The Key to Building a Successful Business in the Mechanical Industry: Keeping Employees Happy and Fostering Long-term Relationships

This is straight straight out of Crumpton with your host, Greg Crumpton. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of straight out of Crumpton. I'm Gabby Barr, and I am here with mister Greg Crumpton. Greg, how are you doing today? Gabby, I am doing really good. I have been a bachelor for the last thirty six hours and I have stayed out of trouble. Believe it or not. So That's it. Life is good. Got a couple of the pooches up here with me. And, just haven't it's kinda cold and overcast y. So we kinda have that winter kinda morning thing, but, it is really good. And and today is going to be fun. We've got a a friend of mine who worked together. We've we've cried together. We've done a little bit of everything together over the years. So it's so glad to have have our I won't even say his name. I would love for you to bestow on us. Who is with us? Absolutely. Well, I am pleased to welcome today, Mike Dunn. He is the president of Rogers McKinham contractor's Mike, how are you doing today? I'm doing great, Gabby. Thanks for holding. And and you gmail you're doing great. Maybe I got a core Greg is, we we nicknamed him g money back in the day. G money. So, yeah, great. Yeah. So I'm in Atlanta right now, Douglasville. And temperature's a little bit nippy for a cold. We had some rain, a little bit of mixing sneeze. So today is it's a great day. Well, every day is a good day, Mike, when you wake up, the don't taste in dirt. Well, man, thank you for taking time. I know that, we had to schedule this thing a little bit out, you know, because luckily, Gabby said good. People flocked to this podcast and they book months and months and months in advance. So thank you. Thank you for taking time with us, but You know? Absolutely. I've been looking forward to this. Well, before we get going, tell us a little bit about Mike Dunn, a k a mad dog, and how How you got to be a Dane president of a very well respected mechanical company? Well, I I Absolutely great. I mean, so a k mad dog, which basically was my nickname. I think I'm not sure was it. I think you nicknamed me mad. May have. May have. Yeah. I'm sure you have. Right? So Greg and I started out in McKinney's, many years ago, probably, let's see, probably thirty something years ago. Yeah. Been been an industry forty plus years. Started my really, my my the best part of my whole career started mechanics where Greg and I are working together. And one person you cannot forget to absolutely mention is Greg's dad John. John John was phenomenal in mentoring everybody. He was he he was a pillar of the business. He was a pillar of McKinney's. And taught all of us and and and still a lot in Greg, which is still a lot in my career. And Greg, I spent, you know, eleven of years in McKinney's, Great took a a little bit of a size bar to go try start airtight mechanical. And now I think it and and basically motivated me to take the next step. So I left McKinney's. Started my next career max max Air, which is a an ex McKinney's guy also that we had a career with. It was great. And then from there, I started my credentials, Greg. Right? There was key. So I started to gaining mechanical licenses So first, that wasn't miss Georgia, Mechanical. I said, just keep on going. They get my boiler license, electrical license in Georgia. And then Carrie a corporation not gonna door. I said, let's try corporate America. So corporate America was part of my career for twenty years. And then that did learn a lot on that. Managed five states. And this kit this kit advanced And, again, you and I are no different. We started in the field together. Right? From the field to the position you're at now. And when I came on board here five years ago, they hired me to be a vice president to work with Dustin Rogers, which were the legacy started at. His dad's byron Rogers, started this started this business in nineteen sixty two, which is the year I was born. Right? And and buyer Rogers and I are one week apart a litter in January. My birthday is tomorrow, is the week after that. So join this company here. Great company, a legacy company, This company goes from Texas all the way to Virginia to Florida. We do a tremendous lot of warehouse work, distribution work, ton of amazon's, and then we we register the manufacturing. So To get to where I'm at now, step up, I would become executive vice president, and then the opportunity became become president. Justin, who was was by our son. Wanna do something different. He's an entrepreneur. If you guys are big into monster trucks, bad company owns that, The first, when I I I took on the Texas market too, and I I fly one night, opened the back of the warehouse, and there's monster trucks everywhere. They're under working on them. You know? But it's pretty cool. Now the Rogers family is they're great people, great legacy, well known, So and here I am, a year going in my six year at Rogers president of the company. We're a large company. We're pushing just we're part of a platform. We built Rogers Building Solutions. And from Rogers Building We have another company in Florida called Coastal Mechanical. We have, our service division that's really grown, massive, And then we have Slustin Pageett, which you remember Eric Slust and Jimmy Pageett, they're part of the team now too. So we are really grown. So it it's a great time to be in a mechanical business as you know, as yourself. I mean, you're part of the service logic team, which really keeps on growing. I look at their heat map all the time, like, wow, these guys are really just like exploding. And and kudos to everybody here, but it's exciting times. And to be a president, towards end of my career. I think I've, it's my it's my last thing you wanna check the bucket list out. Well, my congratulations, man. I know who, you know, you you said it earlier. We we work together from the ground up, and it's been really fun to to watch you advance and you know, really take on a leadership role because I know talking to the people you've had a carrier, talking to the folks who who I you know, I gotta do my stalking. So I have to do, you know, I have to do my my undercover work, but, really, really, proud for you, man. It's it's quite an accomplishment. So kudos. It's been fun. It's been a great career. And, again, I I looked to you and we worked well together back in the day. We were a great team. I did a lot of great things together. And I looked back at that and then part of that team right there, that's how we both started. Right? That's how you advance. That's who you went to. And again, we'll never forget your dad. Absolutely. Well, you know, Thank you. I I think about that John often and Oh, yeah. He doesn't. I have so many thoughts about him that cracked me up now that I used to, you know, when I was younger and especially when a kid, when when I was a kid, I thought I don't get that, but everything he ever taught me, I now get, you know, like, it took a while for the my seasoning to come into that that word of wisdom he was offering. So I had to groan win too. I think I think we all did. Greg, I mean, slice it. Right? We had a mature in our career. I mean, know, we started a career. We're in the thirties, and we did a lot of creative things. We didn't agree with certain philosophies, and we're gonna do it early. And now we we've matured we've become older, more wiser. And now we can look back that this makes sense. Yeah. No doubt. Like, I I was, thinking about adjusted or in operation for today. And there's two things that really struck struck me that I wanted to to kinda go over with you. And I think more so than anything to validate my thinking, because you were instrumental in in both of these, And the first one, you may or may not even remember this, but, as we were party buyer team. And I think we met on Thursday mornings for some reason, Thursday. I don't I don't remember what morning it was, but every week, we had our our project labor meeting and, negotiations? Yeah. So Yeah. We we learned a lot of negotiating skills, dear, man. Absolutely. Yep. You know, one time, we were all in there, and it was at in the upstairs conference room at the old building. And then, Susie Matthews came in to the room. And she said, hey, guys. There's somebody on the phone and they need help right away and they need a piece of equipment moved tonight. I think it was tonight or maybe it was the following night, but it was a quick hit deal. You know, you and I were, I think we were kind of like always the first to say yes to most everything. And you said I'll take it. And after that meeting, for for whatever reason, I don't even remember why. Maybe I was knew to the group or maybe, I don't remember, but you took the job. You and then I went to look at the project for you. Maybe I was on my way somewhere else or whatever, but it was a little simple thing. That turned in to be the first move that you made for GE Capital. If if you remember that day, I remember it really well because I've used this as a teaching moment over my career to young people to always be looking at opportunity and looking what it could grow into. Because you it was a a a mini mate, m m o eighteen air cooled machine. We took it out of one ceiling and we moved it to Alphorado. And you again, I just went by there and relayed the info to you. It was your job, but what what I do know is that by taking that I don't know. Eighteen hundred dollar job or whatever the thing was. Something small. You then worked on that relationship. Proven yourself day after day. And that eventually turned into a freaking cash cow for you, for the company, and he did GE Capital such a job that it was it was just like they were part of you. You were part of them. In a very short time, but it all started by having the the the wherewithal and the willingness to say yes. It so that's my account in my head. Is that accurate? First of all, I hope because I've told it at the end thousands of times. But Yeah. You're good. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean g capital is great. And g capital, you're you're totally. It's a it was relationships. How we built how we built things. It was it was like, you know, customer service. And gee, capital became a huge account for what we we grew on. Right? Jimmy Alice, day one of those kind of guys. I mean, yeah, our our man was guys all the time, al, Deborah Cartwright, Allison Smith. I mean, Those are great times, and you're right. G. E. G. Capital is a great, you know, start out small and went large for all of us. No different in Crawford company. And I forget Crawford and Company likewise. Another relation though. That's when we run, like, never had Dale. Dale's still plugging along. Right? Yeah. Gabbie got noticed, but Gabby, I've got an uncle who's still works at that company where Mike and I are talking about. He's been there at fifty one coming up this spring. Incredible. And he's still He's an animal. He's an animal. And and all he does now is he's the guy who cleans the fan when the poop hits it. So It's it's what the setup base of it all hell breaks Lucy. He he steps in, say, Trevor. And, you know, that again, it goes back to relationship. So I just, I've always remembered that, Mike, by having the the willingness to say, yeah, and stepping up whenever and I wanna say it was in the summer, and we were all slammed anyway. But but you had the you had the the the fourth right to do the right thing and it paid off for you. Yeah. I think you're right. Teaching relationships is key. That's that's that's our that's our number one topic around here is is relationship building, selling, take care of customer, because they'll take care of you forever. You you you don't wanna be a number of this business. You wanna build a relationship That's the key. Absolutely. And, you know, when I look at the Roger's website, it comes through. It really does. Y'all done a good job of capturing your excellent because, and I looked at it yesterday and looked at it again this morning. It it bleached through. So y'all are y'all are doing your your vibe is good online, whatever that's worth. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We we're, you know, we work hard. Team works hard here. Everybody's dedicated. I mean, like I say, we have teams from Texas to Virginia to Florida right now, and everybody gives a hundred and ten percent. So the the other thing that struck me I think we were both fortunate to be, and I mentioned this group. We had our our our our project managers, which to the rest of the world, salespeople. We called them project managers. You would call them probably an account manager this day and age, but Yeah. That group that we had was special. You know, we had such a mix of people different backgrounds. We have Wyndham in there as our engineer, me and you as service techs. You know, some people coming in it was just a a great mix of people. And then I read a book one time probably twenty years ago. That was called something, I could kick myself in the butt because I don't have the book anymore, and I can't remember the exact title of it. So I can't look the darn thing up. But it was how great teams come together perform, and then they just kinda drift apart. It's kinda like you couldn't you couldn't handpick the crowd, but they all came together. They worked cohesively and then they kinda drifted like a cloud. There's something really special about a group like that. I've been part of that group, that that group, it could take you where I'm talking about. And then, there was a time at airtight, where we had that group as well. It's a very it it's a rarefied air when you get in that, you know, in that mall. And that group that you're talking about, we were tight. Right? We were all tight. We are driven. We came from the field. We we accomplished a lot of accomplishments. Right? We handle, you know, like, the concept, but, of all time. I use that model all the time creatively great. You know, that's a great concept. Right? Yep. And we all got drifted apart. And if you look everybody that was part of that group has drifted apart. I think most everybody was pretty successful and kept and kept moving on. Yep. No doubt. And And I go back to to what you said about my dad. How many how many of us that he nurtured went on to do and really fun stopping the industry rather than just retiring behind the windshield. You know, we we I think that that, Big John Crumpton's dent he made in the universe struck with a lot stuck with a lot of us over the years. Uh-uh. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, tell me, How the how did you become involved with Rogers? Because, you know, when when you and I, last, I think we met in Charlotte, you were still a carrier, not, I guess, thrilled with corporate life. After nineteen years in three hundred sixty four days, but How how did that come to be? I think, you know, a tournament carrier made some changes in in the last, probably last five years. That I spent there. And it those changes were just I guess it didn't fall well with me, my business philosophy, think you're people, relationships, And, so I'll gain knock in one day. Jay or just go ahead and hunt her. Right? We should get them all the time. Right? And, at least when I talked about it, I'm like, you know, it's it's time for a change. So that's that's how I came here. And so we talked back and forth, Dustin and I, and, came into agreement, and here I am today. And like I said, you know, a carrier, great career, great people. But again, we drove it apart. Right? And we took that took took those key people away and replaced by other people, and it wasn't a good fit. And for me, to be successful, you gotta be happy. Right? And you gotta feel like you're you're you're con main contributions. So, I mean, Carrie was great. We saw great relationships. I've taken his relations, Greg, and and extended my network. Right? So I've come to Rogers, you know, the David Kest of the world, the people in the factory, when I need things. Well, let's face it when COVID hit, those relations were key. Right? Absolutely. Business going, large orders, call the factory. I need this. Need help. You know, you know, and and those are key. And even even even with train, built this relation with training or anything else going on. So I think those twenty ish years or under twenty years of carrier, we're great, and then coming out of that, taking those relationships to train and continue it. That's really helped us at Rodder on the mechanical side. And we we From the time I've been here, we have we tripled the numbers, which are it's huge. So we become a big organization. You know, we were we were at sixteen thousand square feet in our original office. Now we moved. We're in thirty seven thousand square feet now. And we said, we'll never fill this place up. Well, guess what? It's full. It is full. And it's amazing. Good times. Yeah. It is. And but, you know, what what it's really cool to me is that you took your, you know, what I call foundational values that that you started with in in Miami Day, you you need apprenticeship school. Yep. You know, those early days taught you a lot. You know, and and we talk the word we hit record about, you know, be being old enough to to appreciate the values that people bring or or the teach that that you learn from people that are teaching you, probably before you're ready to learn them But you took those values, you know, you you worked at McKinney's, what you did at Max, which is now service larger companies funny. Yep. Exactly. What you what you then took to carrier and built for twenty years is compounding knowledge. You know, it's not like you start over when you go somewhere. You take that skill set and your relationships with you and you build it. And it to me, you know, I've got I was looking up somebody's phone number this morning I've got like eight thousand contacts in my phone. And, you know, that's from forty years worth of relationship building. I still have my mental retention for memories pretty good. So, you know, I remember putting in a carrier VBT system at Ridgeview, Middle Hospital on Southcock Drive. I still remember who I was talking to Harold Nelson who you know will. You know, we were working through all these problems and those freaking relationships, man, are are if you treat them well and you treat them like you should, which is a, a sacred object, they they carry you forward, you know? You look back. Look at Jim Spadella. Never Jim Spadella. Right? Very well. So he was our he was our go to guy. Now he's in charge now. So those relationships, Mike Nelson, used to be a co op at Max Air. Right? He stepped up. So those are all the people that we built relationships together and started together. Have kept close contact. I mean, the Dean train. Right? That guy started around and and never heard the partnership. Right? Trust, mentor, all that, the little card. I still have that. But, again, you're right. The values should be learned through the years. Bubble together. I'm I'm basically molded where I'm at now. The same thing with you. And you can't and you can't take that away. No. You can't. What the other piece that I find fascinating is we we both had people in our in our careers that were a roadblock. And being able to keep your wits about you while you're maturing enough to work around the roadblock. Mhmm. That's even better, you know, because we all did well despite this guy. But what I'm saying is if you do the right thing and you treat your peers well, it doesn't matter what's in front of me. You're gonna overcome it. And I just think that that that strong fortitude to do well, it it it overcomes so much. And, you know, you were destined to do something really good in in the business, a a year life, for Lisa and the boys, and you've done that. Regardless of what was in your way. So the other day I wanna ask you about You said, I think, and I don't remember where I heard this or read this, but you had two Oh, you said it on LinkedIn. You have two boys in in law enforcement. Yeah. So so Justin is the oldest. Okay. So Justin is forty years old. Wow. So he's he's got two kids, but his career he's a he's an orthopedic surgeon. Okay? So just think about that. Okay? Both pig serves in his hands are critical. Then Megan's the middle one, two kids, Austin is the youngest. He's a full time law enforcement. Okay? He's a captain now. So you say two. So Justin is a Georgia state patrol SWAT medic. Gotcha. He volunteered. So that gentleman gives up his time for high profile cases. He trained with Georgia State Patrol. He hops out of helicopters. He he does shooting, everything. So when things go bad, he's right there. And then my other ones in Fulltown law enforcement, SWAT also, So these two guys have been on a couple of cases together. So, yeah, we, we, we, we cringe. I'm sure. Yeah. So it's cool. You know, That's a good way to get back what what Justin's doing. I remember them being in medical school. I didn't I I couldn't figure out what time without that Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So here's the guy who has to make a lid with his hands early on, but he's still willing to give up his time pro bow. No. Nope. For for a for a cause to to back up state state patrol, SWAT teams, in high profile cases. So it's it's pretty cool. It's real it's I'm pretty I mean, it's the families are great. You know, I and then and again, relationships and who you work for. Like Rogers. Right? Rogers Mechanical is a family. Right? We are a family. We take care of our employees, our customers, our customers need something. We take care of them. I got a I got a great count. I mean, like Dustin Rogers, great counterpart. Byron who started it, you couldn't answer a better gentleman. I have a great partner, Dennis Coleman, right? And then I have a, a platform. Right? And Mike grabbed him, who is a CEO now, brings a lot of experience to the to the business. You know, so we have a platform called Roger Building Solutions, which really has helped us take it to the next level. So that's not that it's all again, you need those people. It's not Mike Dunn. It's the people that make up the team. Right? You and I kinda grew up in a kind of the the pyramid thing. And we got away from that. And I think that's the success for us right now. You know, when, it's funny you said pyramid because when when we were being, courted by service, like, it to be acquired. Our CEO now, Craig, ask me one day one night because everything has to be clandestine, you know, while you're going through that. So one night, he said, bring an organizational chart to dinner with you. I'd love to see the layout of your company. So my organizational chart was really simple. We had I think at the time, twenty five technicians So I drew a pyramid inverted with twenty five technicians at the top. Our our coordinators our foreman, you know, our dispatch or operations. And the point down at the bottom was me. And he said, what kind of damn organizational charges is? And I said, it's what makes us what we are. Because our people that are out front every day or our company. And if we don't do right by them and they don't represent us right, then I'm I'm blowing slow, you know. I'm I'm I'm nothing if it's not for these folks upfront. And, he's still from time to time, looks at me poorly about my organizational chart, but, it worked, you know, and but it's all people based. It's it's all about, yes, we're in the air conditioning business, yes, we're in the heat rejection business, whatever. And it it's so, you know, overused that our people matter and all that crap you read about. But if you dig down one layer and talk to the people that are behind the windshield of the service van or on the roof setting equipment in the snow, Those are the people that tell you whether the company's worth the crap or not. Customers aren't always the best judge because they're always in need. So if you could fulfill that need, most customers are happy with that. Right? Especially in this day and age. Right? You know, right now how how crazy things are. But that frontline employee She'll tell you whether the company's doing right. You know, maybe she's a single mom and she has to get off at four fifteen to pick her kid up by five so she doesn't get penalized by the day care, she'll tell you whether we accommodate that. You know, that that to me is what matters. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, yeah, you're right. Without the field production side and the skill set that we're such in need for right now, That's all that's it's all matter because I can sell our team to sell everything, but if you don't perform, That's it. That's critical. You know? That's that's the key. You know, and and we and this business here, we've gone from distribution. You know, industrial manufacturing, and now we've launched our data centers now. So we're actually in mission critical doing data centers now. So And, again, without the feel, the right skill sets, it's just just a just a name. Right? It take it takes everybody. So, Mike, that brings up a topic that that is near and dear to my heart. And I know it is yours. We both grew up in a union shop. You know? Yep. We both went through the apprenticeship school. You and you and Miami, you and me and the Atlanta area. And we both got a your school back in the day, it may still be. I don't know. It was top in the nation. I mean, y'all produce some really high quality, technicians out of that. And we've got a company down there, Airstrom in in Fort Lauderdale, Miami. And you talk about air straw on it. It's it's, the sushi, it this was the last last name. House Succi. Yep. So it was one of my instructors. So they, they still rock down there, by the way. Not I've seen there. I've seen a website. So what what I find interesting is that, you know, you're in a non union role right now Our our companies are half and half across the nation, but the same problem persists whether you're union or non union, you know, is a black lack of resources or technical resources. When are you guys doing, and obviously no trade secrets here? Just in general. What what how are y'all addressing? What do you do here? I think the biggest, the the biggest for us right now is addressing the skills right now is, you know, on the recruiting side is is difficult for any anybody right now. I think, but here at Rogers, and that what I want to do personally also is, is bring people in, mentor them, bring them up, give them opportunities. Right? The thing would do different. The great person they use in the field has great opportunity to come in the office. Right? I think key thing is treating them fair. I'll give a great, package, right, that, right, and respect it. Right? And give them a career path. Not a job, but a path. Yeah. I mean, that's that's key. Right? Is a career path. Right? There's gonna be guys out there. I just wanna go do their job and go home every day. Right? I think right now, we recognize ten years ago that the skilled labor was gonna be a critical part succession for every every company right now. And we missed the mark across the board. Skill trades are are desperate need the caliber is not where it should be, whether it's union or non union, the whole one is re struggling right now. So for us, sir Rogers, the key is, freedom and respect, mentor them up, show them a career path, and treat them, like, they should be treated, right, that the that this is important, right? Because they're what they do is is a relationship and what they do is branding for Rogers and what we do. Yeah. We we had a fellow start with our company, a pretty big position, about a year and a half ago, and he he was traditionally a sales guy and came out of a different industry. And, I remember, like, the first day or two he worked with us I said, you realize that our salespeople can really, really, really outsell our ability to perform. So our sales people are not like, they're not and I don't want this to sound on because our sales people work hard and they do a great job of of vetting jobs out. They're doing their homework. But they could outsell a crowd out of us being able to perform. So Absolutely. And he looked at me like, yeah, whatever. You know, like, he didn't he didn't get it. And then a couple of months later, he was like, damn. I'd I didn't realize what what you were trying to tell me. And I'm like, yeah. I mean, our companies can be selective because if you've got, you know, ten thousand man hours to spend. You want to spend those man hours in the areas that are gonna make you the most money. And not ten thousand man hours on just working because we can all work for wages and not get anywhere. So you really have to be selective. And then when you're doing that selection, make sure that you're building your crew mix so that you're bringing young people into it where they can then, you know, you know, starting as a as a helper, and you gotta be able to work all the way through. But, It's an interesting dynamic right now. I think we're at the beginning of turning the tide tied is just right at the Avenue below market. It's not sure which way it wants to go. We need people There are people. We aren't doing a very good job collectively of bringing them into the industry because there's forty gabillion different ways to do it. There's no cohesive matter because you're doing it one way. We're doing it another way. McKinney's doing it another way. ABC corporations doing it another way x y z another. And that's good because we're all doing what we have to do. But if we could coalesce around a way to do that better, which partly is getting the trade back in public school where people understand when you hire them what a screwdriver is and what a hammer is. And I I know that funny to us, but I talked to a guy recently who is a trade school teacher in in, public Technical school. And they wanted class. He said go over there and get me a flat head, a Phillips head, and the crescent wrench. And everybody's standing around like, what the heck are you talking about? So he had to go back to tool identification day one. Where, you know, ten years ago or thirty years ago, you didn't have to do that. So we've gotta get that awareness back. And we we Craig, so we we could we I'm not gonna name, but there's a few technical schools that are across our our markets. And I've I we were highly engaged. I took one of the schools and for a day, went to three different classes and and talked to that the guys graduate and everything else. And the I guess the frustrating is on on that side is is that, like, an evening class Like, you and I had to go to school at night? Yeah. Most engaged. You know, ready to go to work. And then you look at the other other two classes during the day. Distraction and care less. On the phone, don't care. Right. Right. Right. And and that's that's the problem we have. I think we have a mixed a mixture of of of young adults that not sure where direction you wanna go in. Right? Don't understand that have to have certain credentials to go into a service vehicle. Right? Like, being weed free and avid drivers all and all that, bitch. There you go. Right? You said it. I didn't wanna say it. You said it. Right? And then some of these guys have hard times. What do you mean? What do you mean? You gotta take a drug test? Yeah. Just. Yeah. I'm like, I'm out. I'm out. So that's the frustration part. I think you're key. Right? So my career started in high school. And I went I went to we had a darker city school there, and then I went to work, and then I've actually gotten to the local, which was great. And then this flock from Meredith McKinney's and went from there. So, yeah, I think if we really enter at the schools with And I know in in Coweta County, where I live at, we do have a, program for this individuals to go there, but I think it's not big enough. Right? We don't but I'll promote it enough. And and getting hands dirty and getting is is good. Like, we have one lady here And she's a single mom and kudos to her. She got one son at Georgia Tech. Well, right? He's got me engineering. He's an intro here also. And then she has a daughter who works for A and E. Okay? That's electrician. Okay. Kudos to her. Right? That she got another son that's working in our fab shop. But so those are the career paths, right? Opportunity for this single mom who's got three great kids who wanna work. One's gonna go professional out of the mechanical engineer. So in charts up here, and then the other two, right? And that's what we gotta do. Right? Because a good foundation at any company, I'm gonna bring people in. And and you get that. And Oh, yeah. What what I'll walk around and squawking about and preaching about and yelling about is if everybody in our positions as people who are seasoned in the industry would grab a person or a family under their wing and help. We would be in much better shape, you know. You know, we grew up in an era where a lot of the dads didn't want their kids to follow them into the trades. They wanted better for them. They wanted them to go to college, which is fine. If your college material, some people don't need to go to college, Some people need to be orthopedic surgeons, you know. And there's room for everyone What I worry about are the kids that are falling between the cracks and don't know where to go because they're they're not aware of the opportunities. The schools are, you know, they're getting a bad rap right now with the whole this whole Palestinian and is real thing going on. There's a lot of damn good kids in college right now. That'll all pass, but what we've gotta make sure is the kids that don't know what to do know that this is an opportunity to at least learn about. So, you know, and and my goal and and what I've been doing lately, I'm work to reach out to the guidance counselor, crowd that that middle school and high school guidance counselor circle and find out what we could do as tradespeople to help them promote us. Yeah. And you're right by that. Because the the one of the test goals She the ministry told me, same thing. Start in middle school, and I'm, and I'm, like, really? Yeah. She said, if you if you in If you put that in their in their mind, that that's an opportunity that as they progressed in a high school that college not a career path, that it's a still in their head that, hey, there's an option to do a trait Yeah. And make and make a great living. And then the ones who can advance have my job. Right? That is right. That's the key. That's the key right there. Keeping the pipeline full at every position available. And we're always going to have people and you set it all together. They wanna come in. They wanna do a great job, and they wanna go home. There's a gabillion opportunities for people to do that, make a hell of a living, but not have the headache and the responsibility of running a company. There are people who want that headache and responsibility, and there is volume centers a path as you've just laid out for the three in the family you're talking about. There's a path to do that, but we've gotta create that awareness. So that's You're right. And, you know, it's like everything else. Right? And then, and then, I think there are we have the COVID didn't help where a lot of people just said, I wanna be home. Okay? But you're seeing that move from be to home maybe a corporation now is saying, okay, come back people we have to have at. And here's the same thing, when COVID hit, we we continue to work. We came in the office. I mean, for a while, we were like, we didn't, but it was hurting our business. And we said, just get back together again. So People need to be with people that they work with. You know? I'll I'll work I'm about an hour and a half from from our office. But when I go there, it's refreshing, it's rewarding, you get to catch up with people that, you know, I've like, my boss, I can call him right now, touch the message, cell phone, zoom, whatever. But when I can send his office and b s with him for ten minutes, you can't beat that. And You gotta get that. No. There there's something about you know, and I preach this for years to our to our people who are our customer service facing people. Get in the car and go visit your customer. It doesn't matter that they don't have anything that you're trying to from them. You don't have to have a purchase order to go say hello. Go say go say, hey, go take somebody to lunch when you don't need something. And then when they do need something, you're on the frontal lobe. It's not like you fell off the earth and you're you're just the guy who calls when you need to purchase it. People people have more respect when you get that extra mile extent. Hey. So now who they're dealing with, And then, though, when they need you, they can call and count on you. You know? There there's a meme that I love. It says, something about the extra mile. Take the extra mile. It's not very crowded either because so many people, and I I remember years ago writing an article called when did good enough become good enough. And that that last ten percent that you're willing to give that extra five percent that few are able to give, that one percent that nobody hardly gives That's what that's what really made she stand out of a crowd. Yesterday, we recorded a podcast Some of us worked yesterday, some of us didn't. We were I was talking to this guy, Michael, Bowman, and he's an author and he wrote a book that I read. And wanted to have him only talk about it. And he was talking about he's a he's a minister as well. And he was talking about being a pastor to one percent of bikers. And one percent bikers are like, you know, that's the real deal. And I I thought about it after the call. What does one percent represent to a biker and how does that carry over into normal society? And that last percentage of people that are willing to go to whatever measure, whatever means, whatever is required, which is what one percent of bikers are. Anything for the patch. If you carry that same mentality, as a human. Man, there there's no telling what you're you'll do for people and therefore what they're willing to help you do. Oh, yeah. Oh, you're right. I mean, you you your employees have you checked your employees with respect, like, at a family? They'll go the extra mile for you every day. But if you treat like a number, then when you need them, they're not gonna be there for you, like the bikers. Right? So everybody has a means, like, the church I go to. We have a biker's ministry. Right? And some church, if you if it was a biker show that, here go like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, not this group. No. No. No. Right? It'd be open. Yep. Those are called Hyper Christians. There you go. There you go. Yep. I love your, plaque behind you. And for those that that we're doing audio only folks that they can't see it. But it's a the shape of the United States some some American flag pan inside the borders. It's beautiful. Yep. Yep. Alright, Mikey. As we start to wind this thing this thing down. Tell us what the future looks like for you and what Roger. What are you guys doing? What what's what's on the agenda? Well, the agenda right now is to continue to grow, right, and maintain. Quality is always key. Right? Cusp take customer relations. You know, never never forget our employees, employees are are key, right, to success. With without employees, we're nobody, right? We can sell everything all day long without the employees, we can't we can't make it. And then always, we'll wanna be we wanna be first. Right? We wanna be always in front of the markets. We wanna be, learning. Better ourselves, always standing out. And like I say, the markets have changed. I mean, you're heavily into markets. Right? Some markets went from distribution for us to e commerce, to manufacturing, industrial, and the data center market went wide open. So I put together a mission critical team, put a leadership in place, put the team in place so that's where we're at right now. Totally always want to enhance our people. Right? But I think the future for Rogers is to just to continue what our legacy is all about. Bring on great people, build our service business, which we were doing. Expanding that. Services are critical. You know? You know, what we install, we want a service. Right? We wanna we want that legacy to continue for for Rogers. Our platform is very solid behind us. Like we said, we have a CEO, which is great. That gives us that that ability to do what we're doing right now, expand the business, and just continue what we're doing. I mean, in Florida market, we're we're big at health care. Which is great. Sless and Patges, and a lot of partners, you know, they have a a niche too. But the future's wide open Greg as you know, right? I think the future for all of us is to focus on employees, focus on skill trades, fill those needs, and continue to to build the quality business and lead and mentor. You know? I think that's so important. Given that back, man, Yeah. And I wanna leave this business, you know, probably the next five, six years, you know, pretty proud of what I've done in my career. Alright. Hold on. Hold on right there. That is so it'll be, so you won't be leaving me in five or six years. I know you too well. Oh, I I will leave this part of the business. There you go. Okay. I I still wanna continue in in the market. Do something different, maybe, not not as full speed, you know. Maybe take maybe, maybe take a little bit easier in life, right, enjoy our life for. I like what I do. Live and live live for this every day. But you can eventually, hey, let someone else how the how the this scene and do and move on. Yeah. Right? It's been it's been great. You know, my dad's name was John too. Yep. I lost my dad six years ago, missing to death. And I look back on that wisdom and the arguments we but he and I both had over the years and you look back by, hey, like you said, not he was a dumb guy after all, you know? Yeah. They tend to get smarter. For Yeah. Absolutely. Well, my good. This has been a a absolute blast I hope that that we can continue the conversation, well after you get through with that seat. And, Absolutely. Start doing start doing more leisurely stuff because you're a busy guy, man. You know, we're growing and you got a lot going on. So I appreciate Yeah. Appreciate you taking time real I I was when this came across, and my assistant, Kim Johnson, she's an ex the case person too. She used to work for Mark Wyndham. And, she went maybe two years now, and I said, yeah, this is gonna be great. So Greg, like, go way back. And I said, I'm an honored to be on. I appreciate the opportunity. Always thought, again, Greg, you've been you've been oh, even my sidebar, you've been I always talk about you all the time, you and Connie, and We had great ties together. Yeah. We had the team, Jeff, you and I, and the rest of the team. Right? You can't you can't take that away. Right? Yep. Good good memories. Good, a good launch pad for some other people to come on and and join the join the freight age. Absolutely. Mhmm. Well, daddy? Yeah. Absolutely. Well, as for everyone else, thank you guys so much, and thank you, Mike, for joining us for another episode of straight out of Crumpton. For more episodes like this, subscribe through Apple or Spotify Podcast and don't forget to check out greg crumpton dot com for all of your Greg crumpton content.