Business is always shifting. Economic trends change, technology evolves, and generational workforces move in and out. The one thing companies can always be sure of is adversity. So how do companies manage all the chaos? With today's supply chain issues, more people exiting the workforce than ever before, and the war for talent at an all-time high, how do business leaders possibly keep up with company culture and better yet, ensure they're making a profit?

There was so much promise for the post-pandemic economy—especially for the manufacturing sector. Many organizations continue to see an unprecedented surge in demand for their products—levels the economy hasn’t seen for 40 years. For many, it’s been a struggle to keep up with customer orders. It’s like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant to keep up with this kind of growth. The forecasts continue to look strong, too, as retailers and dealers increasingly look to insource and onshore production from overseas. The future of manufacturing in the U.S. looks brighter than it has in decades. Yet, there’s a catch. Manufacturers now have emerging pain points to contend with. Supply chains are stretched to their limits. Ships lay docked outside ports while there aren’t enough trucks or drivers to cart products away. Millions of dollars of finished goods may sit in warehouses for months awaiting parts worth mere dollars.

Common Challenges for Leadership Common challenges that leaders face across industries include: Technology Labor (recruiting, training, retention) Buying and selling businesses All three of these challenges become increasingly cumbersome as we continue to move through the 2020s. Many businesses have not yet come to terms with the fact that they need to invest in technology to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. Other businesses are too familiar with the labor issues that are haunting many companies around the world. Meanwhile, there are leaders nearing retirement age who are considering “getting out now" rather than in a few years, and there are leaders on the other side of that coin looking for businesses to scoop up as a growth strategy. And if these are just the common challenges, aren't there even more when you break it down further? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

In October 2019, Rick Hedden retired from SRC after 36 years. He was 59 years old. At the time, his shares in the company’s ESOP plan were worth seven figures. But the lessons he learned from playing the Great Game of Business over his career at SRC might be even more valuable. It helped him live his version of the American Dream. Here is his story.

Inspired to diversify their employee-owned business, Malco Products has revived an abandoned factory and its iconic brand from the bottom up. The U.S. has been bleeding manufacturing jobs for decades. Back in 1980, for example, more than one-third of men with a high school degree worked in the manufacturing sector . But those numbers soon began a rapid decline fueled by a combination of factors ranging from the rise in automation and rising competition with nations like China to an increase in the so-called “skills gap” that left many manufacturing jobs unfilled due to a lack of workers qualified to fill those openings. That’s why, today, manufacturing jobs make up about 8% of total employment , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.