91. Passion and Excellence Personified with Ty Haguewood
Release Date: 11/05/2025
102. He Borrowed $1M to Save His Team: Gary Poesnecker with Spectrum Machine & Design
Machine Shop Mastery
Some machine shop owners talk about people-first leadership. Few are willing to put everything on the line to prove it. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Gary Poesnecker, founder of Spectrum Machine & Design, whose leadership was tested when the world shut down. Faced with collapsing demand during COVID, Gary made a decision most owners wouldn’t: he borrowed over $1 million to keep his team employed and protect the tribal knowledge inside his shop. That moment didn’t happen in isolation. It was the result of decades of experience across precision grinding,...
info_outline
101. Extreme Specialization: The Strategy Behind a 123-Person Gear Company
Machine Shop Mastery
Most machine shops grow by adding capabilities, chasing new markets, and saying “yes” as often as possible. Forest City Gear took the opposite path — and built a 123-person company by doing it. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Kika Young, President of Forest City Gear, to unpack how extreme specialization became the company’s competitive advantage. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, Forest City Gear made the intentional decision to focus almost exclusively on one thing: high-precision, loose gears. That focus reshaped everything — from who...
info_outline
100. Collective Wisdom: Best Ideas from the First 99 Episodes of Machine Shop Mastery
Machine Shop Mastery
Reaching 100 episodes is more than a milestone. It’s a moment to step back and recognize what’s been built together. In this special compilation episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I reflect on the most powerful ideas, lessons, and human stories that emerged from the first 99 conversations with shop owners and manufacturing leaders across the industry. When this podcast started, I thought we were chasing a simple question: what makes great shops great? What became clear over time is that we weren’t really talking about machines or parts at all. We were talking about responsibility,...
info_outline
99. Love God, Love People, and Make Chips: The Visionary Leadership of Bill Cox
Machine Shop Mastery
Some manufacturing businesses grow because of timing, technology, or market opportunity. Others endure because of values. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Bill Cox of Cox Manufacturing, a nearly 70-year-old family business whose legacy was forged through resilience, faith, and an unwavering commitment to people. Bill shares the remarkable origin story of Cox Manufacturing, which began with a single Swiss machine purchased at auction in the 1950s and grew into a high-volume precision operation shipping millions of parts each week. Along the way, the company played a...
info_outline
98. Behind the Scenes of a Top Shop with Jayme Rahz
Machine Shop Mastery
What does a truly dialed-in machine shop look like behind the scenes? In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Jayme Rahz of Midway Swiss Turn, one of the most intentional and well-run shops I’ve come across. I met Jayme at the Top Shops Conference, where Midway Swiss Turn was recognized for Shop Floor Best Practices, and after this conversation, it’s easy to see why. Jayme shares the full origin story of the business, which started in a garage with her father-in-law and grew into a highly automated Swiss-focused operation in Ohio. Over more than two decades, the shop...
info_outline
97. The Human Side of Hard Businesses: Culture, Trust, and Long-Term Leadership
Machine Shop Mastery
Staying in business for decades requires more than machines, processes, and good customers.In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Bonnie and Ken Kuhn of Kuhn Tool, a multi-generation, family-owned shop in northwest Pennsylvania that has quietly endured for more than six decades. What makes this conversation special isn’t just the longevity of the business, but the way Bonnie and Ken have built it together. From surviving offshoring waves and major customer losses to steadily growing from a handful of employees into a thriving operation, their story is rooted in...
info_outline
96. From Pole Barn to Precision Powerhouse: Shane Grant’s 10-Year Shop Journey
Machine Shop Mastery
In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I finally sit down with Shane Grant from Machining Momentum, a guest I’ve been hoping to have on the show for a long time. Shane has spent the last decade building his shop from the ground up, literally starting in a backyard pole barn and growing it into a precision-focused operation that’s now hitting its stride in a new industrial facility. What makes Shane’s story compelling isn’t just the growth, but how intentionally it happened. He shares how early exposure to machining through a family business, followed by experience in automotive,...
info_outline
95. Why Clean Floors, Strong Culture & High-End Machines Drive Valuation
Machine Shop Mastery
One of the questions I think about constantly is what actually makes a machine shop valuable. Not just today, but five, ten, or even twenty years down the road. It’s easy to point to machines, revenue, or backlog, but the real drivers of long-term value usually run much deeper. That’s exactly why I wanted to sit down with Jamie Goettler, Chief Revenue Officer of BTX Precision, for this episode of Machine Shop Mastery. BTX Precision is one of the fastest-growing advanced manufacturing platforms in the country. Jamie brings a rare blend of perspectives to the conversation. With more than two...
info_outline
94. How Losing a Machine Shop Led to Gabe Draper’s Calling
Machine Shop Mastery
Some conversations stay with you long after you hit “stop” on the recorder—and my time with Gabe Draper is absolutely one of them. I’ve known Gabe for years, but I never fully understood the depth of the journey he endured as he attempted to take over, stabilize, and ultimately shut down the family machine shop. His story isn’t just informative; it’s gut-wrenching, enlightening, and, ultimately, incredibly redemptive. In this episode, Gabe walks me through the emotional roller coaster of trying to save a failing shop, the painful impact of relying too heavily on one industry,...
info_outline
93. A Builder at Heart Pivots and Buys a Machine Shop
Machine Shop Mastery
Buying a machine shop is never simple — and for Matt Fortner, it was a leap into the unknown. Coming from backgrounds in plumbing, industrial fittings, product development, and even scrap metal buying, Matt felt a pull to get back to “building something real.” That pull led him to Progress Machining in Muskegon, Michigan — a shop he became the fifth person to attempt purchasing. Once inside, Matt quickly realized how much transformation the business needed. The shop was filled with aging machines, tribal knowledge, and 60 tons of accumulated scrap and unused tooling. Setups stretched...
info_outlineAs a host, I’ve met hundreds of shop owners, but every once in a while, I meet someone whose story stops me in my tracks. Ty Haguewood, General Manager and CFO of Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (MTI) and Stone Mather Designs (SMD), is one of those people.
Ty didn’t grow up in manufacturing—he was a finance professional who took a random tour of a machine shop six years ago and walked out forever changed. What started as curiosity became a calling. Today, Ty helps lead two growing businesses north of Albuquerque, New Mexico—one serving precision aerospace customers and the other crafting custom lighting for major franchises like Planet Fitness and Dairy Queen.
In our conversation, Ty shares how he built his career from the ground up, starting in shipping and ordering tools to eventually running operations and financials for both companies. We talk about leadership, retention, culture, and the power of humility and self-awareness in business. Ty’s perspective on intentional leadership, work-life balance, and developing people is something every manufacturing leader can learn from.
This isn’t just a story about machining—it’s about purpose, people, and personal transformation. Ty’s passion and discipline prove that excellence isn’t something you inherit. It’s something you choose, build, and refine every day.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
- (0:00) Why Ty Haguewood represents passion and excellence in machining
- (3:02) You’ll get honesty and transparency when you work with Phoenix Heat Treating
- (4:09) Learn more about Manufacturing Technologies Inc. and Stone Mather Designs
- (9:16) Ty’s unique background and what led him to MTI and SMD
- (16:25) Retaining talent: Creating a culture of humanity and intentional leadership
- (19:35) Implementing quarterly reviews and bonuses tied to performance metrics
- (20:53) The impact of shifting to four 10-hour workdays on morale and productivity
- (22:15) Guarding culture through selective hiring and investing in loyal employees
- (23:50) Balancing formal systems with organic leadership
- (25:00) Lessons learned from overcomplicating processes and simplifying systems
- (27:46) The “data or people” revelation that changed MTI’s approach
- (29:47) Ty’s hiring philosophy: Culture over credentials
- (34:10) Scaling leadership by developing leaders beneath you
- (35:31) Ty’s favorite success story—a McDonald’s employee turned machinist
- (38:04) Workholding Wisdom with SMW Autoblok: Setup Reduction
- (48:10) Paul’s KFC story and discussion on unconventional manufacturing talent
- (50:50) Training at MTI: shadowing, job progression, and learning by doing
- (55:33) Standardization, tooling, and why transparency boosts performance
- (59:13) Balancing data and humanity in leadership
- (1:01:38) Ty’s challenge to leaders: Take the time to become someone worth following
- (1:07:04) Facing failure, learning from hardship, and rebuilding with integrity
- (1:09:12) Company-level challenges: losing half the staff and rebuilding stronger
- (1:10:53) Growth, transparency, and leadership capacity limits
- (1:11:52) Why authentic leadership is manufacturing’s future
- (1:17:05) Why you should use Hire MFG Leaders for your next hire
Resources & People Mentioned
- You’ll get honesty and transparency when you work with Phoenix Heat Treating
- Achieve setup reduction with SMW Autoblok workholding
- Why you should use Hire MFG Leaders for your next hire
Connect with Ty Haguewood
Connect With Machine Shop Mastery
Subscribe to Machine Shop Mastery on
Audio Production and Show Notes by - PODCAST FAST TRACK