Lori Tapani, co-owner and co-president of Wyoming Machine in Stacy, Minnesota, joins The Fabricator Podcast to discuss what it means to think differently when running a small manufacturing business.

Alongside her sister, Traci Tapani, she has led the more than 50-year-old company for over three decades, following a unique succession plan that transitioned leadership from their father.

A longtime FMA member and vice chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council, Tapani also brings a small business perspective to broader industry and policy discussions.

She shares how their approach to leadership, culture, and growth has evolved, and how their job shop operates across diverse industries. A major focus is workforce development, including partnerships with local communities and technical schools to attract and train the next generation, an effort recognized nationally with the W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award.

Email us at podcast@fmamfg.org with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

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Lisa Wertzbaugher of Iowa-based metal fabrication shop Wertzbaugher Services returns to the podcast to discuss the realities of running a small manufacturing business and offer practical advice for shop owners.

She shares lessons on planning, investing in equipment, building a sales strategy, training a workforce, and using data to evaluate risk.

Wertzbaugher also discusses the value of hiring younger workers and knowing when to move on from approaches that aren’t working.

Her company specializes in custom welding, steel fabrication, equipment repair, and material-handling products such as racks and baskets, along with trailer and farm equipment repair.

Email us at podcast@fmamfg.org with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

We’re joined by Chicago-based metal artist Eric W. Stephenson, founder of LunaBurn Studio and a fifth-generation craftsman. In addition to his own extensive career creating metal sculpture, Stephenson spent the final 23 years of Richard Hunt’s life working alongside the legendary artist, helping bring ambitious abstract metal sculptures to life.

Stephenson talks about how Hunt’s career spanned more than 70 years and helped shape American metal sculpture, from his early civil rights–era work—including his response to the murder of Emmett Till—to major public commissions. His work appears in collections at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Stephenson reflects on the craft, the collaboration, and what it means to help carry forward Hunt’s life’s work today through the Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation.

Email us at podcast@fmamfg.org with any comments, questions, or suggestions.