Plan for Success E132

Gary Hutchison worked his way up the corporate ladder before fulfilling his dream of owning his own business. He bought SSI Manufacturing in 2007 and throughout his years of experience he has learned the importance of having the right team and support system. He has also learned the importance of effective communication and adapting to the changing circumstances of running a business.

Tune in to hear about the lessons Gary has learned about running a business and how the recent changes have affected small business.

SSI Manufacturing Technologies is a contract manufacturer of CNC precision machined parts, components and assemblies. The company is AS9100 Rev D and ISO 9001:2015 certified, registered with the US State Department and ITAR Compliant, is a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and has been granted a Federal Firearms License by the BATF.

SSI is known for it’s expertise in manufacturing parts with complex geometries held to very close tolerances even when machining parts from the ‘exotic’ corrosion resistant, extreme temperature, and high strength materials such as Inconel, Monel, Duplex Stainless Steel, Titanium and many others.

Primary markets served are Aerospace (Including the rapidly growing Space segement), Defense, Firearms, Subsea Oil and Gas, and specialty Automotive. SSI’s customers in these markets flow down blueprints, Solid Models, Work Instructions and other information which provide the specifications and tolerances for the parts to be machined, the type of material to be used when manufacturing the part, and if any non-machining processes are required such as Heat Treat, Anodize, Platings or other types of Protective Finishes.

Penny and Gary Hutchison acquired SSI Manufacturing Technologies as a going concern in 2007. They are the third owners of the company since it was founded over 50 years ago. When purchasing SSI, Penny became the majority shareholder with Gary owning the rest of the stock of the company. When the youngest of their five children graduated High School a few years later, Penny began working at SSI in several different capacities and now is Chief Executive Officer.

Gary obtained his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!). Upon graduation, he joined the Kimberly-Clark Corporation at a large forest products, pulp and paper mill in Alabama as a Financial Analyst. Kimberly-Clark’s Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer maintained an office and primary residence at that location and two years later Gary was invited to become a member of his Staff. Over the next 10 years, Gary held a variety of Marketing, Product Management, and Corporate Strategic Planning roles and assignments in Atlanta, GA and Dayton, OH.

In 1994, Gary joined Champion International, a global manufacturer of printing, writing and publication papers and moved with his family to Connecticut, where he and Penny still live. In 2001, Champion was acquired by International Paper and Gary was offered and accepted a Division General Management position with IP to merge two separate Engineered Wood Products facilities (Calgary, Alberta and Birmingham, AL into one unit.

Still, Gary had always wanted to own and manage a manufacturing company at some point in his career, and also to be in a position to determine major decisions that affected his family, especially as the downsizing and consolidation in the Paper and Forest Products industries accelerated. This eventually led to the purchase of SSI Manufacturing Technologies in 2007.

Connect with Gary on LinkedIn.

About the Show

Tycoons of Small Biz spotlights the true backbone of the American economy, the true tycoons of business in America… the owners, founders and CEO’s of small businesses. Join hosts,  Austin L Peterson, Landon Mance and the featured tycoons LIVE every Tuesday at 1 pm, right here on Business RadioX and your favorite podcast platform.

About Your Hosts

Austin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.

He began his career in financial services in the year 2000 as a personal financial advisor with Independent Capital Management in Santa Ana, CA. Austin then joined Pacific Life Insurance Company as an internal wholesaler for their variable annuity and mutual fund products. After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.

After he completed his MBA, Austin joined Crump Life Insurance where he filled a couple of different sales roles and eventually a management role throughout the five years he was with Crump. Most recently before joining Lincoln Financial Advisors in February 2015, Austin spent 2 years as a life insurance field wholesaler with Symetra Life Insurance Company. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner Professional and Chartered Life Underwriter. In 2021, Austin became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses.

Austin and his wife of 23 years, Robin, have two children, AJ (21) and Ella (18) and they reside in Gilbert, Arizona. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in French and of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sales and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He rebranded his practice in 2020 to focus on serving small business owners after operating as Mance Wealth Management since 2015 when Landon broke off from a major bank and started his own “shop.”

Landon comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has a passion and excitement for serving the business community. This passion is what brought about the growth of Backbone Planning Partners to help business owners and their families. At Backbone Planning, we believe small business owners’ personal and business goals are intertwined, so we work with our clients to design a financial plan to support all aspects of their lives.

In 2019, Landon obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation through the Exit Planning Institute. With this certification, Backbone Planning Partners assists business owners through an ownership transition while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees and meeting the business owner’s goals. Landon is also a member of the Business Intelligence Institute (BII) which is a collaborative group that shares tools, resources and personnel, and offers advanced level training and technical support to specifically serve business owners. In 2021, Landon became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses by counseling owners about exit options, estimating the value of the business, preparing the business for exit and tax considerations.

Landon enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, stepson, and new baby twins. He grew up in sunny San Diego and loves visiting his family, playing a round of golf with friends, and many other outdoor activities. Landon tries to make a difference in the lives of children in Las Vegas as a part of the leadership team for a local non-profit. He regularly visits the children that we work with to remind himself of why it’s so important to, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.