Not every offspring of a surface finishing company owner is destined to follow in their parent’s footsteps, work their way onto the shop floor, and eventually sit in an executive’s chair.For Ross Henry of ChromeTech in Franklin, Wisconsi...

We chat with Kandarp Patel, who purchased Somerville Plating in Melrose Park, Illinois in mid-2024 Somerville Plating is a Nadcap-certified operation with over 44 years in the finishing industry.“We were looking for something...

Judy Runge’s metallurgical engineer and surface finishing expert career spans almost 40 years in industrial, government, and academic professional settings.She worked at Northrop’s Defense Systems Division, Taussig Associates, Inc., Sapo...

Mike Petrey is Plant Manager at powder coater Prism Technologies in Redford, Michigan, which was founded in 1997 as a small family company with two employees and 2,500 square feet. The founder, Eric Felton Sr., had a history with po...

Alan Henry is the owner of ChromeTech of Wisconsin, an ISO-certified industrial plating operation that he founded in 1984. The company specializes in hard chrome, sulfamate nickel, electroless nickel, and nickel-chrome plating.The Chrome...

Jesse Heines of Digger Specialties is the Corporate Powder Coating and Project Manager for the railing, fencing, and column manufacturer with various locations around the U.S. Loren “Digger” Graber founded his outdoor living and ma...

Ross Peterson is the Chief Business Development Officer of ProPlate, an Anoka, Minnesota, company that finishes specialty items for the medical and surgical industry. In this podcast, Ross explains how ProPlate works closely with th...

Navin Mangrue is Sales Manager for Professional Powder Coating located in Etobicoke, Ontario, a family-run shop in Toronto that is ready to coat anything that might need to survive in treacherous climate.“About 99% of what we powder coat...

New England Electropolishing owners Amy Prigmore and Luke Almeida discussed how their company in Fall River, Massachusetts, has evolved since their parents founded it in 1985.Alvin and Jeannine Almeida founded NEE and slowly grew the bus...

We talk with Francisco Capacho, President and General Manager of Dixon Hard Chrome in Sun Valley, California, about his path to success in the United States electroplating industry.Capacho began his career working at his father’s plating...

Bales Metal Surface Solutions’ owners, Stacey Bales and Sara Mortensen, chose a practical gift for themselves as they prepare for their anniversary in a few years.In March, the Downers Grove, Illinois, company christened a pair of new ni...

When Chuck Zinke built his second finishing and coating operation over 100 miles away from the first, he quickly added a new word to his vocabulary.“Delegation,” says Zinke, who started Perfection Industrial Finishing in Tucson, Arizona,...

We talk with Matt Fodge, the Vice President at Gleco Plating, and his dad, Jeff Fodge, President, which has two locations in Texas in Rowlett and McAllen.Gleco provides zinc, anodize, chromate, bright nickel, tin, silver, gold, and copp...

The markets that Melissa Ver Meer’s companies service could not be more varied, from screen printing to commercial food equipment to ovens and dryers for industrial manufacturing.However, one consistent feature of the various markets tha...

Anne Deacon Juhl, Ph. D., is the owner of AluConsult, where she consults with OEMs and manufacturers on aluminum and anodizing.Dr. Juhl recently celebrated her 25th as a consultant in the anodizing industry. She holds a Ph.D. in pulse an...

Gary Hamby is the President and Chief Executive Officer at H&M Plating in Houston, Texas, and who saw his company grow in volume when many oil and gas operators had trouble getting parts for their equipment and facilities.Those suppl...

Robert Hunsucker purchased Future Finishes in Hamilton, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati in 2020, and has revitalized the company.After buying the struggling finishing company and moving from Michigan with his family, Hunsucker wasn’t turn...

We talk with Sandee Andrews, Co-Owner, Chief Financial Officer, and Strategic Director of Operations at Andrews Powder Coating in Los Angeles.Andrews Powder Coating holds numerous approvals and certifications, all of whoich Andrews and ...

We talk with Tony Bouie, President of ChemResearch Corp. in Phoenix, Arizona, who takes a unique approach to how CRC views its staff and the unique approach to managing them.“I call it ‘People, Not Parts,’” says Bouie, whose company is a...

We speak with George LaCapra Jr., President of UniMetal Surface Finishing, and Patrick Hayden, Senior Vice President, about the  company that has two facilities in Connecticut: one in Thomaston, that serves as headquarters and another in N...

We talk with owner Rob Thomas of Anchor Bay Powder Coat in New Baltimore, Michigan, a 15-year-old shop that applies powder and liquid coating along with sandblasting and oven burn-off.Its r...

Tony Sclafani is Vice President and General Manager of the family-run Las Vegas AR Iron facility, including an in-house powder coating operation, AR Powder Coating.“We’re always looking to differentiate ourselves because every shop does ...

Jason Pugh was in the powder coating industry for only a few months before his company — Key-Link Fencing and Railing — presented him with a huge challenge. Key-Link managers wanted Pugh — who had worked in the food service i...

Jim Jones spent more than 50 years in the finishing industry, you can now find him soaring high above the clouds these days as a pilot of his own planes after retiring from DIFCO in Georgia.After high school, Jones attended college and ...

Ken Hoffmann was enjoying his life in luxurious Palm Springs, California when the call came that made him take a more serious tone about his life goals. He had worked in the construction business, in the restaurant industry, and even was a somm...