Growing a Manufacturing Business Across Three Generations w/ Greg Hartwig
Greg Hartwig, a third-generation vice president at Hartwig Inc., a St. Louis-based machine tool distributor, discusses the evolution of his family business from a one-man service operation in 1960 to a 200-employee company with seven locations. He details the challenges of transitioning leadership to the third generation, emphasizing a conservative financial strategy that avoided layoffs during economic downturns and fostered a culture of accountability and mutual respect. Hartwig also outlines the company's strategic pivot into additive manufacturing and industrial automation, highlighting the difficulties of adapting their traditional sales force to these new technologies and the growing demand for high-tech, multi-axis machining support.