Special Report: MWFA FSTNR Week ’25

 

Midwest Fastener Association table top show floor interviews featuring the lovely and talented Lynn Dempsey with Rick and Morgan Rudolph, Tom Blakley, Heidi Volltrauer, Josh Winkler, Tom Buddenbohn, Mallory Nichols, Matt Delawder, Sid Hirsch, Jill Coar, Luke Radtke, TJ Munson, Mike McNulty and many more. PLUS: Golf results including winner of the coveted FTR award. Run time: 55:49

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Listen to the podcast here

 

Important Links

• Fastener Training Institute
• Fastener Training Institute on Facebook
• Fastener Training Institute on LinkedIn
• Fastener Training Institute on X
• Advance Components
• Jill Lewis on LinkedIn

 

Special Report: MWFA FSTNR Week ’25

Welcome To MWFA FSTNR Week ’25: The Tabletop Event Kicks Off!

Here with the MWFA board member, I guess, President Emeritus. Can we say that Jake “Valdez” Davis?

I think you can do that for sure.

Past president? We’ll go with that. There are so many things we could talk about, but I’m one of them being the mudder race, which we’ll cover probably separately, but congratulations. It looks like another great event. It’s just getting underway. The 2025 tabletop thoughts so far.

It’s been great. Good temperature in the room so far. That’s always a positive. I cannot have it cold enough in my opinion. Already seen a handful of customers that said hi and are going to go walk it and then stop back by. Traffic continues to come in. Distributors abound, and really talking with Francesca this morning, really happy with the numbers we were at between exhibitors and foot traffic distributors that are going to be here. Plus, we’ve got the Fastener Training Institute class for the Certified Faster Specialists. They’re here this week, and we’ve got 50 students that will be making their way through and being introduced to a whole bunch of suppliers and platers, and manufacturers throughout.

Always a strong event, the MWFA and I see the supply of U-Bolt blend on your table slowly dwindling. I know you have backups. Speaking about giveaways, so you were telling me you were walking in this morning past Brian and Lynn, and they shared one of our giveaways with you.

We had a little breakfast meeting with Advance Components. They were walking in with coffee cups in abundance. I mean, just stacks and stacks.

I was talking about the other one.

The other one, discreetly within the coffee cups, was the small packet of Vegemite. We took a couple of packets and took them over to Walker Brothers just across the street here, and we had a little taste test. I hope to get all four of those at breakfast to talk to Lynn later. We even got our server involved. I did remember Brian had told me out in Vegas, you’ve got to apply butter before you cannot just go Vegemite only because you’re going to lose that battle.

You’ve got to mask the actual flavor. As I said, good job on the Mudder, good job on this event in general. We’ll talk about all of that in detail.

I had a crazy busy couple of days with the Mudder, the bed built on Sunday. I love Monday, we had the plant tours, but it feels like a little day to reset before the show and the golf on Wednesday. Appreciate you guys being here, and we’re looking forward to a great day.

God bless you, Senior Valdez.

Love you, brother.

This is another one of our compressed show coverage episodes. I’ve got lots of sound from the floor courtesy of the lovely and talented Lynn Dempsey. I’ve also got a couple sprinkled in myself. She looked like she was having so much fun. I had to join in on that. This year’s event took place in Lincolnshire, Illinois. That’s outside of Chicago, Northern Suburbs. It was at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort once again.

It seems to be a pretty good venue for this. Everyone enjoys it. They’ve got a big parking lot for the Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed build, which we’ve used to kick off the week for the last several years. Of course, as most of the day before that was August 23rd this time, about 38 courageous souls dove into the mud as the rugged nuts. We’ll be covering that on a separate episode. We’re going to look at what happened on the show floor, mostly.

In between these two packages of sound, I’ve got a couple of highlights for you, including what happened during the golf event. I know you all want to know who won the FTR award during the golf outing. I will have all that for you. The room was full. Fortunately, the weather was quite mild. We’ve had some real roasters out there, and they’ve got the Tabletop in a big tent. It’s one of these semi-permanent tents, and it gets really hot, but this year it was very comfortable.

Although I did not personally go out onto the golf course the next day, I heard the same thing was very playable. I saw lots of friends out there with excellent attendance. Congratulations to Jill Lewis and the MWFA board. Of course, Francesca is the executive director. She was sweating it a little bit, but I wish she wouldn’t worry so much because she’s doing a really good job. Everybody really appreciates it. There are some more highlights, but we’ll talk about that after we listen to some clips and recognize our partners who make this all possible for us. Most of them were at this year’s Fastener Week.

The title sponsors of Fully Threaded Radio are Brighton-Best International, Goebel Fasteners, and Star Stainless. Fully Threaded is also sponsored by Buckeye Fasteners, BTM Manufacturing, Eurolink Fastener Supply Service, Fastener Technology International, INxSQL Software, J. Lanfranco, Fastener Technology International, The International Fastener Expo, MW Components, Solution Industries, Volt Industrial Plastics, and Würth Industry USA.

We all made it out to the big tent for the tabletop that went on all afternoon. Started actually a little early. People started pouring in there right after lunch, about noon. We were probably about an hour early to start this one. There was a superhero cocktail party, I guess you’d call it right there. The party rolled on right in the tent. A lot of good pictures on that on LinkedIn, and we’ll dive into the sound here. I think you’re going to really enjoy these. Thanks for listening, everyone. It’s MWFA FSTNR Week ’25 coverage.

Fastener Training Institute: Day 2 Insights From The Floor

I’m over here at Midwest Tabletop, and I’m here with Thomas Cochran with Threaded Fasteners, Matthew Roschak with Kimball Midwest, and Shelby Hall with Kimball Midwest. I made them stop because I can see that they’re doing homework. Please tell me about the class.

We are in the Fastener Training Institute here in Chicago. We are on day two. It’s a lot of information. It’s good information. You should take the class.

How long have you been in the fastener business?

Thirteen years.

How long have you been?

A little over two years.

You?

Ten years.

Who was the teacher today, or have you had multiples? Should I ask who’s the best teacher? Not until you finish the class. I don’t think she’s teaching.

She is the best.

See? We got a politician here.

Ms. Jo is the best. She puts this whole thing together, puts it on, makes it happen.

That is true. Anything you’d like to tell me about the class? What are you going to bring back?

Just a lot of good product knowledge, so we can share with our sales reps.

Better technical support for our sales reps and our customers.

Fastener Certification. I’m going to be a certified fastening specialist.

Naperville Fasteners Association: Person Of The Year Award

Thank you. Good luck. I’m talking with one of the award winners. Tell me, Cameron, what did you win?

The Naperville Fastener Association Fit, Form, and Function Person of the Year.

If you don’t know what that is, we’re all directing you to Marty and Eric Dudas.

Yes. Unaware about it, apparently, I was on my phone texting around when they were talking about the winner. All I really heard was my name. I was like, “What?” I was quite surprised, but very honored. It would start as an official organization, just a bunch of guys meeting, but it had grown into more conversations out of business best practices shares, and just sharing old war stories, and some good old fun, having some drinks. If you’re ever in a town Chicago, we’re having a meeting, I would recommend joining the group.

I second that. Now tell me what’s happening with Beacon.

We’re same boat as everybody else. We are trying to navigate what I call the choppy waters. There’s a lot of instability going on now with you, with the terrorists being the main ones. We’re learning as we go. It’s hard to look past what’s happening right now to think long-term, but we’re trying to navigate our way through this, and we’re seeing pretty steady business still, which very happy about. We just like to get back in growth mode.

We’re navigating choppy waters — tariffs, instability — but steady business keeps us moving forward. Share on X

It’s like remember when you were a kid and you all of a sudden had to start like new math?

Yeah, that’s probably a good comparison. We’d like to take this new math back and go back to your math, but we’re getting through it. We’re like everybody else. We’re fighting the good fight, working with the customers, trying to soften the blow as best we can, but we have to run a business, too.

Congratulations on your award.

Thank you. I’m very happy, I was very surprised. A lot of people knew, but they saw me not paying attention. I’m like, “I’m just trying to text something right now.” No, I’m happy. I enjoy it. I try to make every meeting as possible. I guess that’s why.

You do make every meeting. We took a vote.

I have an automatic pass from the wife. All I had to do was say I’m going to an April Fassner meeting. No discussion. She lets me go.

That’s very good. Good talk.

You too, have a great day.

E-Z LOK & Sleep In Heavenly Peace: Building Beds For A Cause

Still cruising the aisles here at the tabletop, and I ran into Kyle Winsley Roach from E-Z LOK. We love E-Z LOK.

We make it easy for you. Easy to repair and reinforce threads.

 

We happen to have the privilege of working with Build-A-Bed.

I came in and did the Build-A-Bed event with the Midwest Fasteners Association this past weekend, and it was just great. Great event, great turnout, a lot of great people, and doing it for a great cause. I was really happy I could make it out and do it.

How about the weather? I think it was the first time it wasn’t like 90 degrees out.

I think the weather was the best you could ask for. It feels like nice fall weather, cool little breeze, but I was expecting it to be in the ‘90s and not humid, but it was beautiful weather.

I understand from Jake, we did do the 130 beds.

Yes. I worked, I think I worked three different stations building those beds, so I got my hands on every part of it.

I dipped a little bit, but we had girls come in from Elmhurst, high school girls who did dipping. I didn’t have to dip all day, and then I just ran lumber to all the sanders.

Excellent, yes, I did sanding and then I did the assembly like the headboards and the footboards, and then I helped pack everything up, so it was fun from start to finish, great.

We feel good, don’t we?

Absolutely yes. Listeners, we’ll see you all out there next year.

We’ll see you next year for sure, or maybe also around the country where they’re doing more bed builds.

That’s true.

Eurolink Fastener Supply Service: Expanding Their Presence

I’m with Josh Winkler at the Eurolink Fastener Supply Service table. I was about to say booth, but Eurolink puts up a much bigger show if the booth was up, doesn’t it?

We’ve got the two big shows of the year, Fastener Fair and IFV. We brought out the big guns and actually just had a new booth that we debuted earlier this year in our 10 by 20 space. Next year it’ll even be bigger because we’re going 20 by 20. We realize that doing the 10 by 20, we need a little more foot space for people to come up in our booth instead of hanging out in the aisles. We’re looking to be bigger and better next year.

That’s not just bigger, it looks awesome, and it functions more importantly. Just like the product that you sell.

Our booths definitely bring in people. It was a good investment. We got a lot of good feedback from Fashion Fair earlier this year. Looking forward to getting it out there for the next couple of shows.

Josh, you’re here representing Eurolink. I don’t see Craig and Kim. Although you may be working on your long red beard. I’m not sure if you might have just had a fun party last night. Craig was not in the mud race this year. Did he have any comments when he sent you off for all the mud racers? I know his heart’s here.

It’s still there, I don’t believe he’ll be participating anymore after the new knee he got from the last time. He was in the mud run, but I think I’ll probably sign up for it next year. I’ve done a Spartan race back in 2017. I think I’ll join the rest of you guys and compete in that.

You are a beast, so good to talk to you as always, Josh.

Good talking to you, Eric, thank you.

Tough Mudder Photo Recap: Sunburned Adventures

I’m here at Midwest, and it’s busy. Everyone can hear everything. I ran into Zach. Zach had the honor of photographing the Tough Mudders.

I did. It was an amazing event.

He’s very sunburned, and he looked very tired. I was a spectator. I was not doing the butter thing.

I got pretty beat up from just running it. I don’t think I could handle the obstacles too well. Maybe one day.

How did the pictures come out? Do we know?

The pictures came out great. I liked seeing the pre-mutter pictures compared to the post-mutter pictures, where everyone was covered in mud. Just completely doused in it. I was interested in seeing that. I was really happy with how the videos came out, too.

Would you do it again?

I would do it again, definitely. I’m so happy to hear that because it used to be such a pain to try to get from obstacle to obstacle to try to photograph. I know you photograph much better than I do.

I’m used to it, but I’m definitely willing to relieve you of that duty if you’d like me to.

Yes. I’ll even pay you.

As long as you give me some sunscreen next time. I know you offered anyway, but I should have listened to you better.

I channeled your mother again, or your grandpa.

You’re continuously doing that. Thank you for that.

Nice talking to you.

Star Stainless: New Products & Tough Mudder Heroics

TJ with star stainless.

What about the show? It’s been great. I think it’s going to get a little better, good foot traffic, some new faces. It’s been good.

Tough Mudder. I remember TJ ran in the Tough Mudder, and then when they came to the electrocution thing or whatever it was, or whatever, he challenged you to go storming. Here goes that Marine just storming through. I was with other people just watching, and you impressed them greatly. They all went, “Oh my god.”

I just didn’t want to get muddy, so I just focused and walked through.

You didn’t walk through. You ran through. It was very impressive. All the people standing there with me were going, “Oh,” and I was like, “Now that’s a Marine.”

It was very fun. A little shocking.

How about it? What’s new at Tough?

We’ve got a new product catalog. We were doing a lot of strut accessories now. We’re doing Boomax is a big thing for us. We’re the master distributor for them here in the US now. We’ve got a lot of that stuff in stock now. It’s good. We’ve got a lot of other exciting things in the catalog now as well. Rivets too.

Great talking with you.

Great talking with you.

Young Tom Buddenbohn: Texas Business & Golf Course Slot

You don’t care. We’re here with an old friend who fully threaded the radio.

I’m Tom Buddenbohn. Why do you call me old?

That’s Young Tom.

That’s nonsense, too.

What’s happening with you?

Life is good. Summer’s over in Texas, so we’re probably done with 100-degree days. Business is actually very solid. My imported rivets and screws are solid. My domestic manufacturers that I represent are also very solid.

No Trump slump with the tariffs there?

I believe I’m getting a Trump boost, honestly.

What are you going to do here at the show? What are you checking out?

I’m milling around. I think I have five of my principals here, so I get to visit them. I just found out today that I have a slot on the golf course tomorrow.

You might win this beer here.

Is that first place or last place?

Last place.

I won’t win that. Try not to.

Good to see you.

Great to see you. Thanks.

BBI’s 100-Year Anniversary: A Legacy Of Success

I’m over here at BBI, and I’m with Tom Blakley.

I think the show’s been a great turnout today. We’re very happy with the turnout and the quality of the people who are here. Looking for opportunities, I think, is a great way of putting it.

I see this table here, and boy, it’s loaded with stuff. Look at all these giveaways.

That’s our marketing department. They have a great time designing all that stuff. I’m just a guy, looking happy to give it out to our customers.

How do you feel about the anniversary coming up?

We’re very excited. We’re very excited at the company. We have a great layout in Link and everything else. That’s been wonderful. It’s a hundred years. The companies just don’t always get to do that anymore, especially with only maybe, really, in the last several years, it’s only been two owners. That’s the other part. That’s great about it.

That is true. Are you golfing? It seems like everyone’s golfing.

I am golfing tomorrow. Yes. I’m very excited. I wish I could. I’m not that great of a golfer, but I am excited to do it.

This is a golfing industry.

I’m in sales. I should be a better golfer. Do you know what I mean?

American Ring: Golf Strategy & Team Dynamics

That’s true. I’m over here at American Ring, the golf nemesis of the fastener industry. I’m with Chris Burner, Michael Morrissey, and Jason Short. I understand Michael is the ringer golfer, but he’s not going to be here tomorrow.

Nobody’s getting any strokes off of me tomorrow.

I got Jason. I got Chris here. What’s our strategy for tomorrow’s game?

I hope that we’ve got a good two some to pair up with.

We’re to go as low as possible, I suppose, the ultimate goal.

Do you guys find that as a challenge? I don’t play golf. I know nothing about golf. Do you guys find that a challenge? All of a two strangers come in, and the four pack has to move as one?

It’s a different dynamic, and playing in a scramble format is a different golf than you’d be playing by yourself necessarily because you’re going to take more risks, probably than playing your own ball.

It’s fun to meet new people, too. A couple of years ago, we got paired up with Brandy, and we had a lot of fun. Her and Eric. We had a great time. Everybody who played with us has been really fun. It’s fun to meet new people. The weather’s supposed to be amazing tomorrow.

We’re not planning on bringing home the trophy or whatever they give you?

I have the best. High expectations, but we’re going to have a lot of fun tomorrow regardless.

INxSQL: AI Integrations And Manufacturing Software

Thank you, American Ring. I’m over here at the INxSQL booth, and I’m with Rob Reynolds and Eric Gates. How’s business? What’s new at INxSQL?

Business is good. We got a lot of new stuff. We got some AI integrations. We’re selling a lot of websites with customer portals and e-commerce platforms. Also, our manufacturing software has really picked up. We have the MRP software and the ERP. It’s all connected. There’s a lot of functionality in the software. Everything from the WMS, the QMS, all your accounting, purchasing, sales, and CRM is included in the software as well.

Do you find more people are asking about AI now, or do you just say, “We’re AI?”

Yeah, they are. We’re constantly looking to add more of it as an option for people. The AI is integrated into our web search now. I think the next step is getting a forecasting AI for the producers in our software.

AI is the crystal ball everyone’s looking for — forecasting and integration are the next frontier. Share on X

That would be very cool. That would be.

It’s a crystal ball everybody’s looking for.

INxSQL is going to build it. Good luck with that. I see Brian doing the programming. It’s like, “Oh my God.” Now let’s talk about the fun subject. Golfing. Are you ready?

Yeah, I am ready. Playing with Eric Gates, Morgan Wilson, and AJ Gallo.

Are you going to take it?

We’ll see, but we feel pretty good. We’ve got a couple of practice rounds in already since we’ve been here.

Have a good game.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

WTC & WJ Roberts: Business, AI, And Rebranding

I’m in the window aisle of the show, and I ran into Will Snyder from WTC.

How’s business?

Business is good. We’re supporting our existing customers here at the show and enjoying meeting new people, and it’s been a great show so far.

How many people have asked you about AI?

Absolutely zero.

Really? Are you guys going to be using AI with security or anything? Is that in the works?

Our security products all have AI, and our products that we support our users with have a lot of AI in them. From a technology standpoint, our customers, especially in the fastener space, aren’t really keyed into that yet. When they are, we’re ready for it, but they’re not really talking about that yet.

We’re hoping to push them. We’ve been pushing.

Yes. It’s inevitable. There are a lot of deficiencies from a marketing and sales standpoint that AI has some really great advantages, but right now, I think this industry hasn’t focused on it a lot, or they haven’t been asking us about it.

Right next to you?

Matt with W.J. Roberts Company. Alright, and what’s going on with W.J.?

Doing a little bit of a rebrand for the Vegas show. We’re going to some new artwork on our banner stands, business cards, and all in line. Trying to really push that made-in-America avenue.

No tariff issues?

Nothing on the finished product. We have some tooling coming in from overseas, some raw material tariffs, but it doesn’t affect the entire bottom line. We can be a little more competitive. The branding’s going to be?

Red, white, and blue.

You cannot go wrong with that.

Never.

SWD’s Bingo Game: Networking And Superhero Fun

I’m sitting down relaxing with Matt Delawder from SWD.

How’s SWD doing?

We’re doing very well this year. It’s been very interesting, a little lumpy. You’ll see some customers from different markets that are doing extremely well, and yet we’ll have other markets or other customer segments that are slower. Overall, we’ve been pretty successful this year.

The slowness you attribute to tariffs?

I wouldn’t say the slowness, the busyness, though.

Let’s talk about the Bingo Game.

The Bingo Game this year. Last year, we did a game show that aired a match game. This year, I had some complaints from people who didn’t know the participants, saying, “Yeah, it was fun to watch,” but I didn’t know why, and it wasn’t. “Can you do something to get us all involved if you’re going to do something?”

I said, “Why don’t we try a game that everybody can play?” We looked at games where people would download an app and you would basically do trivia on your phone, but when we looked at that, we’re like, “That requires people to do a lot more work.” Said, “What about bingo?” Everybody does bingo. We did a people bingo. We find someone who has who’s left-handed. We find someone who has a beard.

Once you did, you got to mark that off on your bingo card because of our bash theme of superheroes this year. We did superhero music bingo, so you had songs like Spider-Man and Batman, and the Superman theme get played, and we had two different tables win. It was a great day and a lot of fun for our luncheon for our exhibitors. Always great to have so many people here at the MWFA FSTNR Week ’25.

That’s true. Bingo was fun, and you’re right. We did talk to other people at our table, saying, “Do you have a cat? Do you have a dog?” It did work. It did make people network. Good job.

Thank you. Now we’re just waiting for the bash.

The superhero bash. I cannot wait to see what Eric comes out as or Brian, I’m sure. Crocodile Dundee. Maybe he’s a superhero. I don’t know. Could be. Lynn’s going to come out as Wonder Woman. When you see the pictures on LinkedIn, you are going to love this.

I don’t know about that. I ran into Jamie Clark, Justine Urban. They’re walking the show. Tell me how the walk was?

Good. It’s a smaller show. We’re taking our time and talking to everybody and learning, seeing what’s new. I got a meet and precision employee cookbook. I thought that was a sweet idea. They have all the recipes that their employees have put together.

That’s a cookbook? I’m going to go over there. They’re over there on the other side. What else did you get?

I didn’t get a ton because we’re flying, but I got some little flashlights and some koozies.

Easy stuff to pack. What’s happening?

We are staying busy. Some new business, some slowing business, but most of it’s been good.

How about tariffs? Is that a factor?

It is a factor. We are keeping constant vigilance on that and updating as it is constantly changing.

Do you remember when I was talking to someone else, and I said it reminds me of when you went to school, and it’s new math? You sat down and got new math. Do you feel that way?

A little bit. It’s a lot more math than I ever wanted for my job.

Justine is the I mean, probably one of the leading people in the business who knows about tariffs and keeping a good track for the company, so she’s an expert.

Don’t send all the questions my way, please.

Sid Hirsch: 61 Years In The Fastener Business & Life Lessons

You two have fun. A fascinating thing happened this morning. We had someone stop by our booth, and we were talking. We were talking and talking, and we found out that this guy’s older than Brian. I know you guys cannot believe it, but this is?

Sid Hirsch from Engineered Components Company.

Tell me some of those fascinating stories you were telling me about how long you’ve been in the biz.

I started in the business in 1964, a summer job working for a manufacturer, Universal Screw Company, as an automotive expediter. I really fell in love with business in general. I was eighteen years old. I decided not to go back to college. I started taking night courses, business law, marketing, and accounting. I thought at that time everybody wanted to have their own business. I just had a good work ethic and a good memory. I’m still here from 1964. I had my own company for almost 30 years. I sold my company to engineer components in 2004. Function is the national sales manager, and I had a four-year contract, and I’ve been there 21 years.

Grand total of years in the business?

61.

Grand total of years you’re married to your wife?

I met my wife in sixth grade. She sat in front of me. We still have a picture of when we were thirteen years old, each drinking from the same Coke bottle with two straws. We’ll be married 60 years in October. It’s a week after my 80th birthday. No complaints. It’s a circle of life. I look back at all of my experiences as old friends of mine, as the people I used to know, because we have changed so much in life. I’m still irrelevant. I can still sell. I like to train people. It’s worthwhile.

There you go, Fastener, especially our young professionals. You’ve got a lot of years ahead of you. Thank you.

My pleasure.

There you go. Sounds from MWFA FSTNR Week ’25. A lot of fun was had. I think a lot of business got done as well. Big success. There was also a lot of fun on the golf course, and I’ll have some results for you in just a minute. Listening back to those cuts that we just heard, there were several that mentioned tariffs, and you’ll hear more in this next package that I’ve got for you that was definitely still the buzz.

One thing that struck me, though, was how many of the companies that are doing domestic work are really, I don’t want to say smiling carefully through the tears, but they seem to be faring a lot better than companies that are relying more heavily on imports. It’s no surprise there, just an observation. Again, we’ll have more of that coming up. Also, we heard from TJ of Star, and he was definitely the hero of the Tough Mudder when we went through the finale event, which is this really ghoulish electrocution thing.

You got to try to avoid getting electrocuted or just slither through the mud to do that. We’ll have more to say on that in an upcoming episode because I’m going to have to get some of the mutters to go over the whole thing. It was epic this year, but I just want to say hats off to TJ because he made it through the whole thing on his feet. I know he told me he got zapped three times, it hit me one time, and I’ll tell you there’s a reason they call it getting shocked, because, let’s just say I wound up in the mud with a face full of it, and I was pretty dirty by the time I made it out.

That was the finale of this year’s mud race. Anyway, another chapter in mudder history. Looking forward to seeing the videos. Golf. I’m not sure who the official golf chairman was this year, but I’ll tell you, I got these photos here, and president emeritus Jake Valdez Davis was looking very thematic as he had his red, white, and blue overalls on. He actually looked like one of the Patriot bolt guys.

I don’t think they were there, but he had an outfit for every phase of Fastener Week this year, I noticed. I guess it’s in keeping with the MWFA, the best dressed of all the associations. Got a photo here of him presenting the fully threaded award, which is a booby prize, all in good fun this year. I’m not sure the circumstances, but let’s just say it doesn’t really matter. It looks like everybody’s got a big smile.

It was from Wing-Hamlin, Jeff Adams, the recipient of the warm 30-pack of Bush Light. Great job, Jeff. I know you’re flying under the radar all the time, but your smile in this photo says a lot. Jeff Adams, MWFA through and through. Great job. On the other side of the leaderboard, I’ll do this to add a little suspense. The second-place team was led by none other than Brighton-Best’s own GH3.

Also on the team, Don Shan, Jack Horan, and Steve Payne. Congratulations guys. Well played, but not as good as the winners of this year’s MWFA golf outing. They were the members of Team Cavoto. Rich Cavoto, you might remember, he was on our last episode of the podcast, along with Jason Bertone, one of the big guns for sure of the industry, and Kurt Soderholm, along with Carol Cavoto.

They had what it took to take top honors at this year’s event. Congratulations to everybody. I know they had a full ticket out there, and again, the weather was perfect, and everyone was looking good. Let’s get to this next package of sound. I just want to say that I hope you’ll stay with it until the very last clip because I saved it for last.

I just want to say that one of the highlights of the whole week for me, and there were a lot was when the show first started and Jill Coar with Link Magazine came over to the FCH table and just reached out her hand, hugged me, actually, and told me how much that interview we did with Leo meant to the whole Link family. These are the kinds of moments that make these shows really a little more than just a typical business meeting or conference. It was very good. Thanks again for listening to the podcast, everybody. I hope you enjoy this next group of clips featuring mostly the lovely and talented Lynn Dempsey as she traveled across the MWFA tabletop in Lincolnshire, Illinois, 2025. It’s a fully threaded radio.

Volt Industrial Plastics: New Building & Tariff Impact

I’m over here with Volt Industrial Plastics with Heidi Volltrauer. What’s happening?

We’re just enjoying the show. It’s been a really good show for us. We’re very busy and active and have lots of current customers. We’ve actually had a couple of people who didn’t know we were around, which I find hard to believe.

I find that hard to believe, too. We did build a bed, and you and Carrie were sanding.

We were.

Do you want to stay at home?

I don’t want to stand at home, and I made a big mistake with my sander. I didn’t have a bag on the end of it, and I didn’t realize it. All that stuff flew all over me. I didn’t realize until towards the end. That was a funny little story.

I brought you wood, but I never noticed that. I don’t look at anybody’s equipment. I just dropped the wood and said sorry.

Nobody noticed, and then I finally noticed.

We work hard on that day, but it’s a good cause.

It’s a great cause. It was fun.

What else is happening at vaults? How’s the new building?

The new building is great. We’re waiting to fill it up. Our capacity is at an all-time high now, so we’re just waiting to see what happens. These tariffs are in place now, and we’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen. A lot of people are in the same situation. The tariffs don’t directly impact us because we manufacture everything in-house. We don’t buy anything from overseas, but somehow I know it’s trickling down to us. I don’t know if it’s from products that are assembled with metal and plastic. We don’t know what’s going on.

 

IFI’s Breakfast Session: Educating On The Fastener Quality Act

Preston Boyd is with the IFI, and he is at the MWFA.

How are you, sir? Good to see you again.

The IFI sponsored a pretty interesting breakfast session, a couple of sessions actually, this morning. Thanks for doing that. What was that all about, really?

We had the opportunity last year to do a separate meeting for industrial members out in Las Vegas. It was highly successful. We decided to tie it into this year’s MWFA Faster Week.

We had a couple of speakers, and the first one was our lobbyist. That was very interesting to me, working, actually, it’s a team working in Washington. He talked about the Fast and the Quality Act historically as something that they achieved, and the importance of having a place at the table to watch over all these people legislating. We heard from the Fed, or a representative, I guess, he made it clear he didn’t represent the Fed, didn’t he? He had some interesting things to say. What was the takeaway there?

We primarily felt like there are so many new young people coming into our industry that have no background associated with the Faster Quality Act, so part of our intent was to just educate everybody about that specific legislation and how it’s impacted our industry as a whole. Lauren’s been out there fighting the battles for us as the IFI for several years, but in reality, he’s fighting a battle for the entire supply chain and we just wanted to bring that knowledge and the experience that he has to the group so there was a better understanding of what’s going on in Washington, DC and how it impacts our industry.

You think he’s any relation to John Bolton?

I don’t think so.

Did you think you were maybe hearing from him while you were he was up there with that big mustache?

Lauren is he’s closer to Senator Kennedy than he is to Bolton.

I got that impression too. Change the subject, then. The IFI has a lot more visibility with the distributor side, which I see what you guys are doing, and I applaud that. In that vein, I’m going to be heading down to Louisville next month, October, and what’s that looking like?

We’ve got an exciting agenda. For the first time, we’ve implemented a two-tiered speaker system where people can come in. We feel like Louisville is a venue where a lot of people can drive in so they can bring more of their personnel. We’re offering what we call the two-track system. You can pick and choose the speakers that you want to hear. The agenda will have concurrent speakers in different areas, and we think it’s going to be just a wonderful venue. Louisville’s a great town. A lot of bourbon will be served, I’m sure. We’re looking forward to that in the second week of October.

Second week in October, Louisville, Kentucky, IFI. Thanks, Preston. Good to see you as always, and we’ll be talking there.

Thank you, Eric.

Atlas Distribution: Seeking Opportunities In A Legacy Industry

Luke Radtke, Atlas Distribution. You were at the Fed presentation this morning. You were asking the same question to yourself that I was about target inflation. What was that, Luke?

Why does there need to be a target inflation number of 3% to 5%? Why can’t it be lower?

Why can’t it be anything? The example was two percent, but what’s behind that question, you figure, Luke?

It’s arbitrary. I mean, that’s what we were just talking about. The figure, how do they get to 2%? Why is it not 2.5 or 1.5, or who makes that call?

Overall, did you find that it was a useful session to have here at the MWFA?

Yeah. I think it got some of the gears turning and people to really start thinking about how that stuff’s calculated and how many treatments to give it.

They got the juices flowing for the day now that we’re here at the tabletop and you’re walking the floor here, and it’s a pretty good turnout. What are you looking for as a rep for Atlas Distribution?

Just more opportunities. That’s really why we’re here. We’re a young company. We’ve only been around for ten years now, and quite a legacy industry. We’re here just looking around, trying to meet people, shake hands, and just give us a shot.

Atlas distribution is making its mark here in Chicago. Good to see you, Luke.

That’s right. Thank you, Eric. Thank you.

Advance Components: Expecting A Baby & Vegemite Taste Test

Mallory Nichols with Advance Components.

What’s happening at Advance?

A lot of what we usually do. Distributing, stocking from our manufacturers. We do custom bagging and kitting, and that’s picking up a lot. Staying really busy this year, honestly.

Any problem with tariffs? A little bit because our suppliers are domestic manufacturers for the most part. We haven’t seen it a ton, but their raw material is getting tariffed now. That trickle-down is hitting us a little bit, but we’re pretty insulated since we work mostly domestically. It’s going to affect all of us eventually. We’re finally seeing it too.

How about it? Now, you weren’t at the mutter, and you’re always at the mutter. I heard the reason why you weren’t at the mutter was some very good news.

Yes, my husband and I are expecting a baby girl in November. As much as I would love to do the mutter, I am out of commission for this year, but hopefully I’ll be back next year.

Didn’t you just recently, what was it, two years ago, you finished your master’s, right?

Yes. I finished my master’s in the spring, I think it was last year. About a year and a half ago. I’m happy to have that done now that we’re expecting, and get that under my belt. It’s a great experience. I feel like I’ve used a lot of the stuff that I’ve learned over the past couple of years, and it has really helped me move into more of a leadership role at our company.

Now, another new baby manager is coming.

I think her first word is going to be advance components.

We’ve got to end with that. Jake here, you set this up.

Set it up?

Yeah. I gave a little teaser to Eric, but we had seen you guys walking in the hotel, and you gifted us with a little packet of Vegemite. We were on our way to breakfast across the street at Walker Brothers. We just thought it’d be interesting to have a little taste test. We all ordered. I got a side order of sourdough.

We are?

Go ahead.

Jeff Kempka, GF&D Systems.

Mallory Nichols with Advance Components.

Brad Burrell, Advance Components.

Jake Davis, BTM Manufacturing.

The server at that restaurant.

Did we remember her name or not? We didn’t ask. I got our food and got the toast, and I remembered specifically that Brian said, “You have to do butter.” I cut it up into five and she actually brought us an extra piece because we needed it. She was the first one to try it. She gave it a 5 out of 10, which I thought we thought was favorable.

That made you guys all try it, huh?

She had a co-worker try it as well. We didn’t get his response, though.

He probably ran to the bathroom.

Probably. I gave it a one out of three. It tastes like the inside of a shoe after the Tough Mudder.

I didn’t think he was that bad, but I think the butter really softened the blow. I might go with a 5 out of 10 as well. I don’t know, I’m with the waitress.

I give it about a 2.5 out of 10, and I would prefer a shot of Malort.

How about you?

I don’t mind it. I made the mistake. I had dropped some on the plate, and I did it just all by itself, and you cannot do that.

You cannot do that.

That’s like motor oil. Brian eats that every day, and I go like this with my hand up.

Did felt energized after it. We read off the ingredients. We were very excited for her and her daughter, or soon-to-be-born daughter. I hope that’s okay that I just announced that. I would encourage everybody who’s taking it out to Vegas to stop by your guys’ booth to give it a shot.

Mallory, if you’re a baby, if the little girl’s a brainiac, Vegemite is going to take it.

Focus On Fasteners: Mike McNulty’s Summer & Baseball

It was the one bite of Vegemite toast that did it. Thank you all. I’m here with the Man Focus on Fasteners.

Mike McNulty.

What’s new with you? I know we’re not supposed to talk business because you got that magazine. Tell me what’s new.

Nothing.

Mike, you’ve got to give me something here.

I spent some time in Michigan this summer and went to a baseball game in Detroit and saw the Tigers play the Canadian Toronto Blue Jays, and went to Grand Rapids and spent a couple of days there, and then just ran into a couple of guys here that make fasteners in Grand Rapids. They invited me to come back and go to a brewery next time I’m in town.

Now talking about baseball, do you want the Cleveland, whatever they’re called now, to be turned back into the Cleveland Indians?

They’re the Cleveland Guardians, and yeah, that would be good, but I don’t think it’ll happen.

Have you watched them? You vowed not to right?

I went to one game this year, the first time since they changed the name. Some friends convinced me to buy a standing room only ticket, and I did, and it was fun.

Are you going to go back?

I don’t know, maybe maybe not, but I have a nephew who likes them a lot, and I bought him a Guardians pennant for his birthday. Twice this year in the Guardian.

Mike is still hooked on Cleveland.

I love Cleveland and I love baseball. Just don’t like the Guardians’ name.

Solution Industries: Secondary Processes & Complete Kits

We’re with another favorite person here. This is?

Jeremy Geffman, Sales Manager of Solution Industries.

What’s happening at Solution?

We’re still focusing on secondary process items supplied completely. We recently just brought in a line of nylon tip set screws in inch alloy, and we’ve been ramping up our kitting, doing more complete kits, and the ability to pull from our sister companies to supply product complete.

How’s the show going so far for Solution?

The show’s been good so far for Solution. There’s good traffic here.

Did you do the party or the drinking? What do we call it? Yesterday? What do we call, I guess, the little party yesterday? The mixer. Thank you, Mike. See, younger people remember this. Did you do the mixer?

We did. We did the mixer. It was very well attended. It was a good time.

10X ERP: A New Venture

Thank you. I ran into an old friend. We thought, “He must be out of the business. His company was sold.” No, he’s here.

You cannot get rid of me. I’m like a bad penny. I keep turning up. Mike Kolker.

Now, who do you work for?

10X ERP in Houston, Texas. Amen. Good guys. Young guys, a lot of energy, a lot of fun, working with a 100% web-based product developed by a major distributor, very efficient, and a high-energy team. We’re having a great time.

It’s good to see you again, Mike.

Good to see you too. Always good.

All America Threaded Products: Domestic Manufacturing & Growth

I’m still walking around the show, and I stopped at a table.

This is table 182, and my name is Danielle with All America Threaded Products.

How’s the show?

It is going very well, very busy, and everything I thought it was going to be. It’s great.

Tell me about All-American. What’s the issue with tariffs? Anything going on?

We’re All America Threaded Products. We do domestic manufacturing of all thread rods, studs, and U-bolts. We are doing everything that we can to avoid the tariffs. We are shifting our raw material from imports to domestic sources. We have a full range of domestic inventory on the shelf from B7 through F1554, low carbon steel, stainless steel, and our newest line, A354BD, which is a grade eight equivalent.

We’re shifting from imports to domestic to avoid tariffs — supporting the growing demand for American-made fasteners. Share on X

Has business been up, down, same?

Business has been up, and it’s been fantastic. We’ve been really busy. Things have been increasing just as we had hoped that they would. Business is actually increasing, and we expect that to increase throughout the rest of the year and even in the next year because of everybody shifting their focus towards domestic products to avoid the tariffs. We are going to be there to support that growing business.

Thanks for talking.

Thank you, Lynn, for stopping by. It was so good to see you. Have a great day.

Walking the show. I ran into?

Hanger Bolt & Stud Co.: Steady Business & Show Attendance

Rus Ants with Hanger Bolt & Stud.

What’s happening at the Hanger Bolt?

Hanger Bolt, we’re just doing our hanger bolt studs, neural pins, bed pins, and dowel screws. Business is good.

Did you go to the party yesterday or last night?

Yes, I discovered it last year and I wouldn’t have missed it. More looking forward to this one.

Yes, after duties or like in between duties, I guess. This is always a fun tabletop. How long has Hanger Bolt been coming to the shows?

This show, 27 years, I’m guessing. This is my third year. I don’t know how long the show has been going on.

I don’t know, that’s something for me to I’ll be asking some of the hot shots about that.

We’ve been in business for over twenty years.

It’s good to see you, and hopefully you’ll get lots of people stopping by.

Yes, thank you very much.

SPIROL: Hard-To-Find Fasteners & Tariff-Free Production

I’m still wandering around the tabletop, and I ran into?

Tim from SPIROL.

I understand you’re golfing.

I am. It’s going to be the first time I’m golfing with this organization in this event.

They didn’t tell you about them, did they?

They’re out for blood. No, I’m kidding. You’ll love it. Are you a walk-on or do who you’re golfing with?

I know who I’m golfing with, but it’s new people. I didn’t know who I was going to golf with because I was by myself. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to be with a group of very experienced golfers. I think I might do all right. I think these guys are very similar to me.

We’ve got some very experienced golfers, I mean, serious dudes at golf.

Yeah, there are some. Usually, the same ones win every year. There are some good ones.

How’s the show going?

The show’s going great. A lot of traffic, meaning a lot of new contacts, new possibilities. It’s going great.

What does your company do? We manufacture fasteners, hard-to-find fasteners that you wouldn’t find in your hardware store. More engineered for dynamic type applications. It can be found in automotive, aerospace, and agriculture, everywhere. Every market we’re in.

 

Are you having trouble with tariffs? No, coil, spiral coiled, and slotted spring pins are manufactured right in Connecticut, and so there are no tariffs on our spring pins.

Great. Have a great golf game.

Thank you very much.

Rick Rudolph Associates LLC: Growth And New England Fastener Association

There you go. I ran into?

Rick Rudolph.

Morgan Rudolph.

Rick Rudolph Associates.

What’s happening over there?

Over where?

Rick Rudolph.

We’re just growing. We’re growing, and we haven’t seen any slowdown for the most part.

That’s really good. Is anybody golfing tomorrow?

We’re going home tomorrow. We have that work thing that gets in the way of a lot of stuff.

There are a lot of golfers.

They’re on. That’s good. I’m glad because the last two years it’s been so hot at the show that people haven’t made it to eighteen. Some only made it to five holes.

How do you think the show’s going?

Good. Looks like a nice turnout. I think it’s been a good show for us.

It has. We enjoyed this, and we enjoyed the people here.

 

 

We belong to the Midwest Fastener Association as well as many others, including our own New England, where Morgan just finished his term as president, and very happy to be a past president as I am too.

I didn’t realize you’re a past.

Past president of the FDA.

Whose current?

Currently, it’s Frank Hand from Fall River Manufacturing.

The next thing we do is we plan rugby together.

I just talked to Brian, and he said it was $500 to get the cheapest tickets.

For the All Blacks versus the Irish. I thought that would be a great game for us in Wrigley Field. When does that happen? September. You cannot get the tickets. The tickets are like $500 apiece, and you’re way up in the nosebleed.

That’s going to be a good game.

Thanks, fellas.

Link Magazine: Jill Coar On Leo’s Podcast Impact

I’m over here at Link, and I’m here with?

Jill Coar, Link Magazine.

Where’s Tracy?

Tracy is so busy just putting the magazine together right now, and so she sent me here. I love Chicago, so it would be a good show. Usually, one of us comes.

I really like the interview that they did with Leo.

I cannot tell you what that meant to him and to us. We all really loved it. We listened to it a bunch of times. I thought Eric was amazing. He’s an amazing podcaster. Since that one, I’ve listened to a backpedal, then listened to a bunch of them. He does such a great job, but it meant so much to my dad, more than we all thought it would. It meant so much to our family to have that, forever.

First, when Eric hears this, he’s going to be like your new best friend. We’ve always heard about Leo, and we’re like, “Who is Leo?” Once during COVID, when we were all doing those Zoom things, he got on to see what we looked like, Brian and me.

My dad listens, Leo Coar listens to you guys. Every single podcast he listens to. He’s still learning about the industry. He still has the finger on the pulse of the industry at 94 years old. It’s amazing.

94, holy cow. We love your magazine. I read it first, you know. I know you have it online, but I’m old school. I like having it in my hand.

Most people do like the magazine version, for sure. It feels good in your hands, and it’s beautiful paper, and it’s good weight.

Will we see you in Vegas?

Last time in Vegas.

I know. I’m looking forward to Phoenix, actually.