Pursuing operational excellence, financial success and a positive culture
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—We caught up with Jason Tedrow, B.S.E.’97, president and CEO of InProduction, the largest provider of temporary seating, staging, structures and scenic production for the U.S. event industry. Tedrow’s 25 years of operations, logistics and supply chain leadership across multiple industries led him to InProduction where his focus is on adding value to the business and ensuring success for its private equity sponsor.
What excites you most about leading InProduction as its CEO?
The work we get to do is incredible. We have the privilege of building some of the most iconic events in the country. Plus, every day I get to work with some of the most talented individuals in our industry. The fact that I get to work with such an amazing group of people while continuing to build our business and support our investors through new projects, bigger events, and a series of successful acquisitions is what I find most exciting about my role.
What are some of the goals you have for the company in terms of operations, culture and strategy?
We are focused on three things: operational excellence, financial success and building a positive culture.
Operationally our goal is to finish every project on time, on scope and on budget, with a safety-first mindset. Our safety record is excellent, and I consider the improvements we have made in this area my most significant accomplishment since I joined InProduction.
Financially we are focused on winning the best and most profitable projects with clients we trust. There is a lot of work out there that isn’t profitable, and we are at a point where we don’t need to say yes to a bad client or project. From an acquisition standpoint we are looking for adding logical companies to our portfolio that complement our core business, support our customers, and add value to the bottom line.
From a culture standpoint, we want to be the employer of choice. We want the best people to come here, stay and grow as professionals. The market is incredibly competitive, so we must provide a compelling career path.
What challenges you?
As CEO, I have several demands on my time. Every day I work closely with my chief financial officer and chief operating officer to ensure we are meeting our financial and operational obligations to our customers and investors. I also spend a great deal of time with my private equity sponsor developing strategic plans, marketing the business, or evaluating strategic investments.
We have several incredible clients who ask us to do challenging things every day. It is critical that I spend time developing and managing these relationships to help ensure we continue to be their supplier of choice.
Because of the many demands on my time, it is critical that I delegate the easy and handle the hard.
InProduction builds several high-profile events. What is your company’s role and how does your company plan and execute such projects?
We have built several iconic projects such as the Waste Management Phoenix Open where we build a stadium around a par 3 along with several other structures; Field of Dreams where we build a baseball stadium in a cornfield; hospitality structures for Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits; and the winter classic hockey games where we build seating and understructure for outdoor NHL hockey games. Most of these projects came to us because of strong relationships that we have cultivated with decision makers in the industry.
The key to all these projects is agreeing on the design and schedule with the client, developing an aggressive but feasible operations plan and executing flawlessly, no matter the size of the event.
What is your perspective on supply-chain-related disruptions and solutions for the future?
Every event has a start date that we cannot miss. Shipping delays, labor shortages or bad weather can wreak havoc on even the best plans. To minimize these disruptions, we have a team of creative problem solvers who develop proactive contingency plans, have back-up suppliers for critical components, and continuously evaluate and improve the efficiency of our processes.