CEO Roundtable: Northern Colorado remains manufacturing hotbed

WINDSOR — Manufacturing CEOs in Northern Colorado want to turn away from the narrative that the economic landscape is all bleak. Participants at BizWest’s CEO Roundtable Tuesday morning found that while supply chain issues and staffing shortages affect every sector, Northern Colorado’s manufacturing industry can adapt and build connections.

Jay Dokter, CEO of Vergent Products Inc., reminded local leaders that Northern Colorado is still a hotbed of new ideas.

“We see a renaissance of innovation and technology just surfacing in Northern Colorado,” Dokter said.

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Doug Rhoda, founder and chairman of Vectis Automation LLC, has found that his work with Colorado Advanced Manufacturing has led to new partnerships and projects.

“A greater share than I thought have come from Colorado,” Rhoda said.

While manufacturing in Northern Colorado has been able to hold its own during the pandemic, it still faces the same staffing struggles as most other industries. One unique challenge is the need for employees to work on-site, according to Tharp Custom Cabinetry president Garth Rummery.

“For manufacturing, you can’t work remotely, at least we haven’t figured it out yet,” Rummery said.

Hans Jespersen, vice president and general manager of Vestas, found that the wind turbine manufacturer was experiencing similar issues.

“You can’t make turbine components from your kitchen table,” Jespersen said.

Colorado’s high cost of living and tight job market have led to a need for higher wages in order for companies to stay competitive when finding employees, Walker Manufacturing chairman Bob Walker found.

“We are faced with higher turnover than we normally experience,” Walker said.

Noffsinger Manufacturing CEO Dean Herl has had a similar experience in attracting employees to work with the agricultural conveyance manufacturer.

“We can find them; we just have to pay them,” Herl said.

Jay Dokter discussed how Vergent Products’ decision to avoid laying employees off in the early days of the pandemic was a stretch at first but paid off in the long run.

“Now, we’re so thankful we didn’t lay anybody off, because we need them,” Dokter said.

Just like with staffing shortages, manufacturers have also had to face an increasingly unstable supply chain.

Garth Rummery found some luck in stocking up early on, as suppliers reacted to shifting lumber and component markets.

“We just kind of stayed on to buy everything we can, and we were lucky to be able to do that,” Rummery said.

Just like it’s difficult to manufacture remotely, Bob Walker found that negotiating with suppliers over the phone led to a lot more rejections than he hoped. His solution was to load key players at Walker Manufacturing onto a plane and negotiate in person.

“We’ve visited somewhere between 15 to 20 of our key suppliers face to face in person since the first of this year, and it’s making some difference,” Walker said.

The Better Business Bureau serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming hosted the CEO roundtable. Sponsor Plante Moran was represented by Adam Cerullo, and sponsor Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti was represented by Ashley Cawthorn. Sponsor Elevations Credit Union representative Darrin Atteberry, and executives Tim Reeser of Lightning Systems, Robert Thompson of Envirotech and Chris McGilvray of Front Range Community College were unable to attend.