On a cold winter’s morning in 2014, Jordan Owens and Gerry Nejman met for breakfast at Bob Evans in Independence, Ohio. They discussed how, with the impetus that’s being placed on high schoolers to go to college, there would be a shortage of hands-on skilled workers in about ten years. With the outflux of automotive, steel, and aerospace companies from the Cleveland area, there were plenty of well-trained engineers, managers, and craftsmen who were now sitting on the sidelines. The decision was made to form a partnership who could match manufacturing needs with old-time part-time help. They would focus on drawing, programming, tool design, machine operation and repair, and project management. Those folks who were semi-retired, earlier in their careers than they expected, would jump on the chance to work a few months per year. That was the original plan.
The partners applied for their LLC from the State of Ohio and received their certificate on April 1st, 2015 – April Fools’ Day. A harbinger of future results? Not at all. The cast of characters who filled the roster were ex CEO’s, VP’s of Ops, VP’s of Materials, Senior Engineers, Plant Managers, and technical supermen. The partners learned quickly that younger blood wanted to become part of the team. To date, thirty talented people have loaned their skills to MRN.
A shift came in the sweet spot of their assignments. MRN was filling the need for temporary management personnel as much as the need for technical help. Private Equity firms began to use MRN regularly to plug a spot when they added or subtracted businesses from their holdings. MRN bridged the gap for many PE purchases to keep a plant operating efficiently during transitional days. MRN engineers helped to install corporate quality systems for the new acquisitions and manufacturing engineers reallocated equipment to create enhanced work cells.
So, what’s next for the almost-70-year-old partners? GROW MRN!!! The goal is to double in size within the next three years. What can we do for you?
If you’ve never worked with MRN, see our website at www.mfgrn.com, contact us through Linked In, or give us a call at 216-212-5676 or 440-915-7281.
Thanks for reading our story.
Jordan and Gerry
