Machine Shop Mastery

106. Building Craftsmen with Character with Dave Hataj from Edgerton Gear

2026-03-04 · 11:00 UTC ·Paul Van Metre, Dave Hataj ·3 min read

Brief

Manufacturing leadership and workforce development are the core themes of Paul Van Metre’s conversation with Dave Hataj, the third-generation leader of Edgerton Gear. Hataj traces the company’s history back to its 1962 founding and then focuses on the far harder story: returning to the shop in the early 1990s and confronting a toxic culture marked by mistrust, substance use at work, resistance to change, and sabotage. Rather than framing the turnaround as a lean or process-only exercise, he argues that the decisive shift came from character-based leadership—especially humility, mentorship, and service—which he says reshaped hiring, management, and retention. The conversation then broadens into Hataj’s Craftsman with Character initiative, which combines student exposure to real manufacturers with explicit formation around responsibility and purpose. Van Metre and Hataj appear aligned that manufacturing can be both economically productive and socially formative, though Hataj also stresses the personal cost of leadership, including burnout, health struggles, and the need for “radical rest” and succession planning.

Why it matters

Dave Hataj told host Paul Van Metre that when he returned to Edgerton Gear in Wisconsin in the early 1990s, he inherited a dysfunctional shop culture with alcohol in the lunchroom, fragmented leadership, internal sabotage by senior employees, and the departure of key team members as he tried to reform operations.

Key details

  • Edgerton Gear, founded by Dave Hataj’s parents in 1962, evolved into a custom gear job shop, and Hataj said the company’s turnaround came from emphasizing humility, trust, mentorship, and service rather than tighter managerial control.
  • Hataj said humility became the defining hiring trait at Edgerton Gear, a philosophy reinforced by his doctoral study of character and by the company’s effort to build an internal mentoring culture rather than rely only on technical skill screening.
  • Hataj’s workforce-development program, Craftsman with Character, pairs high school students with manufacturers for job shadowing while explicitly teaching virtues such as responsibility, purpose, teachability, and excellence; he said the model began in one Wisconsin community and has since expanded across multiple states, reaching hundreds of students.
  • The later part of the episode connects servant leadership to business outcomes: Hataj argues that community investment and mentoring improve profitability and long-term sustainability, while also warning from personal experience that burnout and neglected health can undermine leaders who try to carry a manufacturing business alone.
Source evidence

title: 106. Building Craftsmen with Character with Dave Hataj from Edgerton Gear
author: Paul Van Metre, Dave Hataj
contenttype: podcast
publication: Machine Shop Mastery
published: 2026-03-04T11:00:00+00:00
sourceurl: https://cfcef04b-b7b2-498c-887b-3c776966c298.libsyn.com/106-building-craftsmen-with-character-with-dave-hataj-from-edgerton-gear

word_count: 572

In this deeply personal and powerful episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul sits down with Dave Hataj, third-generation leader of Edgerton Gear in Wisconsin. What begins as a conversation about a custom gear job shop quickly unfolds into something much larger — a story about culture change, humility, sabotage, burnout, mentorship, and the responsibility manufacturers carry in shaping the next generation. When Dave returned to his family's shop in the early 1990s, he walked into a deeply dysfunctional environment. Alcohol flowed freely in the lunchroom. Leadership was fragmented. Trust was thin. When he began making changes, the resistance was immediate and intense — including internal sabotage from senior employees and the loss of key team members. What followed was years of long hours, strained relationships, and hard-earned lessons about leadership and character. Instead of doubling down on control, Dave made a different choice. He committed to building a culture centered on humility, trust, mentorship, and service. Over time, that commitment reshaped not only Edgerton Gear but also his vision for workforce development. Out of that journey came Craftsman with Character — a program that connects high school students with real manufacturers while intentionally developing virtues like responsibility, purpose, teachability, and excellence. What started as a local experiment in one Wisconsin community has expanded across multiple states and reached hundreds of students. This episode explores how character-driven leadership can create both cultural transformation and business growth — and why manufacturing may be one of the most powerful vehicles we have to restore dignity, purpose, and opportunity in our communities. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... (0:00) Introduction to Dave Hataj and Edgerton Gear (3:52) Edgerton Gear today: custom gear capabilities and industries served (4:54) The origin story: how Dave's parents started the company in 1962 (10:09) Get a free list of opportunities in your industry from FacturMFG.com/chips (12:00) Returning to a toxic culture, beginning transformation, and rebuilding (16:01) The personal toll of leadership and lessons from burnout (19:37) Why humility became the defining hiring trait (23:25) Studying character: The doctoral work that shaped Dave's philosophy (29:14) Why you need to use Hire MFG Leaders (29:43) The launch of Craftsman with Character (35:17) How the program works: job shadowing paired with character development (39:40) Expanding the model nationally with U.S. Navy support (41:46) Transitioning from grant funding to a sustainable model (43:37) Building a mentoring culture inside Edgerton Gear (46:05) How ProShop ERP can help you achieve on-time delivery (47:01) The profitability impact of servant leadership and community investment (52:14) Radical rest, health struggles, and long-term sustainability (55:56) Why blue-collar businesses are foundational to civilization (1:00:36) Purpose and relationships as the foundation of a meaningful life (2:03:22) Succession planning and passing leadership to the next generation Resources & People Mentioned Becoming Good by David Gill 78. The Power of Being Mission Driven – Court Durkalski of Truline Industries Get a free list of opportunities in your industry from FacturMFG.com/chips Why you need to use Hire MFG Leaders How ProShop ERP can help you achieve on-time delivery Connect with Dave Hataj CWCharacter.org EdgertonGear.com DaveHataj.com Good Work: How Blue Collar Business Can Change Lives, Communities, and the World The Craftsman's Code: A Blueprint for Building a Meaningful Life and an Enduring Connect With Machine Shop Mastery The website LinkedIn YouTube Instagram Subscribe to Machine Shop Mastery on Apple , Spotify Audio Production and Show Notes by - PODCAST FAST TRACK