Made in America with Ari Santiago

In this episode we welcome Stephen Mazzarelli, Partner at Commercial Sewing, the manufacturer of the Outer Armor brand of covers for recreational vehicles in the power sport and marine industries.   Stephen talks to Ari about their family-owned business and how they have successfully transitioned from traditional hand-craftsmanship to modern technology so they can remain competitive (and thrive!) in today's international manufacturing ecosystem.   The transition required their craftsmen to pivot to learning new machines. Luckily, most of their employees viewed the changes as a positive step, and were able to learn new skills and grow together in order to remain competitive.   Stephen talks about the company's pride for innovation - especially in their engineering capabilities. And he discusses the valuable relationships they have built with OEMs.   Finally, Ari and Stephen also talk about EOS - the Entrepreneurial Operating System - which Commercial Sewing used to set their core values and organizatio