August 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Learn more about: Covia
Featured on: Season 5 Episode 5 - Tomorrow's World Today
Ever wonder what's inside your kitchen countertop or the sand trap that ruined your golf score? Andrew Eich, former President and CEO of Covia, pulls back the curtain on the fascinating world of industrial mineral mining, revealing how these essential materials become part of our everyday lives.
With operations spanning 42 sites across North America and 2,000 employees, Covia stands as the first crucial step in countless manufacturing supply chains. ⛏️
"What we provide is the very basic, foundational ingredients that go into making products that people use every single day," Eich explains, challenging the perception that mining is simply "digging up sand."
Eich's personal journey from paperboy to mining executive offers powerful insights for anyone navigating their career path. His diverse portfolio of early jobs built foundations for leadership success, a humble approach that underscores continuous learning. "No matter how far you go in your career, you never have all the answers, and that's perfectly okay," he advises, encouraging listeners to embrace curiosity and say "yes" to new challenges. 🔦
The conversation takes a surprising turn when addressing environmental concerns. Far from the industry's "dirty business" reputation, Eich details Covia's 17-year sustainability commitment, including sites recycling 98% of water usage, solar farms powering operations, and innovative land reclamation that transforms former mining areas into community parks. These initiatives demonstrate how responsible resource extraction can align with environmental stewardship while strengthening business performance.
Whether you're interested in business leadership, manufacturing processes, or sustainability innovations, this episode offers fresh perspectives on the materials that build tomorrow's world. 💎
For more information about the innovations that are shaping tomorrow's world, head to https://tomorrowsworldtoday.com/
To keep up-to-date with the latest in innovation, technology, sustainability, and more connect with us on social:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steven Ruffing (00:01):
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts,world-changing innovators,
creators and makers to explorehow they're taking action to
make tomorrow's world a betterplace for technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts and more.
On this archive episode, hostGeorge Davison, who is also the
(00:22):
host of the TV series,tomorrow's World Today
interviews Andrew Eich, theformer president and CEO of
Covia.
Andrew reflects on hisleadership role, highlighting
the importance of fostering teamalignment and encouraging
innovation.
He addresses the miningindustry's reputational
challenges, emphasizing Covia'scommitment to environmental
stewardship.
(00:42):
Andrew stresses curiosity,resilience and the value of
learning from failures, sowelcome to the show.
George M. Davison (00:49):
Thank you, george.
Pleasure to be here.
Well, I was hoping that we'dspend some time together to give
some insights into our audiencein the world of business and
some personal things that may behelpful for them to understand
along the way.
Okay, why don't we talk alittle bit about Covia, so they
(01:10):
know the business that you'rerunning?
Sure, could you brief us?
Andrew Eich (01:14):
Yeah, so Covia is what we call an industrial
mineral mining company.
(01:37):
I tell people when I describethe company that we are the
first step in the value chainfor many of the earth and we are
one of the largest diversifiedmining companies in North
America that produces thenecessary ingredients that go
into making those products.
George M. Davison (01:52):
Sounds like a big job, and Covea provides
basic ingredients formanufacturers to make things.
Andrew Eich (01:59):
That's right.
I think that's a great way todescribe it.
You're first introduced to ourbusiness, probably in a science
class geology things like thatwhere you'll learn about rocks
and what makes up those rocks.
That's really the startingpoint for what we do I like to
tell people.
I'm an amateur geologist atheart, but yeah, what we provide
(02:22):
is the very basic, foundationalingredients that go into making
products that people use everysingle day.
George M. Davison (02:29):
All right.
So with that understanding, canwe get an idea?
Who was this entrepreneur, whostarted this organization?
What's the backstory?
Andrew Eich (02:39):
Sure.
Well, it wasn't just oneentrepreneur, it was actually
several.
And there was our company datesits history back over a hundred
years, where single sand mineswere established by individuals
and over time, a couple of keyentrepreneurs began to buy those
(02:59):
mines and form a company andover the last call it 10, 20
years, a couple of entrepreneursreally made those into very
large businesses and today wehave over 42 sites across the US
, canada and Mexico.
But in 2018, two of the largestbusiness owners actually
(03:19):
combined to form Covia, andthat's what we operate today is
essentially 42 sites in Canada,the US and Mexico.
George M. Davison (03:27):
Wow, big operation it is.
You have about how manyemployees.
Andrew Eich (03:31):
We have about 2,000 employees.
Most work in the operations,and I would say that the teams
that we have are among the mostdedicated and committed people
I've ever met.
That's wonderful.
So do you do some interviewingalong the way?
I do a fair amount ofinterviewing Not like this,
(03:51):
though.
Steven Ruffing (03:56):
Well, hopefully we'll be hiring you after this
interview.
George M. Davison (03:59):
But no, I think it's important that the
people coming up in the worldunderstand you know what kind of
jobs are out there and so whattype of people or jobs do you
hire for?
Andrew Eich (04:09):
Yeah, we hire for all kinds of jobs we have.
If you start at the beginningof what our process is, in our
business we have a team ofgeologists, so these are folks
who are experts on rockformations and mineral deposits
and can help us figure out wherethe right minerals are in the
(04:31):
properties that we own, all theway to logistics and operations
and sales, finance, legal reallyevery function and every type
of job that's out there.
We have some form of thatabsent, maybe healthcare, some
form of that sitting inside ofour company.
George M. Davison (04:49):
Wow, All right.
So, as a CEO, could you tell usyou know what's it like being a
CEO?
Sure.
Andrew Eich (04:58):
So my job is essentially to set strategy and
make sure that the company canexecute on that strategy.
So what does that really mean?
What that really means is I'mresponsible for ensuring that
our people are focused on theright things to make Covey a
(05:18):
success, and so a big part of myjob is cheerleading.
So a big part of my job ischeerleading.
A big part of my job is talkingto our people, making sure they
all understand where we'regoing and why and, importantly,
what their role is in getting usthere.
And that's the really fun partabout Covea is that everybody
(05:39):
plays a part in our success, andwe talk about that a lot.
Whether you work in the mine oryou work in the corporate
office or anywhere in between,everyone plays a really
important part, and that'swhat's helped us become
successful.
George M. Davison (05:53):
Well, that makes a lot of sense because it
is a team of what?
2,000 people, 2,000.
And keeping them all moving inthe right direction I imagine
can be a challenge.
Andrew Eich (06:03):
It can be.
It can be.
It takes a lot of communicationand it takes a committed team
of people who are very focusedon the success.
We're lucky to have that.
George M. Davison (06:16):
So you haven't always been a CEO, have
you?
No, no, all right.
Well, did you walk us back intime and let's talk a little bit
, if we could, about?
Did you have a first job whenyou were in high school?
Andrew Eich (06:29):
My first job was a paperboy at age 14.
George M. Davison (06:33):
Hey, you're really aging yourself.
Yeah, I know.
Do they still make those?
Yeah, no.
Andrew Eich (06:38):
My dad would wake up and deliver 200 papers in the
morning.
Yeah, I don't think they dothat anymore.
200 papers in the morning yeah,I don't think they do that
anymore.
But I tell people I think I'vehad almost every job there is to
have leading up through college.
So I've paved roads, I'veworked in construction, I've
delivered papers, I've been awaiter, I've sold extended
(06:58):
warranties at electronic stores,you name it.
I've done it all.
Yeah, well, that's great thoughI mean to have so.
(07:30):
Did somebody inspire you to goout and get your first job, when
at the time I didn't think muchof it and I found it to be
fairly annoying?
But what I found by the time Igot to college is those
experiences helped me preparefor the more rigorous challenges
of college and then, aftercollege, your first job and how
to operate and how to besuccessful.
George M. Davison (07:46):
Wow, that's well said.
I've had similar, you know,experiences to yours in the way
of working when I was younger,and the things you take away
from there and play, you know,play it forward as you go
forward in life, and so thanksfor bringing that up.
And is there a mentor, though,that you had somewhere in your
life other than your parents,the teacher or anybody else?
Andrew Eich (08:08):
Yeah, I I've been very lucky.
I've had a lot of mentors, andthat's something I always tried
to seek out at different stagesof my life, because what I've
learned is, no matter how faryou go in your career, you never
have all the answers, andthat's perfectly okay, and so
(08:28):
I've been very blessed to havementors.
Through high school, I've hadgreat teachers who helped me
realize that I could do morethan I thought I could.
I've had really great mentorsin business who helped point me
in a direction that I may havebeen unsure about and give me
the confidence to explore it,and all those people played a
(08:52):
role in shaping my life and mycareer path.
So that's one thing I would sayis mentors are very important,
and they can come in alldifferent shapes and sizes and
from all different walks of life, and so it's really important
that you find those people andyou leverage what they have to
(09:13):
offer.
George M. Davison (09:14):
I was lucky to have that too.
A lot of mentors along the wayand started at a very young age.
(09:37):
It makes a difference.
Yeah, it makes a big differencein the rural country somewhere
and you don't have access to aCEO or someone that might I'm a
CEO as well trying to getexposure and say some leadership
discussions going with peoplewho are running corporations or,
(09:57):
let's say, running let's eventhe mayor's office, for that
matter.
They're very busy people andusually they're willing to share
some time.
So it's all right to beproactive and talk with the
older people and ask for someadvice along the way.
Andrew Eich (10:15):
Absolutely, and you'll find most people want to
share and they want.
You know I've been very luckyto get where I am and you know
there's certain things I've beenable to do that I look back on
my life and say, well, that wasa good move, I'm glad I did that
.
George M. Davison (10:33):
Yes, and sharing that experience, you
know happy to do that, that'sgreat, and you're doing it now,
and so you know kids or youngfolks coming up.
You're our future.
And just so you know, I wasn'tperfect.
Andrew wasn't perfect either,when he was younger.
So how about we talk a littlebit about what did you do along
(10:55):
the way that you said, oh, thatwasn't such a great idea.
Andrew Eich (11:01):
How much time do you?
George M. Davison (11:01):
have.
Andrew Eich (11:12):
Oh, that's been lots of times in my life where
I've had missteps thatoftentimes led to greater things
.
Because of the missteps, becauseyou learn from them and you
move on.
I was fortunate enough to spendsome portion of my career
living in Asia, which was agreat experience, but I made a
(11:32):
ton of mistakes in that job,because I was one of the only
Americans in an office filledwith over 100 people from Japan,
and so trying to do things theAmerican way in a Japanese
office doesn't work, and so,through constant failure, I
(11:53):
learned how to work in anenvironment where I was the
minority and had to learn theircultural ways to get things done
, and that became a great.
What started off as a reallybig weakness ultimately became a
strength of mine, especiallywhen I returned back to the US,
(12:14):
because I learned how to workwith all different walks of life
and become more adaptable, andI think that's a key leadership
attribute.
That takes time and effort.
You don't learn this in school.
It's how do you adapt yourselfto make whoever you're talking
to or working with feel morecomfortable in a way that you
(12:34):
can help influence outcomes.
George M. Davison (12:36):
Yes, that's a great lesson.
Andrew Eich (12:38):
Yeah.
George M. Davison (12:39):
Sometimes getting just kind of dunked down
under the water.
You have to figure out a way toget back up there.
Such good life lessons can comefrom that Exactly.
So around here we call thatfailure way forward.
Yeah, or fail fast I've heardthat one a lot too so you can
move on and use that knowledgethat you've gained now toward
(13:03):
your future and avoid othermissteps.
But well, thanks for that.
Sure, all right, let's see hereIf you could do one thing in
high school over what would itbe.
Andrew Eich (13:16):
When I was in high school, I did not like the
sciences, and mainly because Ifound them to be really hard.
And now I work in a companywhere science is so important,
whether it's geology or math.
(13:37):
You know the science aroundprocess, process engineering.
It's very important, and what Ihave found is it took me a
while to learn that side of thebusiness, and so what I would
(14:06):
the biggest mistake I made inhigh school, which I would
encourage others to not do iswhen you're in high school, you
don't have't like it and you maynot like it then, but when you
get to college, you mightactually say hey, you know, I
did that in high school, I'mgoing to go try that again, and
then you love it.
It's an incredible age toexplore and experiment with all
kinds of things, and so joindifferent clubs, join the
(14:29):
student government, do thescience clubs, play sports, you
know, create a well-roundedexperience for yourself, because
you will be surprised at howyou will pick on those things
later on, later in life, anddraw from them in other parts of
your career and in yourpersonal life.
That's great advice.
George M. Davison (14:48):
Great advice, All right.
So, hobbies, do you have time?
I love to.
Andrew Eich (14:54):
I have a vegetable garden, so I grow vegetables and
(15:16):
love to ski with my kids.
So we do a bit of that and liketo travel whenever we get a
chance.
George M. Davison (15:22):
That's wonderful.
You know the three kids, one inhigh school, yeah, all right,
so let's talk to that highschooler for a moment.
Okay, If I was listening in ona conversation about, let's say,
a more advanced learning, maybegoing to college or maybe just
(15:43):
focusing on STEM or STEAM andgetting into one of the I don't
know, maybe becoming a welder orsomething else that provides
good value, you know what kindof things would I be hearing?
Andrew Eich (15:55):
Well as of last night.
You would have heard.
Last night my son and I weretalking about his upcoming
biology test.
He's a freshman and it's adifficult class, and so he's
worried about how to get a goodgrade, and I talked to him about
when you move into high school,the classes get more
(16:17):
challenging, and one of thefirst things you have to do is
figure out how to figure it out,and so that boils down to what
are the study habits you need todevelop, what are the types of
questions you need to be askingin the classroom, and how do you
put yourself in the bestposition possible to do well in
school.
So that's what you eat, that'syour sleep, that's making sure
(16:42):
you're spending the right amountof time on the right things,
and so he would hear that speechpretty often.
George M. Davison (16:50):
We had similar ones to that.
We talked about good stress andbad stress.
Yeah, it's understanding, youknow yourself and how to prepare
properly and whatnot.
But for clarity, good stress isyou know the test is coming and
if you start to prepare andtake little nibbles at it, let's
(17:12):
say a week or two in advance,you know that's stressful, but
you didn't wait to the lastminute Exactly.
Waiting to the last minute andcramming, that's bad stress and
it causes all sorts of otherchallenges along the way Lack of
sleep, you don't eat properly,and a lot of other things could
(17:33):
happen.
That's right, yeah, so we havegood stress, bad stress,
dialogues with our kids alongthe way, lack of sleep, you
don't eat properly, and a lot ofother things could happen.
That's right, yeah, so we havegood stress, bad stress,
dialogues with our kids.
My kids are now a little older,so my last one's off to college
now.
Congratulations, thank you.
Back to the empty nest, yeah,all right, yes, okay.
So if you were going to giveadvice to a person entering into
(17:54):
your industry, what would thatadvice sound like?
Andrew Eich (18:00):
I would say that what's fascinating about our
industry?
A lot of people hear oh, miningbusiness, you just dig up sand
and you put it in a truck or arail car and you send it.
And, frankly, when I first gotintroduced to the company, I had
the same reaction, but when Igot inside the company I
(18:20):
realized how complicated thebusiness was.
Um and so what I would say isis that if you, if you enjoy
complex problem solving, getexcited because that's what we
do.
We have you know, when youthink about what our business is
.
We, we dig up material and thenour goal is to sell every single
grain of sand that we dig up tothe right customer for the
(18:44):
right functional reason.
And it takes a very it takesgreat teamwork between your
sales team and your marketingteams and your operations team
and the geologists and everyoneelse to figure out how to do
that the best way possible.
So the advice I'd give is becurious when you're inside of
the company and say yes toeverything, especially early in
(19:06):
your career.
Take on every challenge that'sthrown to you, because it'll do
two things It'll help youprogress inside the company, but
it will also give you greatexposure to all different
elements and areas of thebusiness, and what you end up
finding is the place you startis very rarely the place you end
(19:26):
.
And so try lots of things.
Same advice for high school Trymany, many things, because it
takes time to figure out in yourlife and in your career what
you ultimately want to do and begood at.
George M. Davison (19:39):
All right.
Well, I'm curious now thatyou've made that statement.
Let's say I'm a customer ofCovea and let's say that we
manufacture toilets.
Let's say, and we want tofeature something new in our
toilet line.
Would we talk to your peopleand say we're trying to do this
(20:03):
with a future style of a toilet.
We're having trouble thinkingthat we could mold this.
Let's say Would we talk to yourpeople and then they would help
to brainstorm and findsolutions for that challenge.
Andrew Eich (20:17):
Yeah, so now you're getting into my favorite types
of questions, which are aroundinnovation, and we partner with
our customers all the time toredesign and reshape our
products to help them achievesome functional benefit.
So toilets, for example.
(20:40):
I mean what we sell are claysand kalens which are used to
form what are called preparedbodies, which are the molds for
the toilets, and so the shape,the color, the size of the
material that we sell will allinfluence the how that product
is made.
We have other products that wesell where we apply chemistries
to it, so we'll apply a specialcoating to it that will provide
(21:04):
additional benefits.
Sometimes we'll apply heat tominerals, which will change the
physical structure and the colorof the material, and that
allows it to do different thingsfor the end customer.
And so that's a partnership anda collaboration that we engage
with our customers to figure outwhat can we do as a supplier to
(21:26):
help them achieve their goals.
That's fun.
George M. Davison (21:29):
I like that whole idea.
How about sustainability?
Are any of your customerscoming to you and asking about
what can your raw materials doto help us make a more
sustainable, greener product?
Do you have anything like that?
Andrew Eich (21:45):
Absolutely so.
Sustainability for us is partof our DNA.
We have put out asustainability report, I believe
, 17 years in a row now, so thisis not a new topic for us, and
we approach it in a number ofways.
So with our customers.
They are desperately seekingnew products all the time that
(22:06):
will reduce their greenhouse gasemissions or improve the safety
of their employees.
Silica can be a dangerousmaterial if you breathe it in,
and so we've designed productsthat we coat around our silica,
that reduce the amount of dustin the air Nice and make it a
safer material to work with.
George M. Davison (22:28):
As an example , I just flashed back to when I
was a boy we used to have to goout with hoses.
When I was a boy, we used tohave to go out with hoses.
When I was a kid, I used towork at an asphalt company in a
town where I used to live andwe'd have to go out in the
morning before it got realactive, because it was going to
be a hot, dry day, oh yeah, andjust to keep the dust down.
(22:49):
Oh yeah, just be everywhere.
Andrew Eich (22:51):
Yeah, and asphalt, that's a tough summer job.
George M. Davison (22:59):
I'm glad I'm not doing that anymore.
Andrew Eich (23:00):
Yeah, I paved roads .
I remember running a hot lanceand that was really.
That was a brutal job, right.
George M. Davison (23:07):
My mother.
She said you're going to dothis job, so you learn why you
want to get a better education.
You don't want to do this yourwhole life.
Well, that was a few badsummers.
Andrew Eich (23:17):
Yeah, well, it appears to have worked.
It pushed me in the rightdirection, right.
George M. Davison (23:31):
That's right, all right.
Well so, innovation in theworkplace, young people coming
up.
If I wanted to be a youngperson and to become successful,
you know, would understandingscience, stem, steam, technology
.
You know science, technology,engineering, art and math.
Does that play an importantrole in your opinion toward
bringing up young people towardthe field of innovation?
Andrew Eich (23:54):
Absolutely it is.
I mean, that is the.
Those are the key disciplinesto learn to be effective at
innovation.
And there's all kinds ofinnovations, you know.
There's product innovation,which we've talked about.
There's process innovation,which is more internally focused
innovation.
We're doing that all the timein our business.
George M. Davison (24:15):
So process, running the business process in
getting minerals out of theground for transportation, et
cetera.
Is that what you're getting at?
Andrew Eich (24:24):
Yes, all of it, and it can be at your plants.
How do we get our equipment toproduce more of the material?
It can be in your corporateoffices.
It takes us a week to do thisevery month.
How do we make it happen infive days?
What process changes do we needto make to do that?
It can be in the way you meetwith and approach your customers
(24:48):
, our sales team, and that'swhere the computer and
application technology reallyare important as well.
So, whether it's informationtechnology or any of the
sciences and math as well, fromengineering perspective, you
know there's all kinds ofdifferent disciplines that you
(25:10):
can, you know, find the one thatsets your heart on fire and
lean into that and then putyourself in a place where you
can really push innovation.
George M. Davison (25:21):
Right.
So innovation you have amarketing department, right yeah
, Do you create all sorts of newmarketing materials, frequently
storytelling to your customerbase, that kind of thing.
Andrew Eich (25:35):
We do.
We actually have a campaignthat we put on some of the
social media sites where we talkabout what our products do and
why they are so criticallyimportant to the end product.
So we don't talk a lot aboutpiles of sand.
What we talk about is ourspecially treated Cristobalite
(25:57):
sand is used as a functionaladditive for countertops like
your desk over there, and so wetalk about how our product
provides the bright whitenessyou see in a white countertop
that you can buy at a store Nicewhen we talk about.
You know, we recently shippedseveral thousand tons of bunker
(26:18):
sand for a golf course from Ohioall the way to California,
because our sands have the rightcolor and angularity that make
the best sand bunkers on a golfcourse.
George M. Davison (26:30):
So now you know why your golf score is
going up.
Andrew Eich (26:32):
That's right, Andrew he's sitting right here.
We make your sand bunkerexperience memorable, all right,
Andrew, he's sitting right here.
George M. Davison (26:39):
We make your sand bunker experience memorable
.
All right, what is one projectthat you think your industry has
struggled with but you thinkwould elevate mankind the most?
Andrew Eich (26:51):
That's a great question.
I think that the miningindustry as a whole has suffered
reputational problems in thepast, and I think that it's got
a stigma a bit around being adirtier business, which is not
(27:13):
true in the case of Covia.
We have sites that recycle 98%of the water that we use.
We have solar farms that webuild outside of our sites to
produce electricity to power ourplants and, most importantly,
we're working on the nextgeneration of products that are
going to have a meaningfulenvironmental benefit for our
(27:37):
customers.
So a lot of the more advancedmaterials that we're producing
today are replacing materialsthat our customers are buying
from overseas.
That's important, because whenyou're mining something overseas
, you got to ship it all the wayto the US.
There's a lot of greenhouse gasemissions that come with sea
freight, and so finding ways toproduce the materials as close
(28:01):
as possible to the customersreduces the greenhouse gas
emissions associated with thatthe product, and so there's lots
of things that we do as anorganization to create a
positive environmental impact,and not just environmental.
Whenever we go into a location,our goal is to leave it in a
(28:22):
better place than when we foundit, and so mining reclamation is
a really important aspect ofwhat we do.
When we're done mining out thearea, we want to turn that into
a park or athletic fields orwhatever the town and the people
in the local community want usto turn it into.
We partner with them to createa unique space that is better
(28:46):
than when we found it.
George M. Davison (28:47):
You know it just makes good business sense
being a good steward right itdoes.
It actually helps the numbersand helps the company become
more strong.
It actually helps the numbersand helps the company become
more strong.
There's so many opportunitiesto just do the right thing and
then you benefit as a business.
The numbers get better, so allthe investors and whatnot are
happier as well.
(29:08):
I also look at it this way.
Now that you say mining has akind of a stigmatism to it In
the world I operate in, I don'treally think that way.
I'm in the world of innovation,it's what I do, it's all I
practically do, and one of thethings I know about it is that
it's messy.
When you go to create or invent, you know we create all these
(29:33):
crazy things and then all of asudden it's well, that's not
going to work, scrap this andscrap that, and before you know
it you're 10 to 20 to a hundredprototypes in and you're finally
getting to the right answer.
Well, all of this is all nowgarbage and scrap, right, but
eventually you get to that rightsolution.
It's kind of like that firstcomputer that was, you know,
(29:54):
invented.
It was like 10 times the sizeof this room Right, and now it's
kind of like that firstcomputer that was invented.
It was like 10 times the sizeof this room Right, and now it's
this little tiny thing that wecarry in our pocket and it's way
more powerful than the old days.
Exactly so the idea of diggingup minerals and having mines to
me it's a necessary ingredientto create the other good things
that we need in our lives,absolutely the other good things
(30:15):
that we need in our lives,absolutely.
I respect what you're saying.
It's great that you're workingon good environmental decisions,
getting sustainability.
It makes sense to have minesnear your customers because
transportation costs go down,etc.
Etc.
Exactly Business 101 stuff, butI don't really think of it as
messy.
I just think it's just part ofa process that we need to have
(30:37):
that we go through and then weget more efficient as we go at
it.
Absolutely.
Andrew Eich (30:41):
And it is messy and it can be messy.
I think the most importantthing is that companies like
Covea and our industry peers, wedo it the right way, and you do
it because it makes goodbusiness sense, but I also like
to think that we do it becauseit's also just the right thing
to do.
Yes, and I think that a lot ofcompanies who operate in our
(31:03):
space work really hard to do theright thing and create.
You know, we, our minds, areoperating in very remote places
in some cases and so in manycases, we are the only employer
in that area cases, we are theonly employer in that area.
So we're creating jobs andcreating a vibrant local economy
, which is important to us andit's important to the people
(31:24):
that are affected.
Way to go.
George M. Davison (31:26):
Thank you.
All right, let's see here.
I think we have.
This is the last big question.
Okay, what do you think is thenext big innovation in your
industry?
Andrew Eich (31:38):
What do you think is the next big innovation in
your industry?
Yeah, I think the next biginnovation is going to be for so
I would break that into twocomponents.
In our specific industry, weare going to continue to push
(32:01):
the envelope of what theminerals can do for our
customers and so marryingtogether our process technology
with other chemistries to create, you know, ultra fine particles
that can be used as functionalfillers for paints and plastics
or coating those materials togive them, you know, brand new
benefits and features in ourcustomers process.
We'll continue to innovatealong that way, I think, and so
that's product innovation for us.
I think the next big innovationinternally and in our company is
(32:25):
we are going to continue tofigure out how to do more with
less, and what I mean by that is, I mentioned we have a site in
Wisconsin that recycles over 90%of its water.
We've got the technology andthe know-how to do that, and in
places that are stressed forwater, that technology is very
(32:47):
important.
So we'll continue to invest inthat technology and bring that
to bear across our company.
We'll look for ways to automateprocess, because that creates
more efficiencies and reorientour teams and our people toward
the more complex areas of ourbusiness.
That's a big innovation for usas well.
George M. Davison (33:10):
Well, thank you for being here with us today
.
Thanks for having me, andrew,it was a real joy, and thanks
for sharing being a mentor toall of our audience out us today
.
Thanks for having me, andrew,it was a real joy, and thanks
for sharing being a mentor toall of our audience out there
today.
All right, everybody.
Well, thank you.
Steven Ruffing (33:26):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
Join us next time as wecontinue to explore the worlds
of inspiration, creation,innovation and production.
Discover more attomorrowsworldtodaycom.
Connect with us on social mediaat TWT.
Explore and find us whereverpodcasts are available.
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts,world-changing innovators,
creators and makers to explorehow they're taking action to
make tomorrow's world a betterplace for technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts and more.
On this archive episode, hostGeorge Davison, who is also the
(00:22):
host of the TV series,tomorrow's World Today
interviews Andrew Eich, theformer president and CEO of
Covia.
Andrew reflects on hisleadership role, highlighting
the importance of fostering teamalignment and encouraging
innovation.
He addresses the miningindustry's reputational
challenges, emphasizing Covia'scommitment to environmental
stewardship.
(00:42):
Andrew stresses curiosity,resilience and the value of
learning from failures, sowelcome to the show.
George M. Davison (00:49):
Thank you, george.
Pleasure to be here.
Well, I was hoping that we'dspend some time together to give
some insights into our audiencein the world of business and
some personal things that may behelpful for them to understand
along the way.
Okay, why don't we talk alittle bit about Covia, so they
(01:10):
know the business that you'rerunning?
Sure, could you brief us?
Andrew Eich (01:14):
Yeah, so Covia is what we call an industrial
mineral mining company.
(01:37):
I tell people when I describethe company that we are the
first step in the value chainfor many of the earth and we are
one of the largest diversifiedmining companies in North
America that produces thenecessary ingredients that go
into making those products.
George M. Davison (01:52):
Sounds like a big job, and Covea provides
basic ingredients formanufacturers to make things.
Andrew Eich (01:59):
That's right.
I think that's a great way todescribe it.
You're first introduced to ourbusiness, probably in a science
class geology things like thatwhere you'll learn about rocks
and what makes up those rocks.
That's really the startingpoint for what we do I like to
tell people.
I'm an amateur geologist atheart, but yeah, what we provide
(02:22):
is the very basic, foundationalingredients that go into making
products that people use everysingle day.
George M. Davison (02:29):
All right.
So with that understanding, canwe get an idea?
Who was this entrepreneur, whostarted this organization?
What's the backstory?
Andrew Eich (02:39):
Sure.
Well, it wasn't just oneentrepreneur, it was actually
several.
And there was our company datesits history back over a hundred
years, where single sand mineswere established by individuals
and over time, a couple of keyentrepreneurs began to buy those
(02:59):
mines and form a company andover the last call it 10, 20
years, a couple of entrepreneursreally made those into very
large businesses and today wehave over 42 sites across the US
, canada and Mexico.
But in 2018, two of the largestbusiness owners actually
(03:19):
combined to form Covia, andthat's what we operate today is
essentially 42 sites in Canada,the US and Mexico.
George M. Davison (03:27):
Wow, big operation it is.
You have about how manyemployees.
Andrew Eich (03:31):
We have about 2,000 employees.
Most work in the operations,and I would say that the teams
that we have are among the mostdedicated and committed people
I've ever met.
That's wonderful.
So do you do some interviewingalong the way?
I do a fair amount ofinterviewing Not like this,
(03:51):
though.
Steven Ruffing (03:56):
Well, hopefully we'll be hiring you after this
interview.
George M. Davison (03:59):
But no, I think it's important that the
people coming up in the worldunderstand you know what kind of
jobs are out there and so whattype of people or jobs do you
hire for?
Andrew Eich (04:09):
Yeah, we hire for all kinds of jobs we have.
If you start at the beginningof what our process is, in our
business we have a team ofgeologists, so these are folks
who are experts on rockformations and mineral deposits
and can help us figure out wherethe right minerals are in the
(04:31):
properties that we own, all theway to logistics and operations
and sales, finance, legal reallyevery function and every type
of job that's out there.
We have some form of thatabsent, maybe healthcare, some
form of that sitting inside ofour company.
George M. Davison (04:49):
Wow, All right.
So, as a CEO, could you tell usyou know what's it like being a
CEO?
Sure.
Andrew Eich (04:58):
So my job is essentially to set strategy and
make sure that the company canexecute on that strategy.
So what does that really mean?
What that really means is I'mresponsible for ensuring that
our people are focused on theright things to make Covey a
(05:18):
success, and so a big part of myjob is cheerleading.
So a big part of my job ischeerleading.
A big part of my job is talkingto our people, making sure they
all understand where we'regoing and why and, importantly,
what their role is in getting usthere.
And that's the really fun partabout Covea is that everybody
(05:39):
plays a part in our success, andwe talk about that a lot.
Whether you work in the mine oryou work in the corporate
office or anywhere in between,everyone plays a really
important part, and that'swhat's helped us become
successful.
George M. Davison (05:53):
Well, that makes a lot of sense because it
is a team of what?
2,000 people, 2,000.
And keeping them all moving inthe right direction I imagine
can be a challenge.
Andrew Eich (06:03):
It can be.
It can be.
It takes a lot of communicationand it takes a committed team
of people who are very focusedon the success.
We're lucky to have that.
George M. Davison (06:16):
So you haven't always been a CEO, have
you?
No, no, all right.
Well, did you walk us back intime and let's talk a little bit
, if we could, about?
Did you have a first job whenyou were in high school?
Andrew Eich (06:29):
My first job was a paperboy at age 14.
George M. Davison (06:33):
Hey, you're really aging yourself.
Yeah, I know.
Do they still make those?
Yeah, no.
Andrew Eich (06:38):
My dad would wake up and deliver 200 papers in the
morning.
Yeah, I don't think they dothat anymore.
200 papers in the morning yeah,I don't think they do that
anymore.
But I tell people I think I'vehad almost every job there is to
have leading up through college.
So I've paved roads, I'veworked in construction, I've
delivered papers, I've been awaiter, I've sold extended
(06:58):
warranties at electronic stores,you name it.
I've done it all.
Yeah, well, that's great thoughI mean to have so.
(07:30):
Did somebody inspire you to goout and get your first job, when
at the time I didn't think muchof it and I found it to be
fairly annoying?
But what I found by the time Igot to college is those
experiences helped me preparefor the more rigorous challenges
of college and then, aftercollege, your first job and how
to operate and how to besuccessful.
George M. Davison (07:46):
Wow, that's well said.
I've had similar, you know,experiences to yours in the way
of working when I was younger,and the things you take away
from there and play, you know,play it forward as you go
forward in life, and so thanksfor bringing that up.
And is there a mentor, though,that you had somewhere in your
life other than your parents,the teacher or anybody else?
Andrew Eich (08:08):
Yeah, I I've been very lucky.
I've had a lot of mentors, andthat's something I always tried
to seek out at different stagesof my life, because what I've
learned is, no matter how faryou go in your career, you never
have all the answers, andthat's perfectly okay, and so
(08:28):
I've been very blessed to havementors.
Through high school, I've hadgreat teachers who helped me
realize that I could do morethan I thought I could.
I've had really great mentorsin business who helped point me
in a direction that I may havebeen unsure about and give me
the confidence to explore it,and all those people played a
(08:52):
role in shaping my life and mycareer path.
So that's one thing I would sayis mentors are very important,
and they can come in alldifferent shapes and sizes and
from all different walks of life, and so it's really important
that you find those people andyou leverage what they have to
(09:13):
offer.
George M. Davison (09:14):
I was lucky to have that too.
A lot of mentors along the wayand started at a very young age.
(09:37):
It makes a difference.
Yeah, it makes a big differencein the rural country somewhere
and you don't have access to aCEO or someone that might I'm a
CEO as well trying to getexposure and say some leadership
discussions going with peoplewho are running corporations or,
(09:57):
let's say, running let's eventhe mayor's office, for that
matter.
They're very busy people andusually they're willing to share
some time.
So it's all right to beproactive and talk with the
older people and ask for someadvice along the way.
Andrew Eich (10:15):
Absolutely, and you'll find most people want to
share and they want.
You know I've been very luckyto get where I am and you know
there's certain things I've beenable to do that I look back on
my life and say, well, that wasa good move, I'm glad I did that
.
George M. Davison (10:33):
Yes, and sharing that experience, you
know happy to do that, that'sgreat, and you're doing it now,
and so you know kids or youngfolks coming up.
You're our future.
And just so you know, I wasn'tperfect.
Andrew wasn't perfect either,when he was younger.
So how about we talk a littlebit about what did you do along
(10:55):
the way that you said, oh, thatwasn't such a great idea.
Andrew Eich (11:01):
How much time do you?
George M. Davison (11:01):
have.
Andrew Eich (11:12):
Oh, that's been lots of times in my life where
I've had missteps thatoftentimes led to greater things
.
Because of the missteps, becauseyou learn from them and you
move on.
I was fortunate enough to spendsome portion of my career
living in Asia, which was agreat experience, but I made a
(11:32):
ton of mistakes in that job,because I was one of the only
Americans in an office filledwith over 100 people from Japan,
and so trying to do things theAmerican way in a Japanese
office doesn't work, and so,through constant failure, I
(11:53):
learned how to work in anenvironment where I was the
minority and had to learn theircultural ways to get things done
, and that became a great.
What started off as a reallybig weakness ultimately became a
strength of mine, especiallywhen I returned back to the US,
(12:14):
because I learned how to workwith all different walks of life
and become more adaptable, andI think that's a key leadership
attribute.
That takes time and effort.
You don't learn this in school.
It's how do you adapt yourselfto make whoever you're talking
to or working with feel morecomfortable in a way that you
(12:34):
can help influence outcomes.
George M. Davison (12:36):
Yes, that's a great lesson.
Andrew Eich (12:38):
Yeah.
George M. Davison (12:39):
Sometimes getting just kind of dunked down
under the water.
You have to figure out a way toget back up there.
Such good life lessons can comefrom that Exactly.
So around here we call thatfailure way forward.
Yeah, or fail fast I've heardthat one a lot too so you can
move on and use that knowledgethat you've gained now toward
(13:03):
your future and avoid othermissteps.
But well, thanks for that.
Sure, all right, let's see hereIf you could do one thing in
high school over what would itbe.
Andrew Eich (13:16):
When I was in high school, I did not like the
sciences, and mainly because Ifound them to be really hard.
And now I work in a companywhere science is so important,
whether it's geology or math.
(13:37):
You know the science aroundprocess, process engineering.
It's very important, and what Ihave found is it took me a
while to learn that side of thebusiness, and so what I would
(14:06):
the biggest mistake I made inhigh school, which I would
encourage others to not do iswhen you're in high school, you
don't have't like it and you maynot like it then, but when you
get to college, you mightactually say hey, you know, I
did that in high school, I'mgoing to go try that again, and
then you love it.
It's an incredible age toexplore and experiment with all
kinds of things, and so joindifferent clubs, join the
(14:29):
student government, do thescience clubs, play sports, you
know, create a well-roundedexperience for yourself, because
you will be surprised at howyou will pick on those things
later on, later in life, anddraw from them in other parts of
your career and in yourpersonal life.
That's great advice.
George M. Davison (14:48):
Great advice, All right.
So, hobbies, do you have time?
I love to.
Andrew Eich (14:54):
I have a vegetable garden, so I grow vegetables and
(15:16):
love to ski with my kids.
So we do a bit of that and liketo travel whenever we get a
chance.
George M. Davison (15:22):
That's wonderful.
You know the three kids, one inhigh school, yeah, all right,
so let's talk to that highschooler for a moment.
Okay, If I was listening in ona conversation about, let's say,
a more advanced learning, maybegoing to college or maybe just
(15:43):
focusing on STEM or STEAM andgetting into one of the I don't
know, maybe becoming a welder orsomething else that provides
good value, you know what kindof things would I be hearing?
Andrew Eich (15:55):
Well as of last night.
You would have heard.
Last night my son and I weretalking about his upcoming
biology test.
He's a freshman and it's adifficult class, and so he's
worried about how to get a goodgrade, and I talked to him about
when you move into high school,the classes get more
(16:17):
challenging, and one of thefirst things you have to do is
figure out how to figure it out,and so that boils down to what
are the study habits you need todevelop, what are the types of
questions you need to be askingin the classroom, and how do you
put yourself in the bestposition possible to do well in
school.
So that's what you eat, that'syour sleep, that's making sure
(16:42):
you're spending the right amountof time on the right things,
and so he would hear that speechpretty often.
George M. Davison (16:50):
We had similar ones to that.
We talked about good stress andbad stress.
Yeah, it's understanding, youknow yourself and how to prepare
properly and whatnot.
But for clarity, good stress isyou know the test is coming and
if you start to prepare andtake little nibbles at it, let's
(17:12):
say a week or two in advance,you know that's stressful, but
you didn't wait to the lastminute Exactly.
Waiting to the last minute andcramming, that's bad stress and
it causes all sorts of otherchallenges along the way Lack of
sleep, you don't eat properly,and a lot of other things could
(17:33):
happen.
That's right, yeah, so we havegood stress, bad stress,
dialogues with our kids alongthe way, lack of sleep, you
don't eat properly, and a lot ofother things could happen.
That's right, yeah, so we havegood stress, bad stress,
dialogues with our kids.
My kids are now a little older,so my last one's off to college
now.
Congratulations, thank you.
Back to the empty nest, yeah,all right, yes, okay.
So if you were going to giveadvice to a person entering into
(17:54):
your industry, what would thatadvice sound like?
Andrew Eich (18:00):
I would say that what's fascinating about our
industry?
A lot of people hear oh, miningbusiness, you just dig up sand
and you put it in a truck or arail car and you send it.
And, frankly, when I first gotintroduced to the company, I had
the same reaction, but when Igot inside the company I
(18:20):
realized how complicated thebusiness was.
Um and so what I would say isis that if you, if you enjoy
complex problem solving, getexcited because that's what we
do.
We have you know, when youthink about what our business is
.
We, we dig up material and thenour goal is to sell every single
grain of sand that we dig up tothe right customer for the
(18:44):
right functional reason.
And it takes a very it takesgreat teamwork between your
sales team and your marketingteams and your operations team
and the geologists and everyoneelse to figure out how to do
that the best way possible.
So the advice I'd give is becurious when you're inside of
the company and say yes toeverything, especially early in
(19:06):
your career.
Take on every challenge that'sthrown to you, because it'll do
two things It'll help youprogress inside the company, but
it will also give you greatexposure to all different
elements and areas of thebusiness, and what you end up
finding is the place you startis very rarely the place you end
(19:26):
.
And so try lots of things.
Same advice for high school Trymany, many things, because it
takes time to figure out in yourlife and in your career what
you ultimately want to do and begood at.
George M. Davison (19:39):
All right.
Well, I'm curious now thatyou've made that statement.
Let's say I'm a customer ofCovea and let's say that we
manufacture toilets.
Let's say, and we want tofeature something new in our
toilet line.
Would we talk to your peopleand say we're trying to do this
(20:03):
with a future style of a toilet.
We're having trouble thinkingthat we could mold this.
Let's say Would we talk to yourpeople and then they would help
to brainstorm and findsolutions for that challenge.
Andrew Eich (20:17):
Yeah, so now you're getting into my favorite types
of questions, which are aroundinnovation, and we partner with
our customers all the time toredesign and reshape our
products to help them achievesome functional benefit.
So toilets, for example.
(20:40):
I mean what we sell are claysand kalens which are used to
form what are called preparedbodies, which are the molds for
the toilets, and so the shape,the color, the size of the
material that we sell will allinfluence the how that product
is made.
We have other products that wesell where we apply chemistries
to it, so we'll apply a specialcoating to it that will provide
(21:04):
additional benefits.
Sometimes we'll apply heat tominerals, which will change the
physical structure and the colorof the material, and that
allows it to do different thingsfor the end customer.
And so that's a partnership anda collaboration that we engage
with our customers to figure outwhat can we do as a supplier to
(21:26):
help them achieve their goals.
That's fun.
George M. Davison (21:29):
I like that whole idea.
How about sustainability?
Are any of your customerscoming to you and asking about
what can your raw materials doto help us make a more
sustainable, greener product?
Do you have anything like that?
Andrew Eich (21:45):
Absolutely so.
Sustainability for us is partof our DNA.
We have put out asustainability report, I believe
, 17 years in a row now, so thisis not a new topic for us, and
we approach it in a number ofways.
So with our customers.
They are desperately seekingnew products all the time that
(22:06):
will reduce their greenhouse gasemissions or improve the safety
of their employees.
Silica can be a dangerousmaterial if you breathe it in,
and so we've designed productsthat we coat around our silica,
that reduce the amount of dustin the air Nice and make it a
safer material to work with.
George M. Davison (22:28):
As an example , I just flashed back to when I
was a boy we used to have to goout with hoses.
When I was a boy, we used tohave to go out with hoses.
When I was a kid, I used towork at an asphalt company in a
town where I used to live andwe'd have to go out in the
morning before it got realactive, because it was going to
be a hot, dry day, oh yeah, andjust to keep the dust down.
(22:49):
Oh yeah, just be everywhere.
Andrew Eich (22:51):
Yeah, and asphalt, that's a tough summer job.
George M. Davison (22:59):
I'm glad I'm not doing that anymore.
Andrew Eich (23:00):
Yeah, I paved roads .
I remember running a hot lanceand that was really.
That was a brutal job, right.
George M. Davison (23:07):
My mother.
She said you're going to dothis job, so you learn why you
want to get a better education.
You don't want to do this yourwhole life.
Well, that was a few badsummers.
Andrew Eich (23:17):
Yeah, well, it appears to have worked.
It pushed me in the rightdirection, right.
George M. Davison (23:31):
That's right, all right.
Well so, innovation in theworkplace, young people coming
up.
If I wanted to be a youngperson and to become successful,
you know, would understandingscience, stem, steam, technology
.
You know science, technology,engineering, art and math.
Does that play an importantrole in your opinion toward
bringing up young people towardthe field of innovation?
Andrew Eich (23:54):
Absolutely it is.
I mean, that is the.
Those are the key disciplinesto learn to be effective at
innovation.
And there's all kinds ofinnovations, you know.
There's product innovation,which we've talked about.
There's process innovation,which is more internally focused
innovation.
We're doing that all the timein our business.
George M. Davison (24:15):
So process, running the business process in
getting minerals out of theground for transportation, et
cetera.
Is that what you're getting at?
Andrew Eich (24:24):
Yes, all of it, and it can be at your plants.
How do we get our equipment toproduce more of the material?
It can be in your corporateoffices.
It takes us a week to do thisevery month.
How do we make it happen infive days?
What process changes do we needto make to do that?
It can be in the way you meetwith and approach your customers
(24:48):
, our sales team, and that'swhere the computer and
application technology reallyare important as well.
So, whether it's informationtechnology or any of the
sciences and math as well, fromengineering perspective, you
know there's all kinds ofdifferent disciplines that you
(25:10):
can, you know, find the one thatsets your heart on fire and
lean into that and then putyourself in a place where you
can really push innovation.
George M. Davison (25:21):
Right.
So innovation you have amarketing department, right yeah
, Do you create all sorts of newmarketing materials, frequently
storytelling to your customerbase, that kind of thing.
Andrew Eich (25:35):
We do.
We actually have a campaignthat we put on some of the
social media sites where we talkabout what our products do and
why they are so criticallyimportant to the end product.
So we don't talk a lot aboutpiles of sand.
What we talk about is ourspecially treated Cristobalite
(25:57):
sand is used as a functionaladditive for countertops like
your desk over there, and so wetalk about how our product
provides the bright whitenessyou see in a white countertop
that you can buy at a store Nicewhen we talk about.
You know, we recently shippedseveral thousand tons of bunker
(26:18):
sand for a golf course from Ohioall the way to California,
because our sands have the rightcolor and angularity that make
the best sand bunkers on a golfcourse.
George M. Davison (26:30):
So now you know why your golf score is
going up.
Andrew Eich (26:32):
That's right, Andrew he's sitting right here.
We make your sand bunkerexperience memorable, all right,
Andrew, he's sitting right here.
George M. Davison (26:39):
We make your sand bunker experience memorable
.
All right, what is one projectthat you think your industry has
struggled with but you thinkwould elevate mankind the most?
Andrew Eich (26:51):
That's a great question.
I think that the miningindustry as a whole has suffered
reputational problems in thepast, and I think that it's got
a stigma a bit around being adirtier business, which is not
(27:13):
true in the case of Covia.
We have sites that recycle 98%of the water that we use.
We have solar farms that webuild outside of our sites to
produce electricity to power ourplants and, most importantly,
we're working on the nextgeneration of products that are
going to have a meaningfulenvironmental benefit for our
(27:37):
customers.
So a lot of the more advancedmaterials that we're producing
today are replacing materialsthat our customers are buying
from overseas.
That's important, because whenyou're mining something overseas
, you got to ship it all the wayto the US.
There's a lot of greenhouse gasemissions that come with sea
freight, and so finding ways toproduce the materials as close
(28:01):
as possible to the customersreduces the greenhouse gas
emissions associated with thatthe product, and so there's lots
of things that we do as anorganization to create a
positive environmental impact,and not just environmental.
Whenever we go into a location,our goal is to leave it in a
(28:22):
better place than when we foundit, and so mining reclamation is
a really important aspect ofwhat we do.
When we're done mining out thearea, we want to turn that into
a park or athletic fields orwhatever the town and the people
in the local community want usto turn it into.
We partner with them to createa unique space that is better
(28:46):
than when we found it.
George M. Davison (28:47):
You know it just makes good business sense
being a good steward right itdoes.
It actually helps the numbersand helps the company become
more strong.
It actually helps the numbersand helps the company become
more strong.
There's so many opportunitiesto just do the right thing and
then you benefit as a business.
The numbers get better, so allthe investors and whatnot are
happier as well.
(29:08):
I also look at it this way.
Now that you say mining has akind of a stigmatism to it In
the world I operate in, I don'treally think that way.
I'm in the world of innovation,it's what I do, it's all I
practically do, and one of thethings I know about it is that
it's messy.
When you go to create or invent, you know we create all these
(29:33):
crazy things and then all of asudden it's well, that's not
going to work, scrap this andscrap that, and before you know
it you're 10 to 20 to a hundredprototypes in and you're finally
getting to the right answer.
Well, all of this is all nowgarbage and scrap, right, but
eventually you get to that rightsolution.
It's kind of like that firstcomputer that was, you know,
(29:54):
invented.
It was like 10 times the sizeof this room Right, and now it's
kind of like that firstcomputer that was invented.
It was like 10 times the sizeof this room Right, and now it's
this little tiny thing that wecarry in our pocket and it's way
more powerful than the old days.
Exactly so the idea of diggingup minerals and having mines to
me it's a necessary ingredientto create the other good things
that we need in our lives,absolutely the other good things
(30:15):
that we need in our lives,absolutely.
I respect what you're saying.
It's great that you're workingon good environmental decisions,
getting sustainability.
It makes sense to have minesnear your customers because
transportation costs go down,etc.
Etc.
Exactly Business 101 stuff, butI don't really think of it as
messy.
I just think it's just part ofa process that we need to have
(30:37):
that we go through and then weget more efficient as we go at
it.
Absolutely.
Andrew Eich (30:41):
And it is messy and it can be messy.
I think the most importantthing is that companies like
Covea and our industry peers, wedo it the right way, and you do
it because it makes goodbusiness sense, but I also like
to think that we do it becauseit's also just the right thing
to do.
Yes, and I think that a lot ofcompanies who operate in our
(31:03):
space work really hard to do theright thing and create.
You know, we, our minds, areoperating in very remote places
in some cases and so in manycases, we are the only employer
in that area cases, we are theonly employer in that area.
So we're creating jobs andcreating a vibrant local economy
, which is important to us andit's important to the people
(31:24):
that are affected.
Way to go.
George M. Davison (31:26):
Thank you.
All right, let's see here.
I think we have.
This is the last big question.
Okay, what do you think is thenext big innovation in your
industry?
Andrew Eich (31:38):
What do you think is the next big innovation in
your industry?
Yeah, I think the next biginnovation is going to be for so
I would break that into twocomponents.
In our specific industry, weare going to continue to push
(32:01):
the envelope of what theminerals can do for our
customers and so marryingtogether our process technology
with other chemistries to create, you know, ultra fine particles
that can be used as functionalfillers for paints and plastics
or coating those materials togive them, you know, brand new
benefits and features in ourcustomers process.
We'll continue to innovatealong that way, I think, and so
that's product innovation for us.
I think the next big innovationinternally and in our company is
(32:25):
we are going to continue tofigure out how to do more with
less, and what I mean by that is, I mentioned we have a site in
Wisconsin that recycles over 90%of its water.
We've got the technology andthe know-how to do that, and in
places that are stressed forwater, that technology is very
(32:47):
important.
So we'll continue to invest inthat technology and bring that
to bear across our company.
We'll look for ways to automateprocess, because that creates
more efficiencies and reorientour teams and our people toward
the more complex areas of ourbusiness.
That's a big innovation for usas well.
George M. Davison (33:10):
Well, thank you for being here with us today
.
Thanks for having me, andrew,it was a real joy, and thanks
for sharing being a mentor toall of our audience out us today
.
Thanks for having me, andrew,it was a real joy, and thanks
for sharing being a mentor toall of our audience out there
today.
All right, everybody.
Well, thank you.
Steven Ruffing (33:26):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
Join us next time as wecontinue to explore the worlds
of inspiration, creation,innovation and production.
Discover more attomorrowsworldtodaycom.
Connect with us on social mediaat TWT.
Explore and find us whereverpodcasts are available.
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