![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Mowry_Jack3-683x1024.jpg\")
On paper, Jack Mowry\u2019s two companies, Metal Craft in Elk River, Minn. and Riverside Machine and Engineering in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., employ around 225 people.<\/p>\nOn paper, Jack Mowry\u2019s two companies, Metal Craft in Elk River, Minn. and Riverside Machine and Engineering in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., employ around 225 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we think of it as 225 families,\u201d says Jack, \u201971 Engineering Drafting & Design. \u201cWe have all these families who depend on us to do our jobs, and we depend on them to do their jobs. We all work together to make a nice living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack is now semi-retired, helping his children Sean and Trisha, the current owners, learn the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever completely leave the business,\u201d says Jack. \u201cI\u2019ll always be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack grew up in Pine City, Minn. and Howard City, S.D., with eight brothers and sisters. When a high school teacher gently told Jack he wasn\u2019t cut out for industrial engineering, he didn\u2019t listen. Instead, when he heard that Dunwoody was offering a six-month tool and die program to help meet an urgent industry need, he enrolled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning of the course they told us they\u2019d make sure that the top half of the class got jobs, and that the bottom half was on their own,\u201d remembers Jack, though he suspects that nearly everyone got jobs anyway. \u201cDunwoody gave me confidence. When I left there I had no doubt I could do whatever I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, when he wanted to learn more about designing parts to take on more responsible work for his employer, he completed Dunwoody\u2019s mechanical design program.<\/p>\n
Confident that he could do even more challenging work, in 1978 Jack returned to machining and founded Metal Craft in a 200 square-foot basement with just a couple of milling machines and a saw. Shortly thereafter, the stakes went up considerably when the company bought its first CNC (Computer Numeric Control) milling machine at a cost of $39,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was more than I paid for my house,\u201d says Jack.<\/p>\n
Since then, his shops have evolved dramatically and kept up with emerging technology. In 1996, Jack acquired Riverside Engineering\u00a0 <\/span>in Chippewa Falls from Cray Research.<\/p>\n \u201cThe change in the equipment since I started is so dramatic,\u201d explains Jack. \u201cToday we machine with laser, wire and water. The changes are just phenomenal. It\u2019s like going from the dark ages to now.\u201d<\/p>\n About 25 percent of the business is involved with aerospace and defense manufacturing, and 75 percent is machining close-tolerance parts for surgical instruments and implants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work we do is complex in more ways than one,\u201d says Jack. \u201cWe have to trace every step of the job to ensure that we haven\u2019t added any new chemicals or processes without notifying the customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, engineers are involved in all steps of production, from quoting to processing to inspection.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest part of being in business is getting good, qualified people who can help you,\u201d says Jack. \u201cWhat upsets me most is that we don\u2019t have enough women applying for these machining and engineering jobs. Some think that it\u2019s a dirty, grimy job, but it\u2019s not.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s a clean job, and you don\u2019t have to bow your head to anybody, because it\u2019s an occupation that will always keep you employed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet Jack Mowry, \u201948 Engineering Drafting & Design Technology On paper, Jack Mowry\u2019s two companies, Metal Craft in Elk River, Minn. and Riverside Machine and Engineering in Chippewa Falls, Wisc., employ around 225 people. \u201cBut we think of it as 225 families,\u201d says Jack, \u201971 Engineering Drafting & Design. \u201cWe have all these families who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-and-friends"],"yoast_head":"\n