April 17, 2025 • 50 mins
Join Katherine Martín-Fisher and Kurt Fisher as they explore Kurt's career path and the founding of Steel Fab Enterprises. They discuss his work ethic, industry safety standards, and the transition to Steel Fab. Kurt shares insights on business growth, the skilled labor shortage, and the future of American trades. Discover the company's unique industry relationships and commitment to community and employee welfare. Kurt offers leadership advice and reflects on mentorship's impact. Celebrate the podcast's 100th episode with listener engagement, a sponsor mention, and a teaser for what's next.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they are struggling with cash flow,sales, and marketing, which also affects their
company culture, by showing them how toimplement proven systems that increase their
revenue by 30% in 90 days, thus allowing themto reignite the passion and that big dream they
(00:27):
started with.
So, the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses that have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Today on the show, we're diving into the heartof American history with someone who knows what
(00:48):
it takes to build from the ground up.
Kurt D.
Fisher is one of the owners of Steel FabEnterprises Inc.
He joins me to talk about the power of thetrades, the future of skilled labor, and why
now more than ever we need to bring back thetrades for the next generation.
From structural steel to leadership lessons,Kurt shares how his company is shaping the
(01:10):
physical and economic landscape of ourcommunities.
Whether you're a parent, a student, or justsomeone who respects the value of hard work,
this episode is for you.
Okay, Kurt.
So, you know, as my husband, I've just watchedthe growth throughout these years.
(01:31):
And I know where, you know, how you guysstarted, but the audience doesn't know.
I wanna just really talk a little bit about howyou started in your industry.
Like, what were if you could walk us throughyour career path and just help us in
understanding where you know, how that broughtyou to where you are today.
(01:52):
So let's start from the beginning.
And I do have your dad's book here and it isDriven.
I'm super excited about the fact that we get toshowcase this today because I do feel like this
is where it all began.
So let's talk a little bit about how you woundup in the steel business.
Well, then the book it's it's you're gonna bewe're gonna be talking a little bit about the
(02:13):
book here because basically it started with myfather, of course, the founder of our company.
And he started out as an Amish boy in an Amishfamily with 15 children.
And then he worked hard, the Amish worked hard,and he decided at a young age he didn't want to
(02:37):
stay in the Amish sector, that he wanted to beoutside of it.
And the reason some of it was, I remember himsaying that when he was about 12 running a
six-horse team and plowing a field where ittook him all day to plow an acre and the
neighbor had a tractor and would do it in anhour.
He's like, I want to be able to use that pieceof machinery.
(02:59):
So he had a driven spirit.
And so he left the Amish, and eventually hewent into the military.
And then when he came out, he started workingfor High Steel.
And that's where he started his steel career.
So he started with High Steel, and he workedand was hanging steel for them.
He was an ironworker.
(03:20):
And then he eventually, I think, worked forHerr & Sacco for a little while too.
But then he eventually started building fireescapes.
And it was something that I don't know exactlywhen those laws were passed, but when you had
apartment buildings, you know, you had peopleliving on the third floor, they had to be able
to get out.
So he started building fire escapes.
(03:41):
And so while he was working at Hyde, he wouldbuild fire escapes at night in our garage, and
my mother would paint them as those childrenrode around on tricycles.
So eventually, he got confident enough that hedecided that he wanted to go out on his own.
And he had a meeting with Calvin, which I'm notsure what the fellow's name was at Hyde.
(04:07):
Calvin?
I don't think it was Calvin's father.
Oh, Calvin's father.
Yeah.
So basically, then he left and the guy wasSteamwell, Mr.
High wore Steamwell, and he left and startedhis business.
In 1962, we bought a little two-car gas stationand started building, you know, kept building
(04:29):
fire escapes, and it kind of grew from there.
I mean, it's a long story.
Mhmm.
But that's kinda how it started.
So you so because of your dad's choices to growa business led to you being to growing up
around the steel industry?
Yes.
Okay.
(04:49):
And so how old would you say you were when youstarted to notice what it was that your dad did
for a living and being a part of all of that?
Well, I think in the summers, you know, some ofthe summers at an early age, he would take us
to work with him.
And I just remember chipping some slag off somewelds at a very early age.
(05:10):
Not very long, he might take you in there formaybe a half an hour, an hour or something.
And, you know, he did give me something to do.
He'd give me a hammer and have me chip slag offof these pieces he made for New Holland
Machine, which looked like a pipe bracket.
They were kind of horseshoe-shaped with wingsand they'd weld the wings on and they had to be
the slag had to be chipped off of those.
(05:32):
So I just remember boxes.
I just remember big crates full of them.
There were a lot of them.
We made them constantly.
And so these guys would weld them and chip theslag and put them in the box.
And that's kind of what I first remember.
Okay.
Now I know that we've had this conversationabout you having to come in then on Friday
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nights and clean the shop.
At what age did you start doing that?
Well, being from an Irish background, he wasworking pretty young.
It started young, I just remember coming homefrom school always having a chore to do.
You know, once I reached six, seven, eightyears old, there was always a job for me when I
came home, and when I started working in there,I would say I was probably 9 or 10, somewhere
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8, 9, or 10, somewhere probably 9 or 10, andwe'd have to sweep the shops every Friday.
My father liked to keep the place very clean,and so the men would all wrap up their leads
and, you know, get everything out of the way,and then we'd come in there, and it would take
us two and a half to three hours, me and mybrother, to sweep the shop, wipe, patty clean
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the offices, and we didn't just mop things, webuffed them.
The floors were buffed, and the shop was sweptin every corner.
it wasn't like you didn't sweep around things,it was done right.
He was definitely a man of excellence.
Everything had to be done.
Was immaculate.
Immaculate, yes.
How would you say that that helped shape you?
(07:02):
Because you were in the shop and you werearound all the men many times, I know that
that's, you know, there's no, we all are likethe five people we hang around.
And so one of the things that I find whenyou're raised in an environment where, you
know, working hard, having grit, and like nomatter what, continuing to be able to, what do
(07:24):
you call it, to just have that grit of gettingthings done and finishing the end.
So you're closing the cycles always.
And I knew that your dad was that kind ofperson, so how did that shape you as you got
older?
You went ahead and you started then working outin the field, is that correct?
Yeah.
I mean, I started going to the shops, I mean,summer times, a lot of times when I get off the
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bus and it was right down there in the corner.
So we get off the bus, we come run printsbefore dinner.
So blueprints were, we'd run blueprints.
We had to make blueprints for the shop for themto fabricate from.
Running blueprints, the machines and thetechnology weren't, you know, as good as they
are today.
To run 300 blueprints would take us hours.
(08:06):
So we run blueprints and then in the summertimes is when we work in the shop and I'd say
at 12 years old I was working in the shop,started to fabricate material.
I would go along some with the men to godeliver house beams.
We did a lot of house beams back then.
The area was booming with housing so we woulddeliver house beams so I'd go along and then it
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had a little crane on it.
So when we got there, I would direct the beamonto the walls and into the pockets.
And so I mean, I started doing a little bit ofeverything.
But I was starting to even weld a little bit at12, 13 years old playing with the welders and
at 16 is when I started to climb steel where Iactually became an ironworker in the field.
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And I can still remember that first job that Idid, the lowers it was called over in Paradise
and it was probably 20 feet tall and I'm outthere on bar joists, walking on these little
beams.
I was petrified.
It was my first time up there.
We didn't have any tie-off, there was no safetyback then, you just walked around on the steel
(09:11):
like an Indian.
Yeah, I wouldn't say I was petrified.
There was definitely some, you know, a little,you know, fear, a little bit of fear.
Right.
But fear, you gotta make fear your friend.
But anyway, that's the first job that Istarted.
steel.
So how's that?
I love that you added that because times weredifferent.
(09:31):
And so how has that changed in your industrynow as far as safety and all that is required
in safety in the company, like when you'redoing jobs and for your men?
Well, I think the industry as a whole has comealong.
We want everybody to go to work and be safe andwant them to go home to their families at
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night.
I think it's important for safety.
There has been a lot of advancement, like in alot of things, and safety has been a big one.
I think some of the things they do are a littlebit over the top on safety, but you know that's
not for me to judge that.
But, you know, it slows the process down. I
(10:15):
when we were younger and didn't have all thoserules and regulations, you could certainly do
things faster and get things done quicker.
But now with safety, I would say it's probablyalmost cut in half.
Now maybe I'm not totally wrong, I mean itmight not be half, but it's definitely slowed
(10:36):
things down dramatically.
Right, but we keep the men safe, so that's agood thing.
So what were some pivotal moments that shapedyour journey as a business owner?
So you know, and we probably should prefacethat with the fact that you guys as siblings
started Steel Fab Enterprises.
Your dad had already had Fisher Steel, and thenat that time you guys started your own business
(11:02):
on the side, which was Steel Fab.
Yeah, what happened there was in '19 and in thelate 80s we had kind of outgrew our customers,
I mean the customers, we had more customers sowe needed more throughput and we needed to be
able to grow, to be able to to to take care ofour customers.
(11:26):
So we decided to build a new plant.
In 1987, we had it all drawn up and we startedto build it and I think in 1988 is when we
actually moved it out of the steel fabs plantthat we're in now over to the new shop.
And when we did that, my father sold us theoriginal plant and gave us you know portions of
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his like miscellaneous work because he was moreinto the structural and he did do some
miscellaneous and house beams and things likethat so he gave us sold that business to us,
four children and he gave us a portion of thatbusiness.
A portion of the work that he would get.
And that's how it started in 1987.
(12:13):
But I stayed with Fisher at that point in timeuntil 1990, three years.
So, it was established in 1987, and I didn'tcome over to Steel Fab until 1990.
Okay.
And what caused—not caused—what would you say,how did you grow from being just miscellaneous?
Because now you obviously do structural steel,and you're a much larger company.
(12:37):
So, how did you grow that from being amiscellaneous plant to structural steel?
Well, a lot of it had to do with the shop'scapacity.
I
mean, it has smaller cranes in it, so youcouldn't lift as heavy metal.
I mean, some of the metal, there's some metalsreally heavy, different shapes and sizes, but
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we had to go after those jobs that our shopcould handle.
And we went after those types of jobs that weresmaller structural jobs that our cranes could
handle the weight of them.
And then also the miscellaneous.
We just bid the whole package.
In the steel industry, some people aremiscellaneous metal fabricators, some are
structural steel fabricators, some areornamental iron.
(13:20):
We did everything under one roof, which wasattractive for our customers because when we
came to them, we could give them a totalpackage.
Right.
That's, you know, it was nice for them so thatif they had a job, they didn't have to buy the
misc.
from somebody, the structural from somebody,and if there was ornamental iron from another
person, they could come to us, and we couldgive it to them, the whole package to them, and
that's attractive to them.
(13:41):
Right.
So what would you say are some of the biggestchallenges that you faced while growing Steel
Fab Enterprises?
Well, you always have your economy as some ofyour challenges.
And as you grow, you need to develop newleaders and to bring in a little bit bigger
staff.
So, you know, you have growing pains throughoutit.
(14:03):
As you're growing, you run into obstacles, andyou work through them.
So there's definitely challenges in allbusinesses, but as you grow, you kind of work
your way through them.
One of the things that I know about you is howmuch passion you have for the trades.
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Because obviously, you've learned a lot throughit.
Going back on your journey, you've also gonefrom working in the field, you did detailing
during your summer vacations from college, andyou learned the detailing aspect of the
business.
I learned detailing at 14 and 15, two summers,I was 14 and 15 old.
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I was in the detailing department for twosummers.
So there are conversations that I know thatwe've had about that.
How you have people who come into the industryand they only do one piece, but you actually
have a gift to be able to do several pieces ofall of it.
So you don't just estimate.
(15:09):
You don't just sell.
You also can draw and detail.
You know all about measurements and how tomeasure a job.
You know how to read the drawings.
What advice would you have for someone who iscoming in who decides they want to go into
estimating, but don't have all these otherpieces?
Because do you think it's different when youhave actually worked through the workforce
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literally starting from being in the field andunderstanding all the processes that go along
with putting a building up?
Absolutely.
And I think it's important.
I run into a lot of young project managers thatgo to school, then end up going to college,
becoming engineers or project, you know,through project management courses and
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engineers, but they don't have the hands-onexperience.
And so if they do come out of there, theyreally need to spend a year or two in the
field, whatever that may be.
If it's working for a general contractor, to beout there and help project manage a job or be
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in the field, seeing how it all comes together.
It's all these different trades that you needto build a building and organizing those trades
is a skill.
So we work with some really good generalcontractors that are organized.
Most of those jobs go well, everybody doeswell, everybody has an opportunity to get in
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and get out of there and, you know, actuallymake a few dollars on the job, which is, you
know, the ultimate goal for your company is toyou have to make a profit to be able to
continue to grow and service your customers.
So, you know, I think I see a lot moredisorganization today than what I did 20 years
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ago because of the lack of labor coming upthrough the ranks and into the project
management.
I think a lot of companies just bring thesecollege students in, but really your asset is
already there and it's developing the peopleyou have and bringing them up through.
They already know they work from the bottom andyou bring them up through the top.
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So it comes from leadership and mentoring.
I don't think we do enough of that in theindustry.
How do you think that the trades—whatdifference do you see in today's world moving
forward to the next generation, how importantthe trades are to the American worker?
Well, we certainly see the deterioration of it.
(17:46):
A lot of it being the, you know, I think it allstarted with a lot of it with Walmart where
everything was just started to be outsourced toChina and some of these third world countries,
it was cheaper.
So you know, as these companies today, wedidn't have companies as big as we do today
like these, the seven more they call them Appleand Meta and all these big huge companies.
(18:10):
I mean there weren't companies that massive butthese companies today outsource a lot of their
labor.
And when they did that, then that took a lot ofthe manufacturing jobs away which were good
middle-class jobs.
Paid well.
Those skills have been going overseas.
(18:31):
So we've lost a lot of that and through that,that wasn't just a couple generations of loss.
The last huge group that were in themanufacturing were the baby boomers.
I don't know what the statistics are and howmany are retiring every day, 10,000 a day?
And there were 60 million of us and I'm on thetail end of it.
(18:52):
Right.
I'm born in 1960, I mean it started in the'50s.
So that's, it's been a slow process but it'scatching up to us now.
So one of the things I know that might have,might be changing obviously is automation and
the way you, so let's take for instanceestimating.
(19:12):
From when you started how has that changed intoday's world?
How do you do it today?
Well, we've always been a little bit ahead ofour industry.
When we built that plant in the '90s, we hadbought sophisticated equipment.
We set it up to download CNC, but it wasn'there yet.
We bought the most sophisticated computers tobe able to do that when the software would
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catch up to them.
And that's what I've seen in the last five orsix years anyway.
The technology is zooming at this point.
They came out with robotic welders, some reallysophisticated, ten years ago, but those
machines, they cost probably three times orfour times what they cost today, but they
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didn't operate well because they were stilldeveloping the software.
And even today, I've learned some lessons, youknow, a machine is only as good as the operator
inputting the information to it, and so thesoftware, if I look at a piece of equipment
today, it's—I don't look at them, I say okay,that's a nice machine, but I wanna see your
software and how easy is it for my men to beable to program that piece of equipment because
(20:20):
we've had some pieces of equipment.
There's people that have great pieces ofequipment, but their software is horrible, and
you can't get the machine to work properly, andthat's kind of what they did ten years ago.
Great machines, but the software and technologyjust weren't there yet to be able to tell the
machine what to do and how to do it.
I see.
It
was just really a chore.
Wow.
(20:41):
Now in estimating, you asked me estimating, Ikinda went off the
Well, did well, because I know that you haveTekla.
I know that's what I love is the stories thatwe've talked about is when you used to actually
go to the jobs to where you would estimate andeverybody all the different companies would be
there, you'd be working on a job together, youhad you'd roll this paper.
(21:04):
Yeah, it was it was much of you know, youreally could develop your relationships with
your customers because you needed to dodrawings.
And so a lot of people didn't have, you know,printing machines.
So if a general contractor was gonna bid a job,he'd make maybe three or four copies of the
drawings.
He'd have a plan room at his office soeverybody would come there and you would run
into other, you would run into some of yourcompetition, you'd run into other trades and
(21:27):
everybody's there using the drawings.
They'd be sitting there four or five hours orelse they'd be there you know and usually go
out to lunch with some of the people from thecompany because you're there all day.
Right.
So you're there taking the drawings and if youwant to take them home, you didn't get the job
done and you had to use them overnight, you hadto return them in the morning.
So that means you had to work all night becauseyou had to get the drawings back the next day.
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So there was a lot of evenings.
Right.
I know at work during the end of the day, in mycareer I worked a lot a lot of nights.
One in every three nights I was doing takeoff,minimal.
So my job was really a 16-hour job, 16-hour dayjob.
It was just, I did a lot to take off in thenight.
(22:13):
But you know what I've heard you say is thatyou've built a lot of core, really strong
relationships because you were able to behands-on in those environments where you could
go to lunch with them.
And how is that different today when you'redealing with contracts and people who are only
on, you know, they're not even on camera halfthe time when you're having a meeting on Zoom?
(22:35):
And so when you're in those situations, howdoes that make it different in being able to
build those core relationships?
Well, I think it has a huge impact actually.
I mean those relationships are a lot harder tobuild if you can't get out of your office and
meet them face-to-face.
I think it's important, we used to, if somebodywanted to give you a job back 20 years ago, you
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took your job, you rolled up a set of drawingsthat you had marked up, you went to the job,
you went to visit them at their office and youkind of went through page by page everything,
made sure that everything, you had everything.
But today, I mean they could still screen shareand things like that, but today, I mean it
(23:19):
doesn't seem as intimate.
Right.
I mean they'll give you some pretty big jobswithout even really kind of what I would say
still research you and you know and know whoyou are I guess, but we've been in business for
so long that they just they're confident withus so we have a good price or to work it out or
(23:41):
like they try to work it out with us we just doit over Zoom.
What do you think sets you apart as far asSteel Fab Enterprises, Inc.
apart from other fabricators in the industry?
Well, we've been around for 62 years, that's along time.
(24:01):
I've seen a lot of fabricators come and go,hundreds of them.
And it says something when you've been inbusiness for 62 years through a lot of
recessions and everything like that.
But I think some of the things that set usapart is that we're very good at what we do.
And because we've been in business for so longand we've been doing it for generations, we
(24:22):
also have generations of employees and theirchildren, and I find that's the best type of
employees you can have.
Those are the ones that you know you worktogether and they're loyal to you, you take
care of them, they take care of you, and as ateam, that's what it's all about.
A team of bright individuals going in there cantackle just about anything.
(24:44):
It's just putting more minds, looking at it,more eyes, and seeing these tough jobs.
We're good at doing really tough jobs.
What sets us apart also is because we do themiscellaneous and the structural and the
ornamental, again, we do all of it.
Where some companies are just steel and someare just a miss.
We can go in and we can take care ofeverything.
(25:07):
Right.
From start to finish on the job.
We're the first ones there, you know, after theconcrete's up, the steel structure in, and
we're the last one there to put that glassrailing in before they clean it up and open the
building.
Right.
So we're there for sometimes in these jobs, atwo-year project, we're there from start to
finish.
What would you say, how has Steel Fabcontributed to the local community or economy?
(25:33):
Well, Steel Fab is the largest employer inPequea Township.
I mean, I don't know if that's still truetoday.
I know there's some others that are prettybig-sized employers, but for, I would say, the
time we've been in business, we're probably oneof the largest taxpayers in the community.
(25:54):
We really try to help our fire companies.
We do a lot of things for them.
Our local township building was right beside usat one time, and then when we bought the piece
of property across the street, their buildingwas outdated.
We actually sold them a piece of propertypretty cheap, and they built a new building on
(26:15):
the ground that we had purchased, and they'restill beside us to this day.
And I just remember when my dad first started,I mean, he didn't have, you know, a bunch of
pieces of equipment.
So if we had a heavy piece of steel sometimesthat he couldn't handle, they were next door,
they would take their bulldozer or whateverthey had over there, and they would unload a
(26:39):
piece of steel for him.
But you know, or do something for him that hewould always weld up anything that was cracked.
He would do all the labor for them for free,and then they scratched each other's back and
being beside each other, they helped oneanother, and that's what life's all about, to
be able to help one another and help everybodysucceed and grow because at the end of the day,
we're all trying to make a living and take careof our families.
(27:02):
What I love about Lancaster County is there isthat loyalty.
There's literally hard work is reallyimportant.
There's a lot because I feel that the kind ofcommunity that you are, one of the things that
you are known for is that you know you get thejob done, no matter what.
(27:23):
And you really want to provide quality work.
And in today's world, a lot of times peoplejust want to push work through and get it done.
And you guys are interested in quality andmaking sure that you've done a good job for the
customer.
So, and all of the things that, and I know thatmany nights when you're grinding at, you know,
(27:43):
whether it be estimating or knowing that youhave sales that you have to close, the biggest
thing that has been something that is, thatjust drives you is to make sure you are able to
feed the employees that work for you.
Because they work hard, they come to work, theyshow up, and you want to show up for them.
And so when I say that, so many times whenyou're working at a company you don't realize
(28:06):
all that's involved in the background and thecommitment that it takes to actually grow a
business so that you can affect the economy inyour community, that you can provide the jobs
for the people, that you could feed thosefamilies.
What advice would you give to someone who isstarting a business that could keep that in
mind and keep that passion?
(28:27):
Because I feel like that's been a passion ofyours, always making sure that those families
can be fed and that you've had to deal with alot.
You've had, what is it, three recessions thatyou've had to go through?
The 1980s, the 1990s, 2000, 2008, and they'retough.
Have taken probably years off my life.
(28:48):
I mean, that's when I work seven days a week,day and night.
I'd say in 1990 I worked probably almost threeyears, I worked almost seven days a week,
sixteen hours a day.
In a year's time over half of my weekends, soit was seven days a week.
(29:11):
I mean, and after three years, I was a youngman at 32 or 33, it wore me out.
Mhmm.
We were, that was a tough recession in thenineties, there were hundreds of steel
fabricators that went out of business alongwith a lot of other companies that went out of
business, not just steel fabricators.
I just know in my industry there was a pile,and so there had to be, I'm sure, in electric,
(29:32):
oil, and all the other trades as well.
It was just a really tough time, there wasn'twork around.
We had just built a new plant, and when webuilt a new plant, it was, we really needed a
different group of customers than we had hadbefore because they didn't have the bigger jobs
we needed to feed it.
So our customers really when we built theplant, the new plant, we needed bigger
(29:53):
customers that we didn't have and the smallercustomers we did have weren't enough to feed
it.
So now you guys are working on the thirdgeneration up and coming in, you know, that are
actually leading the company now, and whatadvice would you give them as they have stepped
(30:14):
into the leadership roles?
Well, as you grow a business, ours is, youknow, there's a lot of small businesses.
There's like 35 million or 33 million smallbusinesses out there.
I don't know the total statistics, but themajority of them, over 30 million of them, are
under 3 million.
I mean, we're in a very small percentile as faras the size of our company.
(30:37):
We're probably in the 1 percentile of thebusinesses out there because we have close to
80 people and we do a lot of work.
So I think they've learned to work hard.
That's what we've been taught, and as a family,we all work hard.
But I think a lot of the time we try to do itourselves.
(30:58):
We have a team, we have people to help us.
And we have learned that, you know, you need tobuild teams and you need to grow the people
around you to make the team stronger and, youknow, mentor those people with the knowledge
that you have.
So, you know, you have all these people aroundyou, they want to help you, they're smart
(31:19):
people, and people like taking responsibility.
So they just really need to learn to work withthe people around them, teach the people around
them, and build a team spirit among everybody.
And that's how you get excitement, that's howyou get motivation, that's how you grow a
company when everybody's got the same target,everybody's heading in the same direction, they
(31:43):
all know where they're going, and big thingshappen.
You saw that when your dad and mom were growingthe business.
I mean, dad worked hard; your mom had her partin, you know, not working in the business but
helping in, you know, creating the atmosphere.
Absolutely.
And the love and care for the employees andtheir families.
(32:03):
And so what advice would you give anyone who,so first of all, in America, can talk about
America because we live here.
What would you say is the most, one of theskilled workers, the one trade that you would
say would make a difference if more peopledecided that they wanted to do it?
(32:26):
In the steel business?
In the
steel.
Mhmm.
Well, know that we have a huge shortage ofwelders, and it does not have to be men,
ladies.
It does not have to be men.
This trade can be done by men or women, andit's a very, very good paying job.
(32:46):
I keep telling my staff to look for single momsthat are struggling with children, and they can
do really well being a welder or running ourequipment.
Because today, it used to be that you had to gohands-on, you had to fit up the steel, you had
to use your hands a lot more, where today theycan even run these pieces of equipment.
(33:08):
Right.
I mean, as long as they've got technologicalskills, I mean, they can run that machinery
just as well as a man can run that machinery.
So don't be afraid to take on those trades.
I mean, I think the women, let's look at itthis way, back in World War II, the women are
the ones that made the bullets, that came intothe manufacturing because the men went to war.
(33:31):
Right.
We need another resurgence of the women, too,and the women have, it's different.
I mean, back then there was a woman who stayedhome, raised a family, it's different today.
The women are out there working, and they'reempowered.
But they can be empowered with their hands too.
I mean, there's a huge opportunity for women,I'd say, in construction and all parts of the
(33:55):
industry.
Well, I know we were just at our Next GrowthCon, and one of the things that was mentioned
was that they needed 40,000 welders for oursubmarines to make our submarines.
Yes.
So there was, I'm not sure who we were talkingto or interviewing there.
Yes.
There was, yes.
They're gonna be building a bunch ofsubmarines, and they need 40,000 welders.
(34:20):
And they need them now.
We're talking about right now.
That's a lot of welders.
What would you say would be great for anyone inmanufacturing in order to create the bringing
back of those trades?
What are some key things that could be done inthe industry to make that difference?
(34:41):
Well, I think it's very important to open yourdoors to the younger generation.
I see a lot of companies having days where theycould bring in, you know, these kids from
vo-tech, tech schools that are 14, 15.
I've seen it where they're even bringing inmiddle school children where they have, hey,
(35:01):
they go to the school and say why don't you busthem in here, have a day where they can come
see our plant and see what we do, you know, andintroduce them to different types of trades
that they might be interested in.
Teaching them now that, hey, these are goodjobs that are needed.
Right.
(35:22):
If you come right out of high school, what'shappening today is, I mean a lot of times
insurance companies and things like that havechanged it, you know, changed things.
They can't work around machinery until they're18.
So by that time, you know, trying to learn atrade and then at that point, your parents are
like, you need to go figure it out and get ahouse and get a job.
(35:45):
If you don't have a skill or don't knowanything at 18, one of the children are in the
houses that's hard until they're 25 and stilltrying to figure it out.
Where I was able to start working at 12,running every piece of machinery.
Now they don't let you do that in the industryanymore.
So I had an early start with that but if thesepeople could actually, if the children could
(36:07):
actually be hands-on with some of this stuffearly on, by the time they do get to 18 they
would already have a skill and be able toutilize it.
And it empowers them as well because whenyou're 18 years old and you're strong, that's
when you're a strong young man or young ladyand have a little confidence and know
(36:28):
physically that you can do anything.
Right.
And you're not afraid to and you have an openmind, know you're gonna succeed because people
want people that are ambitious that know have agood work ethic and it's hard for especially
these children, you know, I think in the citiesbecause they're locked up in their houses or
(36:49):
around technology all the time.
They really haven't, they don't really have amentor that teaches them how to work hard.
I see them come to our facilities.
One of the things I wanted to ask you is whowould you say or just give us an example of
some of the mentors while you were coming up inthe industry that really made the difference of
(37:09):
how you became the worker that you became withthe kind of grit that you came.
And we know your father was one, but then therewere other people, I know that you've mentioned
them before, but they actually helped to giveyou that oomph because they proved, you know,
they just like what you're saying, thosementors are
So, I mean, Paul Whitmer was the fellow that, Imean, was the foreman in the field.
(37:33):
And when I started working, I mean, he was inhis late fifties then.
And I was 19 years old.
And he was a tough character.
He was gonna make a man out of you, or he wasgoing to send you home with your tail between
your legs.
Was simple as that.
If you couldn't take it, you weren't gonna makeit.
(37:53):
And it was like, I'm gonna make a man out ofyou, or you're gonna go home and figure it out
and maybe come back later.
But he was a tough cookie.
I just remember
You're also in a tough industry.
You have You
It wasn't, it was my first summer, think maybeI was 17, 16 or 17, and I was working up there.
(38:14):
You didn't have ladders, and you kind of juststeal by hand.
I get up there, and I'm trying to get thesebolts in.
And I've never used this word again.
He came over to me after I was up thereprobably half an hour trying to get these bolts
in connection, and he says, what are you doingup there?
And I said, well, I can't get these bolts in.
He said, what did you say?
You can't get down out there.
(38:35):
Made me slide down, gave him my equipment, heclimbed right up there and put all the bolts in
in about a minute and a half.
Wow.
Slid back down, gave him my belt, and I said,get back up there and get it done.
And I don't ever want to hear you say can'tagain.
And that is something that you do hold to thatbecause even today when you hear anybody say
(39:00):
can't, they're like there is no such word.
That's right.
That is not a word.
We have issues and challenges, and that's theway we get it done.
That's right.
That's right.
That is right.
And that's what he said to me, and of course,I'd be all angry at him like you son of a gun.
But he was a fair man, but he was tough.
I mean, when we lay decking all day, that'shot, it's hard work, and it would wear me out
(39:25):
at 19, and he's on the other end laying thedeck with me at 58 years old, running me into
the ground at 19 years old.
The guy was tough, tough, tough.
They don't make 'em like that anymore.
He was tough.
Well, so we know that your dad really, youknow, he drove this legacy that he left behind
for you guys.
What would you want your legacy to be in havingowned a business and worked as hard as you
(39:50):
have?
What would you say you'd want to be known for?
Well, I don't know if I...
I think more than anything, I mean, I love tohelp people and give back.
I feel like I haven't given enough back becauseI've worked so hard.
I think that I've worked harder than I shouldhave, than smarter.
I've learned and now I'm, you know, in my lateryears I've learned to work smarter, and what I
(40:14):
really want to teach this next generation ishow to work smarter and using teamwork and
using mentoring and developing the businesswith everybody working together instead of
trying to work so hard and do it yourself.
I mean, don't build a business by yourself;you're just going to, you just work too hard.
And you know, sure, it helps give you a littlebit better opportunities owning the business,
(40:38):
but owning it is a real chore if you don't havethe help around, the people around you.
I mean, every...
the men come and they think that since you ownthe company and that you're running the company
that you are doing real well, but that is notthe case.
You're working all day, you take it to bed, youget up, but you're eating it, breathing, and
sleeping it.
(40:59):
And it does take a wear and tear.
But it does build character.
Right.
I mean, you have to be tough and it makes youtough.
It's gonna put you up against the wall andfigure out exactly...
you're gonna have to make a decision, you'regonna get it done or are you gonna walk away
from it?
Right.
And we've gotten it done, but it has not beeneasy many, many times.
(41:21):
And so I think we didn't have, I think, thesupport that we have today.
There's so much support to help your businesstoday and help your team grow.
And that's what we didn't just didn't haveaccess to.
Now, don't get me wrong, we did some thingsright to get where we are, and we did take
advantage of some of that, but it wasn't nearlyas available back then as it is now, I would
(41:45):
say.
And maybe it was out there, and we certainlytried to utilize as much as we could to help
us.
We go to lots of different trade shows, we usecollaboration, we bring in coaches, we bring in
all kinds of different things to help us, butit's execution more than anything.
Right.
Because
a lot of times you get the people in there, youhoopla, it's all, you know, it's good for three
(42:07):
or four months, and then things just kind of goback the way they were because everybody's busy
and can't implement the things that you neverlearned.
And I think because a lot of people come in andteach you in a week or a weekend, and it's
And they
go away, and it's just there's notaccountability to implement it.
And as you grow too, you hit break points, youkind of get stuck at certain growth sizes and
(42:34):
whatever.
I think you understand what I'm trying to say.
I don't want to ramble
about it.
No, that's okay.
And so I love that you brought that up becauseone of the things is what you said about having
coaches and mentors come in and teach you somethings and short-lived.
But it's truly developing those leaders.
And I do feel like you're in that.
(42:56):
You know, every business has a breakpoint.
And it's learning how to get past that nextone.
But you're doing some really important thingsnow as you've grown to this point and gotten to
a breakpoint where you're going to be growingand expanding the business.
So my question to you then is, for any businessthat you're looking to do a project with, why
(43:20):
you?
Why Steel Fab Enterprises?
Why would they pick you?
Well, I think it's just from our reputation.
We've been in business 62 years.
We've never had a project that wasn't awardedto us that we didn't finish.
There's not many people who can say that.
We get it done so a lot of companies that giveit to us, they feel good about it because when
(43:44):
they give it to us, they can walk away and knowthat the job's gonna get done.
Because if you're a general contractor you have20 trades.
And so the team of people that you pick isgoing to make your job successful.
If you want to go out there and use the bestprice or the cheapest price, you're putting
together a team that's not going to do well foryou.
(44:06):
Right.
Because a lot of times the cheapest price isn'tyour best option.
Right.
And I would say we're not the cheapest outthere, but you know what you're going to get
when you hire Steel Fab.
Right.
I am so happy that we were able to have thisconversation today, and you know what, I just
would really love for us to be able to do thisagain and maybe talk about some different
(44:31):
topics and ways in which Steel Fab Enterprisescould be the head of the industry and helping
and actually being part of the industry leaderthat brings these trades back.
I love that you talked about the welders today,and then maybe in a future conversation we can
talk about just some of the other trades andsome of the ways that we can actually help the
(44:52):
American worker being able to just get thatpassion back for some of these trades.
Because without them, we're not going to havehomes that are built.
We're not going to have offices that are built.
We're not going to have the industry.
You know, the industry trades are reallyimportant.
Everybody needs a plumber.
Everybody needs an electrician.
And everybody needs a welder.
And every industry has its niche of what theyneed in order to get the job done.
(45:16):
So with that, what advice would you give?
Not what advice, but what's one of the thingsthat you look for when you're hiring someone?
What is something that's key and pivotal thatthey need to have as knowledge in order for
them to do well in measuring all the pieces of
Well, that's one of the things we do.
(45:37):
We do make them take a math test, and it kindof baffles me a little bit that they come
through the system, and really a lot of timesthey really struggle to do the math test.
So they need to be able to add numbers tomeasure, and you see these people coming in
(45:59):
that are out of high school and cannot passthat test very well.
We have a lot of people
And that's after a 12-year education?
Yes, I mean there is some division in there,there's multiplication, there's adding of
fractions, like if you're gonna addthree-sixteenths and seven-eighths, what's that
add up to?
They struggle to be able to do the math.
(46:20):
I don't know what they're being taught or howthey're being taught, I don't know what they
use in school today.
If they're allowed to use calculators orthey're not doing it by hand.
I don't know but I just see that that's one ofthe things that the way we look at it is if
we're gonna train that person and invest inthem they gotta be able to measure and do math.
If they struggle with that part of it, we can'ttrain them properly until they are able to do
(46:47):
that part of
it.
Right.
Wow.
Or they're not gonna make it so because whatwould happen is we were hiring people and we
find we start having stuff being madeimproperly, things were wrong and it was as
simple as going out there and say hey, what'sthis measure?
And finding out that they they didn't know howto use a tape and so they're things wrong.
They didn't know how to measure things and it's
Wow.
(47:07):
So that's why we started doing the testing totry to alleviate the where we struggle through
that part of the process.
You gotta have people that are trainable.
Yes.
And that just says something about our system.
Math, I think, is a very, very important partof an education.
Well, I want to thank you so much.
This is actually going to be the 100th episodethat gets uploaded, and it's going to be on
(47:32):
your birthday, so I'd love that.
Well I appreciate you having me and I was gladto be able to tell a little bit about my
father's story and the story of our company.
Well, Dad's Steven Fisher, and so this isKurt's dad's family.
And it talks all about where their humblebeginnings began.
(47:57):
And it is on Amazon.
It is called Driven.
And so we did want to showcase that todaybecause that's just the root of where it all
started, that's the foundation.
Just like in steel, the foundation is the mostimportant thing in order for a building to go
up.
This is his autobiography, a little picture ofhim in the back.
He was a skeet shooter and he's in thePennsylvania Hall of Fame, and I can say this:
(48:19):
when he decided to do something, he was good atit, and he was determined to be good at it.
That's
why we kind of give the name here, Driven,because whatever he did, he did right.
He wanted to be very good at it.
Where me, maybe, I'm a little bit of a jack ofall trades.
I like to do a little bit of everything.
(48:39):
He really, really worked hard at everything hedid that he wanted to be good at.
He worked hard at it.
And that's why he was good at it.
He was small in stature, but whoo, mighty.
A skyscraper.
Small but mighty.
Yes.
Like a skyscraper.
I just want to thank you again for being here.
So again, everyone, this is Katherine, yourhost with The Beyond Business Podcast.
(49:03):
Excited to have had Kurt Fisher here.
And, you know, it's a family affair.
And Steel Fab Enterprises Inc.
is in Lancaster, PA.
We would love very much for you to justcontinue to follow us, and you'll be seeing a
lot more regarding Steel Fab Enterprises.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for
having me.
Thank you.
(49:24):
Appreciate you so much.
Love you.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end, and you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
(49:46):
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they are struggling with cash flow,sales, and marketing, which also affects their
company culture, by showing them how toimplement proven systems that increase their
revenue by 30% in 90 days, thus allowing themto reignite the passion and that big dream they
(00:27):
started with.
So, the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses that have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Today on the show, we're diving into the heartof American history with someone who knows what
(00:48):
it takes to build from the ground up.
Kurt D.
Fisher is one of the owners of Steel FabEnterprises Inc.
He joins me to talk about the power of thetrades, the future of skilled labor, and why
now more than ever we need to bring back thetrades for the next generation.
From structural steel to leadership lessons,Kurt shares how his company is shaping the
(01:10):
physical and economic landscape of ourcommunities.
Whether you're a parent, a student, or justsomeone who respects the value of hard work,
this episode is for you.
Okay, Kurt.
So, you know, as my husband, I've just watchedthe growth throughout these years.
(01:31):
And I know where, you know, how you guysstarted, but the audience doesn't know.
I wanna just really talk a little bit about howyou started in your industry.
Like, what were if you could walk us throughyour career path and just help us in
understanding where you know, how that broughtyou to where you are today.
(01:52):
So let's start from the beginning.
And I do have your dad's book here and it isDriven.
I'm super excited about the fact that we get toshowcase this today because I do feel like this
is where it all began.
So let's talk a little bit about how you woundup in the steel business.
Well, then the book it's it's you're gonna bewe're gonna be talking a little bit about the
(02:13):
book here because basically it started with myfather, of course, the founder of our company.
And he started out as an Amish boy in an Amishfamily with 15 children.
And then he worked hard, the Amish worked hard,and he decided at a young age he didn't want to
(02:37):
stay in the Amish sector, that he wanted to beoutside of it.
And the reason some of it was, I remember himsaying that when he was about 12 running a
six-horse team and plowing a field where ittook him all day to plow an acre and the
neighbor had a tractor and would do it in anhour.
He's like, I want to be able to use that pieceof machinery.
(02:59):
So he had a driven spirit.
And so he left the Amish, and eventually hewent into the military.
And then when he came out, he started workingfor High Steel.
And that's where he started his steel career.
So he started with High Steel, and he workedand was hanging steel for them.
He was an ironworker.
(03:20):
And then he eventually, I think, worked forHerr & Sacco for a little while too.
But then he eventually started building fireescapes.
And it was something that I don't know exactlywhen those laws were passed, but when you had
apartment buildings, you know, you had peopleliving on the third floor, they had to be able
to get out.
So he started building fire escapes.
(03:41):
And so while he was working at Hyde, he wouldbuild fire escapes at night in our garage, and
my mother would paint them as those childrenrode around on tricycles.
So eventually, he got confident enough that hedecided that he wanted to go out on his own.
And he had a meeting with Calvin, which I'm notsure what the fellow's name was at Hyde.
(04:07):
Calvin?
I don't think it was Calvin's father.
Oh, Calvin's father.
Yeah.
So basically, then he left and the guy wasSteamwell, Mr.
High wore Steamwell, and he left and startedhis business.
In 1962, we bought a little two-car gas stationand started building, you know, kept building
(04:29):
fire escapes, and it kind of grew from there.
I mean, it's a long story.
Mhmm.
But that's kinda how it started.
So you so because of your dad's choices to growa business led to you being to growing up
around the steel industry?
Yes.
Okay.
(04:49):
And so how old would you say you were when youstarted to notice what it was that your dad did
for a living and being a part of all of that?
Well, I think in the summers, you know, some ofthe summers at an early age, he would take us
to work with him.
And I just remember chipping some slag off somewelds at a very early age.
(05:10):
Not very long, he might take you in there formaybe a half an hour, an hour or something.
And, you know, he did give me something to do.
He'd give me a hammer and have me chip slag offof these pieces he made for New Holland
Machine, which looked like a pipe bracket.
They were kind of horseshoe-shaped with wingsand they'd weld the wings on and they had to be
the slag had to be chipped off of those.
(05:32):
So I just remember boxes.
I just remember big crates full of them.
There were a lot of them.
We made them constantly.
And so these guys would weld them and chip theslag and put them in the box.
And that's kind of what I first remember.
Okay.
Now I know that we've had this conversationabout you having to come in then on Friday
(05:54):
nights and clean the shop.
At what age did you start doing that?
Well, being from an Irish background, he wasworking pretty young.
It started young, I just remember coming homefrom school always having a chore to do.
You know, once I reached six, seven, eightyears old, there was always a job for me when I
came home, and when I started working in there,I would say I was probably 9 or 10, somewhere
(06:19):
8, 9, or 10, somewhere probably 9 or 10, andwe'd have to sweep the shops every Friday.
My father liked to keep the place very clean,and so the men would all wrap up their leads
and, you know, get everything out of the way,and then we'd come in there, and it would take
us two and a half to three hours, me and mybrother, to sweep the shop, wipe, patty clean
(06:39):
the offices, and we didn't just mop things, webuffed them.
The floors were buffed, and the shop was sweptin every corner.
it wasn't like you didn't sweep around things,it was done right.
He was definitely a man of excellence.
Everything had to be done.
Was immaculate.
Immaculate, yes.
How would you say that that helped shape you?
(07:02):
Because you were in the shop and you werearound all the men many times, I know that
that's, you know, there's no, we all are likethe five people we hang around.
And so one of the things that I find whenyou're raised in an environment where, you
know, working hard, having grit, and like nomatter what, continuing to be able to, what do
(07:24):
you call it, to just have that grit of gettingthings done and finishing the end.
So you're closing the cycles always.
And I knew that your dad was that kind ofperson, so how did that shape you as you got
older?
You went ahead and you started then working outin the field, is that correct?
Yeah.
I mean, I started going to the shops, I mean,summer times, a lot of times when I get off the
(07:45):
bus and it was right down there in the corner.
So we get off the bus, we come run printsbefore dinner.
So blueprints were, we'd run blueprints.
We had to make blueprints for the shop for themto fabricate from.
Running blueprints, the machines and thetechnology weren't, you know, as good as they
are today.
To run 300 blueprints would take us hours.
(08:06):
So we run blueprints and then in the summertimes is when we work in the shop and I'd say
at 12 years old I was working in the shop,started to fabricate material.
I would go along some with the men to godeliver house beams.
We did a lot of house beams back then.
The area was booming with housing so we woulddeliver house beams so I'd go along and then it
(08:28):
had a little crane on it.
So when we got there, I would direct the beamonto the walls and into the pockets.
And so I mean, I started doing a little bit ofeverything.
But I was starting to even weld a little bit at12, 13 years old playing with the welders and
at 16 is when I started to climb steel where Iactually became an ironworker in the field.
(08:50):
And I can still remember that first job that Idid, the lowers it was called over in Paradise
and it was probably 20 feet tall and I'm outthere on bar joists, walking on these little
beams.
I was petrified.
It was my first time up there.
We didn't have any tie-off, there was no safetyback then, you just walked around on the steel
(09:11):
like an Indian.
Yeah, I wouldn't say I was petrified.
There was definitely some, you know, a little,you know, fear, a little bit of fear.
Right.
But fear, you gotta make fear your friend.
But anyway, that's the first job that Istarted.
steel.
So how's that?
I love that you added that because times weredifferent.
(09:31):
And so how has that changed in your industrynow as far as safety and all that is required
in safety in the company, like when you'redoing jobs and for your men?
Well, I think the industry as a whole has comealong.
We want everybody to go to work and be safe andwant them to go home to their families at
(09:53):
night.
I think it's important for safety.
There has been a lot of advancement, like in alot of things, and safety has been a big one.
I think some of the things they do are a littlebit over the top on safety, but you know that's
not for me to judge that.
But, you know, it slows the process down. I
(10:15):
when we were younger and didn't have all thoserules and regulations, you could certainly do
things faster and get things done quicker.
But now with safety, I would say it's probablyalmost cut in half.
Now maybe I'm not totally wrong, I mean itmight not be half, but it's definitely slowed
(10:36):
things down dramatically.
Right, but we keep the men safe, so that's agood thing.
So what were some pivotal moments that shapedyour journey as a business owner?
So you know, and we probably should prefacethat with the fact that you guys as siblings
started Steel Fab Enterprises.
Your dad had already had Fisher Steel, and thenat that time you guys started your own business
(11:02):
on the side, which was Steel Fab.
Yeah, what happened there was in '19 and in thelate 80s we had kind of outgrew our customers,
I mean the customers, we had more customers sowe needed more throughput and we needed to be
able to grow, to be able to to to take care ofour customers.
(11:26):
So we decided to build a new plant.
In 1987, we had it all drawn up and we startedto build it and I think in 1988 is when we
actually moved it out of the steel fabs plantthat we're in now over to the new shop.
And when we did that, my father sold us theoriginal plant and gave us you know portions of
(11:51):
his like miscellaneous work because he was moreinto the structural and he did do some
miscellaneous and house beams and things likethat so he gave us sold that business to us,
four children and he gave us a portion of thatbusiness.
A portion of the work that he would get.
And that's how it started in 1987.
(12:13):
But I stayed with Fisher at that point in timeuntil 1990, three years.
So, it was established in 1987, and I didn'tcome over to Steel Fab until 1990.
Okay.
And what caused—not caused—what would you say,how did you grow from being just miscellaneous?
Because now you obviously do structural steel,and you're a much larger company.
(12:37):
So, how did you grow that from being amiscellaneous plant to structural steel?
Well, a lot of it had to do with the shop'scapacity.
I
mean, it has smaller cranes in it, so youcouldn't lift as heavy metal.
I mean, some of the metal, there's some metalsreally heavy, different shapes and sizes, but
(12:58):
we had to go after those jobs that our shopcould handle.
And we went after those types of jobs that weresmaller structural jobs that our cranes could
handle the weight of them.
And then also the miscellaneous.
We just bid the whole package.
In the steel industry, some people aremiscellaneous metal fabricators, some are
structural steel fabricators, some areornamental iron.
(13:20):
We did everything under one roof, which wasattractive for our customers because when we
came to them, we could give them a totalpackage.
Right.
That's, you know, it was nice for them so thatif they had a job, they didn't have to buy the
misc.
from somebody, the structural from somebody,and if there was ornamental iron from another
person, they could come to us, and we couldgive it to them, the whole package to them, and
that's attractive to them.
(13:41):
Right.
So what would you say are some of the biggestchallenges that you faced while growing Steel
Fab Enterprises?
Well, you always have your economy as some ofyour challenges.
And as you grow, you need to develop newleaders and to bring in a little bit bigger
staff.
So, you know, you have growing pains throughoutit.
(14:03):
As you're growing, you run into obstacles, andyou work through them.
So there's definitely challenges in allbusinesses, but as you grow, you kind of work
your way through them.
One of the things that I know about you is howmuch passion you have for the trades.
(14:23):
Because obviously, you've learned a lot throughit.
Going back on your journey, you've also gonefrom working in the field, you did detailing
during your summer vacations from college, andyou learned the detailing aspect of the
business.
I learned detailing at 14 and 15, two summers,I was 14 and 15 old.
(14:48):
I was in the detailing department for twosummers.
So there are conversations that I know thatwe've had about that.
How you have people who come into the industryand they only do one piece, but you actually
have a gift to be able to do several pieces ofall of it.
So you don't just estimate.
(15:09):
You don't just sell.
You also can draw and detail.
You know all about measurements and how tomeasure a job.
You know how to read the drawings.
What advice would you have for someone who iscoming in who decides they want to go into
estimating, but don't have all these otherpieces?
Because do you think it's different when youhave actually worked through the workforce
(15:33):
literally starting from being in the field andunderstanding all the processes that go along
with putting a building up?
Absolutely.
And I think it's important.
I run into a lot of young project managers thatgo to school, then end up going to college,
becoming engineers or project, you know,through project management courses and
(15:56):
engineers, but they don't have the hands-onexperience.
And so if they do come out of there, theyreally need to spend a year or two in the
field, whatever that may be.
If it's working for a general contractor, to beout there and help project manage a job or be
(16:17):
in the field, seeing how it all comes together.
It's all these different trades that you needto build a building and organizing those trades
is a skill.
So we work with some really good generalcontractors that are organized.
Most of those jobs go well, everybody doeswell, everybody has an opportunity to get in
(16:39):
and get out of there and, you know, actuallymake a few dollars on the job, which is, you
know, the ultimate goal for your company is toyou have to make a profit to be able to
continue to grow and service your customers.
So, you know, I think I see a lot moredisorganization today than what I did 20 years
(17:03):
ago because of the lack of labor coming upthrough the ranks and into the project
management.
I think a lot of companies just bring thesecollege students in, but really your asset is
already there and it's developing the peopleyou have and bringing them up through.
They already know they work from the bottom andyou bring them up through the top.
(17:25):
So it comes from leadership and mentoring.
I don't think we do enough of that in theindustry.
How do you think that the trades—whatdifference do you see in today's world moving
forward to the next generation, how importantthe trades are to the American worker?
Well, we certainly see the deterioration of it.
(17:46):
A lot of it being the, you know, I think it allstarted with a lot of it with Walmart where
everything was just started to be outsourced toChina and some of these third world countries,
it was cheaper.
So you know, as these companies today, wedidn't have companies as big as we do today
like these, the seven more they call them Appleand Meta and all these big huge companies.
(18:10):
I mean there weren't companies that massive butthese companies today outsource a lot of their
labor.
And when they did that, then that took a lot ofthe manufacturing jobs away which were good
middle-class jobs.
Paid well.
Those skills have been going overseas.
(18:31):
So we've lost a lot of that and through that,that wasn't just a couple generations of loss.
The last huge group that were in themanufacturing were the baby boomers.
I don't know what the statistics are and howmany are retiring every day, 10,000 a day?
And there were 60 million of us and I'm on thetail end of it.
(18:52):
Right.
I'm born in 1960, I mean it started in the'50s.
So that's, it's been a slow process but it'scatching up to us now.
So one of the things I know that might have,might be changing obviously is automation and
the way you, so let's take for instanceestimating.
(19:12):
From when you started how has that changed intoday's world?
How do you do it today?
Well, we've always been a little bit ahead ofour industry.
When we built that plant in the '90s, we hadbought sophisticated equipment.
We set it up to download CNC, but it wasn'there yet.
We bought the most sophisticated computers tobe able to do that when the software would
(19:34):
catch up to them.
And that's what I've seen in the last five orsix years anyway.
The technology is zooming at this point.
They came out with robotic welders, some reallysophisticated, ten years ago, but those
machines, they cost probably three times orfour times what they cost today, but they
(19:55):
didn't operate well because they were stilldeveloping the software.
And even today, I've learned some lessons, youknow, a machine is only as good as the operator
inputting the information to it, and so thesoftware, if I look at a piece of equipment
today, it's—I don't look at them, I say okay,that's a nice machine, but I wanna see your
software and how easy is it for my men to beable to program that piece of equipment because
(20:20):
we've had some pieces of equipment.
There's people that have great pieces ofequipment, but their software is horrible, and
you can't get the machine to work properly, andthat's kind of what they did ten years ago.
Great machines, but the software and technologyjust weren't there yet to be able to tell the
machine what to do and how to do it.
I see.
It
was just really a chore.
Wow.
(20:41):
Now in estimating, you asked me estimating, Ikinda went off the
Well, did well, because I know that you haveTekla.
I know that's what I love is the stories thatwe've talked about is when you used to actually
go to the jobs to where you would estimate andeverybody all the different companies would be
there, you'd be working on a job together, youhad you'd roll this paper.
(21:04):
Yeah, it was it was much of you know, youreally could develop your relationships with
your customers because you needed to dodrawings.
And so a lot of people didn't have, you know,printing machines.
So if a general contractor was gonna bid a job,he'd make maybe three or four copies of the
drawings.
He'd have a plan room at his office soeverybody would come there and you would run
into other, you would run into some of yourcompetition, you'd run into other trades and
(21:27):
everybody's there using the drawings.
They'd be sitting there four or five hours orelse they'd be there you know and usually go
out to lunch with some of the people from thecompany because you're there all day.
Right.
So you're there taking the drawings and if youwant to take them home, you didn't get the job
done and you had to use them overnight, you hadto return them in the morning.
So that means you had to work all night becauseyou had to get the drawings back the next day.
(21:51):
So there was a lot of evenings.
Right.
I know at work during the end of the day, in mycareer I worked a lot a lot of nights.
One in every three nights I was doing takeoff,minimal.
So my job was really a 16-hour job, 16-hour dayjob.
It was just, I did a lot to take off in thenight.
(22:13):
But you know what I've heard you say is thatyou've built a lot of core, really strong
relationships because you were able to behands-on in those environments where you could
go to lunch with them.
And how is that different today when you'redealing with contracts and people who are only
on, you know, they're not even on camera halfthe time when you're having a meeting on Zoom?
(22:35):
And so when you're in those situations, howdoes that make it different in being able to
build those core relationships?
Well, I think it has a huge impact actually.
I mean those relationships are a lot harder tobuild if you can't get out of your office and
meet them face-to-face.
I think it's important, we used to, if somebodywanted to give you a job back 20 years ago, you
(22:57):
took your job, you rolled up a set of drawingsthat you had marked up, you went to the job,
you went to visit them at their office and youkind of went through page by page everything,
made sure that everything, you had everything.
But today, I mean they could still screen shareand things like that, but today, I mean it
(23:19):
doesn't seem as intimate.
Right.
I mean they'll give you some pretty big jobswithout even really kind of what I would say
still research you and you know and know whoyou are I guess, but we've been in business for
so long that they just they're confident withus so we have a good price or to work it out or
(23:41):
like they try to work it out with us we just doit over Zoom.
What do you think sets you apart as far asSteel Fab Enterprises, Inc.
apart from other fabricators in the industry?
Well, we've been around for 62 years, that's along time.
(24:01):
I've seen a lot of fabricators come and go,hundreds of them.
And it says something when you've been inbusiness for 62 years through a lot of
recessions and everything like that.
But I think some of the things that set usapart is that we're very good at what we do.
And because we've been in business for so longand we've been doing it for generations, we
(24:22):
also have generations of employees and theirchildren, and I find that's the best type of
employees you can have.
Those are the ones that you know you worktogether and they're loyal to you, you take
care of them, they take care of you, and as ateam, that's what it's all about.
A team of bright individuals going in there cantackle just about anything.
(24:44):
It's just putting more minds, looking at it,more eyes, and seeing these tough jobs.
We're good at doing really tough jobs.
What sets us apart also is because we do themiscellaneous and the structural and the
ornamental, again, we do all of it.
Where some companies are just steel and someare just a miss.
We can go in and we can take care ofeverything.
(25:07):
Right.
From start to finish on the job.
We're the first ones there, you know, after theconcrete's up, the steel structure in, and
we're the last one there to put that glassrailing in before they clean it up and open the
building.
Right.
So we're there for sometimes in these jobs, atwo-year project, we're there from start to
finish.
What would you say, how has Steel Fabcontributed to the local community or economy?
(25:33):
Well, Steel Fab is the largest employer inPequea Township.
I mean, I don't know if that's still truetoday.
I know there's some others that are prettybig-sized employers, but for, I would say, the
time we've been in business, we're probably oneof the largest taxpayers in the community.
(25:54):
We really try to help our fire companies.
We do a lot of things for them.
Our local township building was right beside usat one time, and then when we bought the piece
of property across the street, their buildingwas outdated.
We actually sold them a piece of propertypretty cheap, and they built a new building on
(26:15):
the ground that we had purchased, and they'restill beside us to this day.
And I just remember when my dad first started,I mean, he didn't have, you know, a bunch of
pieces of equipment.
So if we had a heavy piece of steel sometimesthat he couldn't handle, they were next door,
they would take their bulldozer or whateverthey had over there, and they would unload a
(26:39):
piece of steel for him.
But you know, or do something for him that hewould always weld up anything that was cracked.
He would do all the labor for them for free,and then they scratched each other's back and
being beside each other, they helped oneanother, and that's what life's all about, to
be able to help one another and help everybodysucceed and grow because at the end of the day,
we're all trying to make a living and take careof our families.
(27:02):
What I love about Lancaster County is there isthat loyalty.
There's literally hard work is reallyimportant.
There's a lot because I feel that the kind ofcommunity that you are, one of the things that
you are known for is that you know you get thejob done, no matter what.
(27:23):
And you really want to provide quality work.
And in today's world, a lot of times peoplejust want to push work through and get it done.
And you guys are interested in quality andmaking sure that you've done a good job for the
customer.
So, and all of the things that, and I know thatmany nights when you're grinding at, you know,
(27:43):
whether it be estimating or knowing that youhave sales that you have to close, the biggest
thing that has been something that is, thatjust drives you is to make sure you are able to
feed the employees that work for you.
Because they work hard, they come to work, theyshow up, and you want to show up for them.
And so when I say that, so many times whenyou're working at a company you don't realize
(28:06):
all that's involved in the background and thecommitment that it takes to actually grow a
business so that you can affect the economy inyour community, that you can provide the jobs
for the people, that you could feed thosefamilies.
What advice would you give to someone who isstarting a business that could keep that in
mind and keep that passion?
(28:27):
Because I feel like that's been a passion ofyours, always making sure that those families
can be fed and that you've had to deal with alot.
You've had, what is it, three recessions thatyou've had to go through?
The 1980s, the 1990s, 2000, 2008, and they'retough.
Have taken probably years off my life.
(28:48):
I mean, that's when I work seven days a week,day and night.
I'd say in 1990 I worked probably almost threeyears, I worked almost seven days a week,
sixteen hours a day.
In a year's time over half of my weekends, soit was seven days a week.
(29:11):
I mean, and after three years, I was a youngman at 32 or 33, it wore me out.
Mhmm.
We were, that was a tough recession in thenineties, there were hundreds of steel
fabricators that went out of business alongwith a lot of other companies that went out of
business, not just steel fabricators.
I just know in my industry there was a pile,and so there had to be, I'm sure, in electric,
(29:32):
oil, and all the other trades as well.
It was just a really tough time, there wasn'twork around.
We had just built a new plant, and when webuilt a new plant, it was, we really needed a
different group of customers than we had hadbefore because they didn't have the bigger jobs
we needed to feed it.
So our customers really when we built theplant, the new plant, we needed bigger
(29:53):
customers that we didn't have and the smallercustomers we did have weren't enough to feed
it.
So now you guys are working on the thirdgeneration up and coming in, you know, that are
actually leading the company now, and whatadvice would you give them as they have stepped
(30:14):
into the leadership roles?
Well, as you grow a business, ours is, youknow, there's a lot of small businesses.
There's like 35 million or 33 million smallbusinesses out there.
I don't know the total statistics, but themajority of them, over 30 million of them, are
under 3 million.
I mean, we're in a very small percentile as faras the size of our company.
(30:37):
We're probably in the 1 percentile of thebusinesses out there because we have close to
80 people and we do a lot of work.
So I think they've learned to work hard.
That's what we've been taught, and as a family,we all work hard.
But I think a lot of the time we try to do itourselves.
(30:58):
We have a team, we have people to help us.
And we have learned that, you know, you need tobuild teams and you need to grow the people
around you to make the team stronger and, youknow, mentor those people with the knowledge
that you have.
So, you know, you have all these people aroundyou, they want to help you, they're smart
(31:19):
people, and people like taking responsibility.
So they just really need to learn to work withthe people around them, teach the people around
them, and build a team spirit among everybody.
And that's how you get excitement, that's howyou get motivation, that's how you grow a
company when everybody's got the same target,everybody's heading in the same direction, they
(31:43):
all know where they're going, and big thingshappen.
You saw that when your dad and mom were growingthe business.
I mean, dad worked hard; your mom had her partin, you know, not working in the business but
helping in, you know, creating the atmosphere.
Absolutely.
And the love and care for the employees andtheir families.
(32:03):
And so what advice would you give anyone who,so first of all, in America, can talk about
America because we live here.
What would you say is the most, one of theskilled workers, the one trade that you would
say would make a difference if more peopledecided that they wanted to do it?
(32:26):
In the steel business?
In the
steel.
Mhmm.
Well, know that we have a huge shortage ofwelders, and it does not have to be men,
ladies.
It does not have to be men.
This trade can be done by men or women, andit's a very, very good paying job.
(32:46):
I keep telling my staff to look for single momsthat are struggling with children, and they can
do really well being a welder or running ourequipment.
Because today, it used to be that you had to gohands-on, you had to fit up the steel, you had
to use your hands a lot more, where today theycan even run these pieces of equipment.
(33:08):
Right.
I mean, as long as they've got technologicalskills, I mean, they can run that machinery
just as well as a man can run that machinery.
So don't be afraid to take on those trades.
I mean, I think the women, let's look at itthis way, back in World War II, the women are
the ones that made the bullets, that came intothe manufacturing because the men went to war.
(33:31):
Right.
We need another resurgence of the women, too,and the women have, it's different.
I mean, back then there was a woman who stayedhome, raised a family, it's different today.
The women are out there working, and they'reempowered.
But they can be empowered with their hands too.
I mean, there's a huge opportunity for women,I'd say, in construction and all parts of the
(33:55):
industry.
Well, I know we were just at our Next GrowthCon, and one of the things that was mentioned
was that they needed 40,000 welders for oursubmarines to make our submarines.
Yes.
So there was, I'm not sure who we were talkingto or interviewing there.
Yes.
There was, yes.
They're gonna be building a bunch ofsubmarines, and they need 40,000 welders.
(34:20):
And they need them now.
We're talking about right now.
That's a lot of welders.
What would you say would be great for anyone inmanufacturing in order to create the bringing
back of those trades?
What are some key things that could be done inthe industry to make that difference?
(34:41):
Well, I think it's very important to open yourdoors to the younger generation.
I see a lot of companies having days where theycould bring in, you know, these kids from
vo-tech, tech schools that are 14, 15.
I've seen it where they're even bringing inmiddle school children where they have, hey,
(35:01):
they go to the school and say why don't you busthem in here, have a day where they can come
see our plant and see what we do, you know, andintroduce them to different types of trades
that they might be interested in.
Teaching them now that, hey, these are goodjobs that are needed.
Right.
(35:22):
If you come right out of high school, what'shappening today is, I mean a lot of times
insurance companies and things like that havechanged it, you know, changed things.
They can't work around machinery until they're18.
So by that time, you know, trying to learn atrade and then at that point, your parents are
like, you need to go figure it out and get ahouse and get a job.
(35:45):
If you don't have a skill or don't knowanything at 18, one of the children are in the
houses that's hard until they're 25 and stilltrying to figure it out.
Where I was able to start working at 12,running every piece of machinery.
Now they don't let you do that in the industryanymore.
So I had an early start with that but if thesepeople could actually, if the children could
(36:07):
actually be hands-on with some of this stuffearly on, by the time they do get to 18 they
would already have a skill and be able toutilize it.
And it empowers them as well because whenyou're 18 years old and you're strong, that's
when you're a strong young man or young ladyand have a little confidence and know
(36:28):
physically that you can do anything.
Right.
And you're not afraid to and you have an openmind, know you're gonna succeed because people
want people that are ambitious that know have agood work ethic and it's hard for especially
these children, you know, I think in the citiesbecause they're locked up in their houses or
(36:49):
around technology all the time.
They really haven't, they don't really have amentor that teaches them how to work hard.
I see them come to our facilities.
One of the things I wanted to ask you is whowould you say or just give us an example of
some of the mentors while you were coming up inthe industry that really made the difference of
(37:09):
how you became the worker that you became withthe kind of grit that you came.
And we know your father was one, but then therewere other people, I know that you've mentioned
them before, but they actually helped to giveyou that oomph because they proved, you know,
they just like what you're saying, thosementors are
So, I mean, Paul Whitmer was the fellow that, Imean, was the foreman in the field.
(37:33):
And when I started working, I mean, he was inhis late fifties then.
And I was 19 years old.
And he was a tough character.
He was gonna make a man out of you, or he wasgoing to send you home with your tail between
your legs.
Was simple as that.
If you couldn't take it, you weren't gonna makeit.
(37:53):
And it was like, I'm gonna make a man out ofyou, or you're gonna go home and figure it out
and maybe come back later.
But he was a tough cookie.
I just remember
You're also in a tough industry.
You have You
It wasn't, it was my first summer, think maybeI was 17, 16 or 17, and I was working up there.
(38:14):
You didn't have ladders, and you kind of juststeal by hand.
I get up there, and I'm trying to get thesebolts in.
And I've never used this word again.
He came over to me after I was up thereprobably half an hour trying to get these bolts
in connection, and he says, what are you doingup there?
And I said, well, I can't get these bolts in.
He said, what did you say?
You can't get down out there.
(38:35):
Made me slide down, gave him my equipment, heclimbed right up there and put all the bolts in
in about a minute and a half.
Wow.
Slid back down, gave him my belt, and I said,get back up there and get it done.
And I don't ever want to hear you say can'tagain.
And that is something that you do hold to thatbecause even today when you hear anybody say
(39:00):
can't, they're like there is no such word.
That's right.
That is not a word.
We have issues and challenges, and that's theway we get it done.
That's right.
That's right.
That is right.
And that's what he said to me, and of course,I'd be all angry at him like you son of a gun.
But he was a fair man, but he was tough.
I mean, when we lay decking all day, that'shot, it's hard work, and it would wear me out
(39:25):
at 19, and he's on the other end laying thedeck with me at 58 years old, running me into
the ground at 19 years old.
The guy was tough, tough, tough.
They don't make 'em like that anymore.
He was tough.
Well, so we know that your dad really, youknow, he drove this legacy that he left behind
for you guys.
What would you want your legacy to be in havingowned a business and worked as hard as you
(39:50):
have?
What would you say you'd want to be known for?
Well, I don't know if I...
I think more than anything, I mean, I love tohelp people and give back.
I feel like I haven't given enough back becauseI've worked so hard.
I think that I've worked harder than I shouldhave, than smarter.
I've learned and now I'm, you know, in my lateryears I've learned to work smarter, and what I
(40:14):
really want to teach this next generation ishow to work smarter and using teamwork and
using mentoring and developing the businesswith everybody working together instead of
trying to work so hard and do it yourself.
I mean, don't build a business by yourself;you're just going to, you just work too hard.
And you know, sure, it helps give you a littlebit better opportunities owning the business,
(40:38):
but owning it is a real chore if you don't havethe help around, the people around you.
I mean, every...
the men come and they think that since you ownthe company and that you're running the company
that you are doing real well, but that is notthe case.
You're working all day, you take it to bed, youget up, but you're eating it, breathing, and
sleeping it.
(40:59):
And it does take a wear and tear.
But it does build character.
Right.
I mean, you have to be tough and it makes youtough.
It's gonna put you up against the wall andfigure out exactly...
you're gonna have to make a decision, you'regonna get it done or are you gonna walk away
from it?
Right.
And we've gotten it done, but it has not beeneasy many, many times.
(41:21):
And so I think we didn't have, I think, thesupport that we have today.
There's so much support to help your businesstoday and help your team grow.
And that's what we didn't just didn't haveaccess to.
Now, don't get me wrong, we did some thingsright to get where we are, and we did take
advantage of some of that, but it wasn't nearlyas available back then as it is now, I would
(41:45):
say.
And maybe it was out there, and we certainlytried to utilize as much as we could to help
us.
We go to lots of different trade shows, we usecollaboration, we bring in coaches, we bring in
all kinds of different things to help us, butit's execution more than anything.
Right.
Because
a lot of times you get the people in there, youhoopla, it's all, you know, it's good for three
(42:07):
or four months, and then things just kind of goback the way they were because everybody's busy
and can't implement the things that you neverlearned.
And I think because a lot of people come in andteach you in a week or a weekend, and it's
And they
go away, and it's just there's notaccountability to implement it.
And as you grow too, you hit break points, youkind of get stuck at certain growth sizes and
(42:34):
whatever.
I think you understand what I'm trying to say.
I don't want to ramble
about it.
No, that's okay.
And so I love that you brought that up becauseone of the things is what you said about having
coaches and mentors come in and teach you somethings and short-lived.
But it's truly developing those leaders.
And I do feel like you're in that.
(42:56):
You know, every business has a breakpoint.
And it's learning how to get past that nextone.
But you're doing some really important thingsnow as you've grown to this point and gotten to
a breakpoint where you're going to be growingand expanding the business.
So my question to you then is, for any businessthat you're looking to do a project with, why
(43:20):
you?
Why Steel Fab Enterprises?
Why would they pick you?
Well, I think it's just from our reputation.
We've been in business 62 years.
We've never had a project that wasn't awardedto us that we didn't finish.
There's not many people who can say that.
We get it done so a lot of companies that giveit to us, they feel good about it because when
(43:44):
they give it to us, they can walk away and knowthat the job's gonna get done.
Because if you're a general contractor you have20 trades.
And so the team of people that you pick isgoing to make your job successful.
If you want to go out there and use the bestprice or the cheapest price, you're putting
together a team that's not going to do well foryou.
(44:06):
Right.
Because a lot of times the cheapest price isn'tyour best option.
Right.
And I would say we're not the cheapest outthere, but you know what you're going to get
when you hire Steel Fab.
Right.
I am so happy that we were able to have thisconversation today, and you know what, I just
would really love for us to be able to do thisagain and maybe talk about some different
(44:31):
topics and ways in which Steel Fab Enterprisescould be the head of the industry and helping
and actually being part of the industry leaderthat brings these trades back.
I love that you talked about the welders today,and then maybe in a future conversation we can
talk about just some of the other trades andsome of the ways that we can actually help the
(44:52):
American worker being able to just get thatpassion back for some of these trades.
Because without them, we're not going to havehomes that are built.
We're not going to have offices that are built.
We're not going to have the industry.
You know, the industry trades are reallyimportant.
Everybody needs a plumber.
Everybody needs an electrician.
And everybody needs a welder.
And every industry has its niche of what theyneed in order to get the job done.
(45:16):
So with that, what advice would you give?
Not what advice, but what's one of the thingsthat you look for when you're hiring someone?
What is something that's key and pivotal thatthey need to have as knowledge in order for
them to do well in measuring all the pieces of
Well, that's one of the things we do.
(45:37):
We do make them take a math test, and it kindof baffles me a little bit that they come
through the system, and really a lot of timesthey really struggle to do the math test.
So they need to be able to add numbers tomeasure, and you see these people coming in
(45:59):
that are out of high school and cannot passthat test very well.
We have a lot of people
And that's after a 12-year education?
Yes, I mean there is some division in there,there's multiplication, there's adding of
fractions, like if you're gonna addthree-sixteenths and seven-eighths, what's that
add up to?
They struggle to be able to do the math.
(46:20):
I don't know what they're being taught or howthey're being taught, I don't know what they
use in school today.
If they're allowed to use calculators orthey're not doing it by hand.
I don't know but I just see that that's one ofthe things that the way we look at it is if
we're gonna train that person and invest inthem they gotta be able to measure and do math.
If they struggle with that part of it, we can'ttrain them properly until they are able to do
(46:47):
that part of
it.
Right.
Wow.
Or they're not gonna make it so because whatwould happen is we were hiring people and we
find we start having stuff being madeimproperly, things were wrong and it was as
simple as going out there and say hey, what'sthis measure?
And finding out that they they didn't know howto use a tape and so they're things wrong.
They didn't know how to measure things and it's
Wow.
(47:07):
So that's why we started doing the testing totry to alleviate the where we struggle through
that part of the process.
You gotta have people that are trainable.
Yes.
And that just says something about our system.
Math, I think, is a very, very important partof an education.
Well, I want to thank you so much.
This is actually going to be the 100th episodethat gets uploaded, and it's going to be on
(47:32):
your birthday, so I'd love that.
Well I appreciate you having me and I was gladto be able to tell a little bit about my
father's story and the story of our company.
Well, Dad's Steven Fisher, and so this isKurt's dad's family.
And it talks all about where their humblebeginnings began.
(47:57):
And it is on Amazon.
It is called Driven.
And so we did want to showcase that todaybecause that's just the root of where it all
started, that's the foundation.
Just like in steel, the foundation is the mostimportant thing in order for a building to go
up.
This is his autobiography, a little picture ofhim in the back.
He was a skeet shooter and he's in thePennsylvania Hall of Fame, and I can say this:
(48:19):
when he decided to do something, he was good atit, and he was determined to be good at it.
That's
why we kind of give the name here, Driven,because whatever he did, he did right.
He wanted to be very good at it.
Where me, maybe, I'm a little bit of a jack ofall trades.
I like to do a little bit of everything.
(48:39):
He really, really worked hard at everything hedid that he wanted to be good at.
He worked hard at it.
And that's why he was good at it.
He was small in stature, but whoo, mighty.
A skyscraper.
Small but mighty.
Yes.
Like a skyscraper.
I just want to thank you again for being here.
So again, everyone, this is Katherine, yourhost with The Beyond Business Podcast.
(49:03):
Excited to have had Kurt Fisher here.
And, you know, it's a family affair.
And Steel Fab Enterprises Inc.
is in Lancaster, PA.
We would love very much for you to justcontinue to follow us, and you'll be seeing a
lot more regarding Steel Fab Enterprises.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for
having me.
Thank you.
(49:24):
Appreciate you so much.
Love you.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end, and you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
(49:46):
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
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