In 1993, the consensus forecast for industrial production in the United States was a 3% increase. This was more than double the growth in 1992, but still below historical standards.
In 1993, I was approached by several of the CEOs I had worked with on the AEA Board. They wanted me to open a consulting practice and they had projects lined up to upgrade their HR functions. It was a group of 6 companies with projects and timelines that were doable. The Reagan Build-up had ended and Defense Companies were being consolidated.
I had selected my corporate jobs to learn everything I would need to know to lead Personnel Functions and end my career as an independent consultant. My time had arrived. I called an old friend I worked with at Monsanto and who had started his own consulting practice. He suggested that I file my taxes as a Sole Proprietor. I decided to office at home and go to customer sites as needed. bought a Gateway PC, a Honeywell Printer, Scanner Fax Machine and a lightening arrestor. I used floppy discs to make copies of policies, affirmative action plans and other documents for customers. I rented a PO box to receive resume responses for recruiting. I filed my own quarterly taxes and as a Sole Proprietor could deduct my basement office square footage, mileage, recruiting ad costs and other expense. I used my home phone number, had an answering machine and was available 24/7 to customer calls. I billed my time like a Law Firm. I didn’t have rent expenses. I had no employees. I made no sales calls. All of my 46 customer companies were referrals. I would screen referrals when they called. If I determined that I could help, I would meet with them, give them my Confidentiality Agreement and have them sign my Consulting Agreement. If I determine that I couldn’t help I would refer them to those who could.
Marlene was working as a Dental Hygienist and enjoyed it. The kids were age 18 to 28. 3 of the kids were married and 3 were in college.
My first job was to re-do their Compensation Plan for L-3, a defense contractor. I identified their need to use better Design Software that included the Bill of Material to save cost and errors. Next, companies wanted my generic policy manual and affirmative action plans, some wanted engineering recruiting. I wrote job postings to include what they would work on and what tools they would use. I led recruiting efforts, screened resumes and participated in interviews. I served on several acquisition teams, recruited for new start-ups, did post-acquisition work, I upgraded their Compensation Systems. I solved production bottlenecks and recommended automation solutions. I handled terminations and hiring plans and resolved sexual harassment issues. I implemented ISO 9000 Quality and Lean Manufacturing. I handled regulatory compliance including OSHA and avoided Discrimination Cases.
I had a base of clients that were permanent. I was “on call” at Venture Engineering, American Signal, Fire Arms Training Systems, Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Missile Systems. I had long assignments at Scientific Atlanta, Boeing Missile Systems, Peachtree Doors, North American Packaging, Timber Jack, Scientific Resources and Rockwell Collins. I was called to assess operations a Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana Tx.
I continued to serve as HR Chair for AEA and wrote the AEA Position Paper on Hilary-Care. I wrote a weekly column for Computer Currents. I chaired the IEEE Convention Program on “loose electronics”. I resigned from MAHTPA and HRMA, because I was a Consultant and I had denied entry to consultants for these groups when I wrote their bi-laws. I also served as Manufacturing Chair for AEA and wrote their ISO 9000 Quality Manual for AEA.
I retired in 2017 at age 74 and had prepared my client companies for my retirement by training their existing employees.
In 2017, manufacturing accounted for 11.18% of the US GDP, or $2,192.93 billion. At the same time, manufacturing employment was 8% of total employment in the US.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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