Who I help
I am based in Springfield, Missouri, and I work with owners and leadership teams in Southwest Missouri, the Ozarks, and across the Midwest. The industry matters. The situation matters more.
I have spent most of my career in manufacturing, including stainless steel and industrial equipment, start-ups, change management, and multi-site operations. I am most useful where there is a real shop floor, a real schedule, and a real promise to a customer or a dealer.
Engineered and standard equipment businesses, including work that has to satisfy strict regulatory requirements. I understand the mix of project work, standard product, service, and the dealer or direct relationships that sit around a plant like this.
Shops and plants that cut, form, weld, finish, and assemble. The constraints are familiar: capacity, skilled labor, quality at the source, and the temptation to add overhead instead of fixing flow.
Discrete and process manufacturers that have grown past informal operations. If you have a plant, a production team, and a leadership gap, we should talk, even if the product is not stainless or processing equipment.
Operations that live between the plant and the customer: service, parts, warehousing, and dealer support. I have first hand experience with global dealer networks, so I care about the promise the field makes and the plant's ability to keep it.
Owner transition
The founder or CEO is still the unofficial chief of operations and wants to spend more time on business development, customers, or a possible transaction. Read about owner transitions.
Growth-stage gap
Volume is up, the informal system is creaking, and a premature COO or VP hire would add G&A you will have a hard time taking back off the books.
A seat that cannot sit empty
A leader has left, an integration needs a present operator, or the site is listing. I step in, stabilize, and leave you with a clearer job for whoever comes next.
G&A getting ahead of the work
Coordinators are coordinating, meetings are multiplying, and margin is thinning. Before the next hire, we look at the work. Signs to watch.
Multi-site stretch
I have run plants in more than one state and worked through the integration of an overseas acquisition. The issue is usually a shared cadence and clear local ownership, not another layer of reporting.
After a transaction
Integrations, add-ons, and pre-sale cleanup all put a strain on operations and the balance sheet. I have done that kind of work as an interim executive and can help you keep the plant steady through it.
I live in Springfield and I like working close to home: Springfield and the rest of Southwest Missouri, the Ozarks, and a comfortable range into the Midwest. I also work with companies in this region that have plants or partners elsewhere, and I will travel when the assignment requires it. We will be explicit about the on-site cadence so it does not become a surprise.
I am not a generalist strategy shop, and I am not a good match for an early software company. My work is hands-on leadership inside a real operation—on the floor, in the weekly meeting, and accountable to the outcomes we name. If you need a pair of hands rather than a leader, or if the honest answer is that you need a full-time hire, I will say so.