When the American flag they'd received as a wedding present quickly became worn and tattered, Katie and Wes Lyon went looking for something much better, and preferably made in the USA. They couldn't find it, though, so instead they teamed up with their friend Max Berry and founded Allegiance Flag Supply to make their own. After some fits and starts, they found the business model that works, and they not only survived but thrived through the pandemic. Katie visits the "Wall of Metal" to tell us how they did it. Tune in for the whole thing, and like it and subscribe to hear more great manufacturing stories!

My pals all over the manufacturing world do amazing things. But let's face it: a lot of us were never educated in running a business. So I took advantage of the opportunity to have my friend Chris Panagiotu on the show to give us all some education. Chris is the owner of CAPitalize Your Finances, LLC. He's a wealth adviser and a certified financial planner. He hosts his own podcast, aptly named the CAPitalize Your Finances Podcast, and he also has a book coming out soon! And he's a heckuva great guy, too. He delivered some really great advice on a few key things those of us in manufacturing should be thinking about and doing. Listen to the whole thing - it's well worth your time! And as always, like, share, and subscribe!

Way up in Houghton, Michigan, there's a little company that's making nearby Michigan Tech University a new destination for space technology. Brad King, who helped found Orbion Space Technologies, picked the location because of the exceptional technical talent the school generates. (And the staggering natural beauty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula doesn't hurt either.) Tune in and listen to the whole story! As always, if you like it, please like, share, and subscribe!

A lot of you probably know about KA-BAR because of their iconic US Marine Corps fighting knife. But the company's history goes a lot farther back than WWII. It's a fascinating story, and today KA-BAR is making some outstanding products (do check out the tactical spork!) CEO John Stitt and Director of Sales and Marketing Joe Bradley joined me to tell me all about it. They're a couple of great guys, and we had a fabulous chat. Do check out the whole thing, and as always, like, share, and subscribe!

Dianna Huff is one of my favorite industrial advocates out there, since we share a passion for American manufacturing (though I will say she beats me big time on actually buying American!) She's had some great experiences in writing about manufacturing and helping producers market their goods in today's digital world. And along the way she's found ways to buy almost everything she uses only if it's made the USA. She recently launched a blog about that, so she's also Publisher of Keep It Made USA, where she helps consumers follow her lead. Tune and get the whole story straight from Dianna! If you like this, please share, like, and subscribe!

Eric Girouard grew up doing blue-collar work, went to college and learned about business, then worked in the fashion world. But his hometown friends who went into the trades begged him to launch a workwear company to get them the gear they needed. So he did. His friends were right about there being a big market for that. It's been going gangbusters ever since with BRUNT's boots, coveralls, and more. Tune in and hear all about it. And subscribe to hear more cool stories like Eric's!

Here's an educational one for our manufacturing audience. Aimee Ridella, in her previous job with Weber Shandwick, was the best PR partner I had in helping me find great stories for some of my earliest Forbes articles. Now doing internal communications work at DTE Energy, she came on to help teach us what people in manufacturing should be thinking about when it comes to PR, and how they might get help in getting their names out there and in putting the best image forward for their companies. It was an absolute treat getting this chance to connect with Aimee again, and to hear her excellent advice from her own experiences. Tune in and catch the whole thing - it'll be worth it!

The lumber commodities market can be tough to negotiate, especially for smaller companies. Getting price transparency for buyers and dealing with credit risks for sellers were always a problem, even before today's crazy marketplace conditions. Mike Wisnefski had been trading lumber since the 1990s, and back in 2009 he saw an opportunity when the CME Group started trading lumber futures on its Globex system. That transition to digital trading eventually led him to help found MaterialsXchange, which digitized the trading of physical lumber. That's made it a heckuva lot easier for the small guys to get what they need, when they need it. Tune in and listen to Mike tell us all about it!

Back before the pandemic, Mike co-founded his company, Veryable, which introduced an app and other innovations to provide on-demand labor for manufacturing and supply chain companies looking for better way to right-size their workforces. Then came Covid, and what Mike says was a deliberate attack on small business that's hit manufacturers particularly hard. Tune in and hear all about it, and learn what you can do to help yourself in these difficult times for staffing and for keeping your business healthy.