Specialty Fabrics Review September 2019 - 25

From left, the leadership team
at Anchor Industries: Joey Ruffin,
vice president of engineering;
Bryan Peelman, vice president
of production and manufacturing;
Bill Riat, vice president of credit;
Pete Mogavero, president; and
Dave Conner, chief operating
officer and chief financial officer.

A SMOOTH RIDE
Asked about what a typical day is like for
him, Mogavero's first response is to quote
J. Paul Getty: "Rise early, work hard, strike
oil." A more literal schedule starts with
him arriving at Anchor every day by 7 a.m.
"I check my reports; go through hundreds
of emails. What a ball and chain that is!"
Mogavero says. "I like to get on Facebook
periodically, find out who is having a
birthday and send them a note. I get with our
teams for early morning stand-up meetings
where we discuss the state of the customers'
needs and the day's sales quotes, customer
questions and expectations, production
hurdles, employee issues. Then I generally
do my best to get out of the way to let each
of the teams do their thing with pride,
excellence, intelligence and passion."
With the company's open office
environment, it's easy to quickly get the pulse
of the hot spots of the day, he continues. "We
have very few departmental silos here," he
says. "The sales department sits directly next
to engineering and R&D. Purchasing is right
in the middle of it. Engineering is very close
to production planning and the production
department. It's a finely tuned machine."
Attending IFAI Tent Expo and Tent
Conference annually, Mogavero values
learning about Anchor's competitors
and seeing the company's customers in
a social setting.
"I really admire and respect our
competitors: Jim Reyen, Eureka!; Chuck
Miller and Alex Kouzmanoff, Aztec Tents;
Michael Tharpe, Rainier Industries; Bryan

Bolt, TopTec Event Tents; Fred Tracy, Fred's
Tents and Canopies Inc.; David Murray,
Fiesta Tents Ltd.; Pat Moughan, Losberger
De Boer; Gary Warner, Tentnology; Jeff
Gepner, Liri Tent US; Robert Kraak, Shelter
Structures America, and others. In my
experience, they are all very gifted and fairminded rivals whom I don't mind sharing
a drink with every now and then. They are
a remarkable group of caring professionals
who serve our industry very well."
With 16 years at Anchor's helm,
Mogavero says that he's still learning about
leadership. "Over time I think I'm a bit
more collaborative and fun, and yet I still do
my best to keep the team on track. Frankly,
when you deal with professionals, you agree
on what needs to be done and then get out
of the way. However, you can't ignore when
people don't execute the plan in a timely,
professional matter. The numbers mean
something, and everyone has to understand
their role in achieving our targets."
Today, he considers himself to be both a
passionate CEO (chief executive officer) and a
CEEO (chief employee engagement officer).
"At the end of the day, Anchor is like a
train that runs on a set of tracks," he says.
"The two rails we run on are employee
satisfaction and customer satisfaction.
When both are being cared for properly,
the train runs smoothly. When one is out
of whack, the train stops, and that's not
good for anybody. I'm most grateful for our
customers. We're nothing without them."

What are you
most proud of?
First off, I love this
industry. We make
beautiful spaces. We transform
fabric, aluminum and glass-three
basic materials-into stunningly
beautiful spaces with the help of
our gifted and visionary customers.
I'm a sales guy deep down, and I
try to position the company this
way for success: I want prospects
and customers to 1) Get to know
us; 2) Like us; 3) Trust us. When
all these things are happening,
that's the sweet spot for us.
In the end, I'm most proud of
our industry, our team of dedicated
craftspeople and, most importantly,
the customers we serve. They
make our days fun and challenging.
Finally, I am blessed to have my
daughter, Christen, working with
me. She graduated from Vanderbilt
and spent her early career in
Washington, D.C., working for the
National Republican Congressional
and Senatorial committees as well
as the Senate Foreign Relations
committee with Chairman Bob
Corker. As you can imagine, she
knows a lot about politics-a skill
that will suit her well in this industry.
She's a quick study. Like driving,
pretty soon those in the backseat
may be the ones in the front.

Jill C. Lafferty is associate editor of Specialty Fabrics
Review and senior editor of InTents.

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