Howard
This quarter, we talk with Howard Wingert of Concrete Sealants.
By Heather Bremer
Q: How you got started in the industry?
A: Really simple. I got in the honest way. … I married the boss’ daughter.
No, seriously, when I went to college, I studied to be a teacher. I was a school teacher for several years, and I met my current wife of 42 years. While I was a school teacher, that’s when I was introduced to the family business. Her parents started Concrete Sealants in 1970, and Cindy and I met in 1978. And as a school teacher, I had summers off. So I would work in the factory. At that time, I was probably the eighth or ninth employee because the company was quite small. So I worked in the factory for three years when I was teaching. And then I went to law school. And that was a three-year commitment. So I worked two more years in the factory during the summers when I wasn’t in school.
When I graduated from law school, I went to work for the company as a business manager. And obviously my role has evolved since then. Yeah, a little bit.
Q: You’re now president of Concrete Sealants. What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
A: I do whatever needs to be done. Last year, we had some turnover in our office that put a strain on us. And I actually was the shipping clerk for about two months, something I had done 20-plus years before.
My role now is to mentor my son Jesse, who is taking over the business, and work on projects. Right now, we’re getting ready to expand our office. So we are working on those kinds of big projects like that. I also handle all of the international sales except South America. Jesse is fluent in Spanish, so he takes care of that, but I do the international so my grandchildren get to see their father a little more than my kids got to see me.
The Wingert Family, circa 1996
Q: From the beginning, family has been an important part of your company. Do you think that is common across the industry?
A: Always has been (here). I would agree (it’s fairly common across the industry). I also would say in the last 10 to 15 years, there’s been a bit of a transition from single ownership, families that sell to larger corporations. It’s a trend that was inevitable, but it does put a little strain on the flavor of NPCA, which has always been sort of family friendly. I say this all the time: Our customers are customers, but they’re friends as much as they are customers. As big corporations get more involved, it becomes more of a business relationship, which isn’t all that bad, but there’s a definite change going on.
Q: What other changes have you seen in the industry across the years?
A: This goes to my experience in traveling internationally. In North America, precasters make more structures out of precast concrete than anywhere else in the world. And when I say that I’m talking about rectangular structures for bolts, steps going into houses, storm shelters protecting against tornadoes and things. Because there’s so much wet cast concrete still done in the North American market, you see innovative types of ideas of how to use concrete structures. In a lot of the other parts of the world, it’s all about speed and production and efficiency so they try to stick to making certain structures very well, very fast, very efficiently. But with not as much creativity as what I see in North America.
A good example within the last 10 to 15 years is NPCA has started the precast concrete pavement sections. I haven’t seen a whole lot of innovation like that other places.
Q: What do you think are the challenges ahead for the industry?
A: Well, the move to green energy or green buildings and worrying about energy usage. Just the fact that making cement is a high consumption of energy. You have the reduction of the use of coal-fired plants, so fly ash and things like that, which is an integral part of materials going into concrete, are going to be challenged as the sources start to dry up. That’s not something that’s going to happen next year or maybe even five years but the long-term. Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge for the industry as materials change due to trying to make everything to impact climate change.
Q: Do you see ConSeal adapting to help solve that challenge?
A: Yeah, I’d say so in the sense that we have diversified our product offering in the last 15 or so years, where we now have some admixtures that go into concrete to improve durability and waterproofing the concrete from penetration so it has more life.
We have antimicrobial materials that go into sewer systems to prevent deterioration, which is concrete. It’s a great material except in a very harsh acidic environment. And sewers seem to have the environments in certain places that deterioration is a concern. So we’ve – and this is completely outside the realm of where Concrete Sealants has always been traditionally known – we’ve always been sealant manufacturers that go between panels and between pieces of concrete. Now, we’re coming up with materials that go inside concrete itself. And then we also have some coating materials that go on the outside to give additional protection. So trying to improve the lives of the concrete structures themselves.
Q: Going back to your beginnings as a teacher, do you utilize any of those skills that you learned as a teacher in training to be a teacher today in your role?
A: All the time.
I taught eighth grade American history for three years, and it was a great training ground for learning to deal with employees. Eighth-graders can be less than responsive to instruction. They’re burning their legs on whether they can challenge the authority or not. When they’re 12, 13, 14 years old, they’re starting to mature and realize what boundaries are. Learning to deal with that kind of an attitude has proven to be important working with some of our factory workers.
Jesse and Howard Wingert
Q: You said you’re training your son to take over the company. What lessons are you trying to pass along to him about running a business and about the industry?
A: He’s been with us now full-time since 2010, but he’s been around the business all his life. And the biggest thing was just making sure he understands the culture of the company, because that’s all I’ve tried to do is continue on what my mother- and father-in-law built because it was a successful formula. And just trying to get him to understand the principles that this company stands for and the integrity and reputation we want. I’m pleased to say he does understand that. He gets it.
I have I have every confidence that he will carry the company forward in the same manner that has existed for the last 52 years.
Q: If there was something you could tell the next generation of precasters and companies like yours that aid precasters in producing their products, what would that be?
A: To continue to try to find new ways to develop products that that use your product, your type of product. We’ve expanded our product line and our product offerings, because you’ve got to continue to grow. You can’t keep doing the same thing year after year after year, because you’re going to get passed by. Constantly look at where there’s a need, and see what you could do with concrete to fill that need as we grow any business.
Q: What value do you think NPCA brings to the industry and its members?
A: I’ve said this many times to precasters, the Producer members. I hope they realize what a great association NPCA is. In a lot of industries, the competition is such that you do not share ideas, you do not let people into your factory. But the precast association is for producers and is a fantastic way to learn how to improve your factory, how to come up with new ideas.
At Concrete Sealants, we have our version of NPCA called the Adhesive and Sealant Council. When we go there, even though we are a producer, we’re sort of second-class citizens because the big oil companies and the big rubber companies run things.
So I would just say that I would hope producer members realize just what a gem they have and how really truly blessed they are to be part of the association that can share so many great technical ideas and product ideas. PI
Heather Bremer is the digital media director at NPCA.
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