Listen to Equilibar founder Jeff Jennings tell the story of how he came up with the idea for a revolutionary fluid control valve, started assembling valves in his basement, and developed a bare-bones website that led to his first customer in Switzerland on the podcast Clocking In with host Phil Mintz.
Phil Mintz is the Executive Director of North Carolina State Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) and Director of the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP). He drives outreach to NC manufacturers, builds relationships with federal and state leaders and coordinates efforts to drive profitable manufacturing growth in the state. His work also serves to help grow statewide peer networks, ISO 9000 quality management systems, Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, environmental services, and health and safety solutions.
On Clocking In: Voices of Manufacturing , Phil interviews some of the diverse manufacturers across the state of North Carolina. Previous interviews have focused on VX Aerospace, which manufactures dynamic composites that are resistant to fatigue and corrosion, and Hoffer Flow Controls, maker of high precision flow meters for a variety of high-tech industries.
Phil explains that in his role, he hears fascinating stories every day and the podcast is a way to share them with his listeners and to inspire the next generation of NC manufacturers.
A few weeks ago, Jeff and Phil sat down to talk about the Equilibar story—including the early basement days of the company, the role of strong locally-owned machine shops in Western North Carolina, secrets to attracting top talent, and the opportunity to work on exciting global endeavors, such as fuel cell technology and aerospace projects including NASA’s Artemis Mission to Mars.
Jeff also talks about his ongoing role in conserving the immensely popular DuPont State Recreational Forest, which is sited on the former DuPont film manufacturing plant where he worked for more than ten years as a research engineer.
Listen to the podcast on the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership website. For more information about Equilibar technology, see our How it Works page or contact one of our engineers.
