important part of life in Erie.
As the words from one of the Bing Crosby tunes in the classic movie White Christmas goes, when you can’t sleep, just count your blessings!