Episode 41: An Interview with Holly Gottfredson, Finishing Dynamics, American Metalcraft Inc.

In this latest installment of Products Finishing’s On the Line interview column, we’re delving into the subject of workforce and touching on such topics as gender roles in manufacturing, and the importance of education in fostering a workforce for the future of the industry. Holly Gottfredson, president of two companies involved in manufacturing for the architectural market (American Metalcraft Inc. and Finishing Dynamics), recently took some time out of her busy schedule to talk with PF about her work running these companies and as an advocate for manufacturing education.

PF: Give us a little background about American Metalcraft Inc. and Finishing Dynamics, the history of the companies and the work that they do.

HG: American Metalcraft was started in 1986. My father-in-law was a structural engineer and started the company as a small fabrication shop near Atlanta. Over the years, it grew from a local shop into a national presence. We now have a 38-year presence and track record as a leader in the architectural metal industry, and we’re really proud of that. In 2004, we started our sister company, Finishing Dynamics, which was also initially started by my father-in-law. He saw a niche especially in the southeast for a coating company. We initially had two facilities and then in 2007-2008, when the market tended to dip way down, we decided to combine those facilities. It really turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we were able to save our customers money on shipping in between the two facilities, as well as have everything under one roof so we control the quality from start to finish.

We typically do metal coatings sometimes for other fabricators as well as our own material, and then we do fab-finish packages. Under the American Metalcraft brand, we do everything from start to finish. We work with the architect, we do design assist, we also offer engineering, fabrication and finishing under that brand.

PF: What are Finishing Dynamics’ capabilities and what markets do you serve?

HG: Under the coating umbrella, we typically work within the southeast. Our customers tend to be other fabricators that may do roofing products, awnings, they may also do architectural metal, they may need flat sheet, all types of different aluminum products and we provide all types of PVDF coatings as far as finishes — micas, metallics, two-tones, standard and custom colors. We’ve always had mix and match capabilities in house, but in 2021, we upgraded to the latest and greatest in technology and are able to match roughly up to 60% of colors that are required for jobs, which really helps us on lead times and offer as much as we can to our customer base.

Also, on that side [Finishing Dynamics], if a fabricator that we're painting for needs additional help with a job that they’re working on, and they want us to not only finish some products for them, but help to fabricate, we can do that as well.

PF: How did you get into manufacturing and finishing?

HG: I get that question a lot. It wasn’t my childhood dream, nor did I even really understand that there were career opportunities, especially for women in these types of fields.

I grew up in rural Alabama  in the ‘70s when the career opportunities for women were limited. I moved to Atlanta at the age of 10, went to the University of Georgia and graduated with an art history degree. Even while I was thinking about choosing my career, none of those career opportunities that were in the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) space or manufacturing were really ever presented to me, I was never exposed to those opportunities.

So, I was in the art world, assuming that I was going to be a curator and be on that path for the rest of my life when I met my husband. We got married and shortly after that I left the museum world, I worked at the High Museum of Art for about three years, and went into marketing and advertising. As I learned more about metal fabrication and metal finishing, I learned that it was such a creative field and really an artistic one at that. I had never really looked at manufacturing and construction through that lens.

My husband and my father-in-law gave me the opportunity to share my marketing and advertising skills, and do some work with the companies on a contract basis. As I made more trips down to the shop and talked to more people that were on the team, I really wanted to jump in headfirst.

I started out part time, moved to a full time position, then moved up into different leadership roles. I'm so thankful I had so many wonderful mentors on the shop floor. As you can imagine, 20 years ago, when this was all kind of taking place, there were not many women at all involved in this field. The men that were there on the floor, were welcoming and were happy to answer the questions I had and to show me the different processes and the different tools and machines that they were using to build all this beautiful stuff.

As I moved up, I learned more and more and saw the opportunity to really step out in faith and take ownership. In 2017, I purchased American Metalcraft from my family, and then in 2021, I purchased our sister company Finishing Dynamics.

I'm really excited to offer two companies that are now both WBE (Women Business Enterprise) certified. It’s kind of a personal mission for me to get out there in the world and talk to the next generation, especially women and girls, about all of the career opportunities available in manufacturing. I think we’ve made some definite progress in the right direction in the last two decades, but I think there’s so much more work to be done.

PF: Can you talk a bit about the roles of women in manufacturing — and specifically in finishing — and how it’s changed in recent years?

HG: There are plenty of organizations now that are supporting women, whereas 20 years ago — especially in manufacturing — that was not the case. There’s an organization called Women in Manufacturing (WiM) that supports women in all different types of manufacturing industries from aerospace to architectural to fashion manufacturing — there are a variety of manufacturing careers that are represented within that organization. They provide support for those that are currently in those careers, as well as having an initiative to do outreach to the next generation.

And that’s very different than the world I grew up in. In the ‘70s, and ‘80s, you didn’t see programs like STEM, and shop class for a very long time had pretty much disappeared from public education. We’re starting to see a shift where educators are rethinking that. There’s another organization called She Built This City that reaches out to rural and underserved communities to talk about the importance of the skilled trades in the workforce. I love that their focus is on young women and girls and really starting to educate them early about those opportunities.

PF: As we talk about these roles, I think it’s important to talk about the manufacturing landscape and the current state of the workforce, which continues to be a challenge for manufacturers. What are your thoughts on workforce trends today? And what do you want young people — and women in particular — to understand about the kind of job opportunities that are available in manufacturing and finishing?

HG: I think one of the things that employers really have to think about is the adaptability that we need to have when we’re looking to attract the next generation and in particular, women, and what’s important to them. That’s been something that we’ve really been keeping our eye on the last several years. Something that I’ve learned through working with organizations like Women in Finishing, She Built This City and [The Chemical Coater’s Association International’s] Finishing Education Foundation is that as we have those conversations about how are we going to get the workforce to continue to look at manufacturing and the industrial space, there are so many careers that young people today can choose from. It’s almost overwhelming. And, a lot of times careers in these [manufacturing] spaces get lost in the white noise of computer science and robotics and some of the more traditional career paths [such as] accounting, law and teaching. So, how do we attract that talent? How do we let them know that there are these career paths and opportunities here?

One of the ways I think that we do that effectively is by looking at the benefits that we offer and what’s important to that next generation. For example, we took a survey within a couple of the nonprofit groups that I belong to about benefits and what’s going to be important to attract the next generation — and in particular, women. One of those takeaways was paid maternity and paternity leave. I think [those kinds of benefits] are a huge plus for people that are entering the workforce. As recent graduates, maybe they’re not exactly sure what path they want to be in — they can look at manufacturing and see we have free health care, we have a 401 K plan, we have a career path and we have growth opportunities.

This isn’t the picture of manufacturing that people had in their head from the 1940s anymore. This is an industry that’s on the cutting edge of innovation and new technology. I always think about how we’ve got to make manufacturing sexy again. We’ve really got to get the word out that there are wonderful opportunities here and great ways to succeed and have a fulfilling career in this space.

PF: Tell us about some of the educational initiatives you’re involved in.

HG: There are so many organizations that can help. One in particular is the Finishing Education Foundation, which was founded by the Chemical Coater Association International (CCAI).It exposes students aged 11 to 17 to the world of manufacturing and offers them all types of education. They have online classes that people who are interested in the finishing world can take.

There’s a wealth of information out there provided by organizations like the Finishing Education Foundation, the National Association of Women in Construction, She Built This City, and Women in Manufacturing. I think that it’s wonderful that we have those resources out there for those women that may not feel like they’re fully equipped, because maybe it’s not the field that they studied in college.

I’m a living example of that — art history is about as far away as you can get from metal manufacturing. But, that real world education that I received on the floor, and getting involved in these organizations, meeting other professionals and asking them questions — having that attitude of walking into a career that maybe you don’t know a whole lot about, but you’re really interested in is really going to help you achieve success.

PF: As you look at trends in the industry, what do you anticipate the years ahead have in store?

HG: There’s been a lot of discussion around AI, and there’s been some anxiety and some fear around that. However, I think it’s going to be something that will work in tandem with some of our current processes [and] be a nice addition to what we’re already achieving. It’s going to accelerate our ability to serve our customer base and the design community. Overall in manufacturing, I expect to see that AI will replace simple tasks and free up the human counterparts to focus on more complex tasks that really need their eyes, ears and talents. It’s going to make [us] more productive, more efficient and faster. We’ve already been seeing [this shift] the last 24 months, but I think it’s going to accelerate in the next three years.

I think there’s going to be a lot of innovation in manufacturing — we’re seeing all types of 3D printing for building and construction and I think we’re going to see growth in that sector, as well as modular construction. People will come up with and create more efficient ways to basically have project delivery come to fruition. And that’s exciting. Those of us who are early adopters of some of that technology will not only benefit from it, but we’ll be able to continue to grow our teams and our leadership in teaching them about those different techniques and the new technology that’s out there.