Brad started his career fresh out of high school in 1972 at National Forge Company in Erie, PA. A large steel company that produced the majority of propulsion shafting for U.S Navy ships and submarines, along with other large finished machined forgings and castings. After learning to run several different machines in the machine shop he was promoted to Finishing Department Scheduler with only 1 year experience. Several other promotions followed including Scheduling Coordinator Machine Shop, Master Scheduler Shafting & Component Division and Manager of Production Planning & Control. In 1989 he became part owner in the company when it was sold to the employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) The Company was renamed Erie Forge & Steel Inc.
As a key player in converting the company computer information systems to a network of mini computers from a large mainframe they were able to go completely paperless saving thousands of dollars per month in paper alone. By building a relational database network, all aspects of the business were integrated including human resources, estimating, customer order entry, production and inventory control, job cost tracking, quality control and accounting including progress billing on the majority of their sales.
He was instrumental in forming a Continuous Process Improvement Team to reduce the requirement to heat and straighten propeller shafts at a cost of $5,000 to 7,000 each occurrence. The team virtually eliminated the long standing problem saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in rework cost.
Brad retired from Erie Forge & Steel with 25 years of experience at the age of 43 in 1997. Since then Brad has earned several professional licenses including NASD 6 & 63, Life Insurance & Annuities, Long Term Care and Real Estate Brokers. He has been self employeed in the Business Consultung, Financial Services & Real Estate business since leaving Erie Forge & Steel.
In 2009 he became a Business Consultant and Managing Cunsultant with Zurvita bring energy, telecom, health care, legal services,credit restoration services and more via the internet.
Brad has been very active in various charities including his Church, Kiwanis, Habitat For Humanity, SCORE and Big Brothers & Sisters.
Brad has been married for 34 years to his wife Pastor Kathy Thompson and has 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. He enjoys snow skiing ,kayaking, hunting ,woodworking and scuba diving.
“Brad was a tireless and creative planner at the Steel plant. We had many unique needs to customize the configuration and operation of both our systems and business processes, and Brad always had a positive attitude and proposed and implemented great solutions. I would recommend Brad for any job requiring creativity, team interaction and business results.” January 27, 2009
John Huegel , Systems Administrator, Erie Forge and Steel
worked directly with Brad at Erie Forge & Steel
James Stapleton Executive Director Zurvita
