Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com. And it's guest time on the show, and for those of you watching at theBusinessMakers.com, obviously we're not in a studio this morning and we're not in an office. We're at the headquarters of Venturetech and I'm with the Founder and CEO of Venturetech and the Founder of America in Recovery, Larry Keast. Larry, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.
Larry: Thanks Russ.
Russ: Why don't we start with you telling us about Venturetech.
Larry: Well, I started in my garage 30 years ago and it's really a good business these days. It was really just the first 25 years that were the hardest.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: I started as a consulting engineer, but we got into the power swivel business and slowly became actually a world force in power swivels. It's a niche like any entrepreneur, find a niche and fill it. And I liked it because I'm a car nut; and it's got diesel engines, and it's got hydraulic pumps with high pressure, and it's got remote pneumatic controls, and a bunch of gee whiz stuff. And I didn't think this niche had been overdeveloped; and it hadn't. So looking back on it, I really looked smart, you know. It's a nice business, but let me tell you, it didn't look that way looking forward.
Russ: [Laughter] All right. Now for those in our audience who don't know what a power swivel is, inform them.
Larry: Well a power swivel is a device that hangs up in the derrick. You know, one of those yellow chunks that you see up high that's maybe moving up and down slowly and it rotates the drill pipe.
Russ: And the derrick of an oil well we're talking about.
Larry: That's right, that's right. It's for drilling or well servicing. That is working on old wells - oil and gas wells.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: And it has drill pipe hanging on the bottom of it and it rotates the drill pipe in the well.
Russ: Okay. Pretty important part of the whole oil well drilling process, right?
Larry: Heart of the matter.
Russ: Okay, that's real cool. That's kind of a major step to take from a business that you started in your garage, and I don't think your garage was quite this big was it?
Larry: It was a two-car garage with a shed on the side -
Russ: All right. [Laughter]
Larry: - that I built, but no, that's right. It was quite a step to take and I don't really fit the classic MBA entrepreneur, you know. I never wrote a business plan and if I really had an MBA, I don't know if I'd have done this.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: I've learned to take risks and hopefully it's an educated risk.
Russ: And but you are an engineer. You have a mechanical engineering degree, correct?
Larry: That's right.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: That's me.
Russ: So you were headed in this direction big time and you had a couple of jobs along the way, but ultimately you decided, "Hey, I'm gonna take a risk and go out and do it on my own."
Larry: Yeah, I'm an engineer, but I'm an inventor. I'm a creative guy and I'm a businessman as it turns out, and I'm sort of an MBA by default I guess. And I'm not suggesting you do it like me, but it's a nice story of American entrepreneurship these days.
Russ: Okay. And this is a company you started 30 years ago now. You've stayed at the helm the whole way, grown it, and kept it private; is that right?
Larry: That's right. Just me and my wife. I'm still sleeping with the bookkeeper.
Russ: [Laughter] All right, all right, great. Now along the way in this oil exploration business, I mean there's been a lot of ups and downs, right?
Larry: There have been a lot of ups and downs. This is the oil field; this is Houston, Texas; this is the oil capital so to speak. But everywhere there is an oil field from Pennsylvania to California worldwide, and our business is very worldwide. It's up and down. That's just the way it is.
Russ: Right, okay. So what is it about these power swivels that Venturetech makes that sets them apart in your opinion compared to the competition?
Larry: Well the competition was well engineered stuff by a company named Bowen about 35-40 years ago, and they used the technology they had at the time, and it's worked out well. They did a fine marketing job and at worldwide, they got thousands of them out there. And then they were copied twice in the last 15 years, which it suits me fine because I'm a creative guy. I was not interested in copying them, which might be less expensive and they might be making more money. But frankly, I like to do things new and different.
Russ: Okay. Now since this is such a top-of-the-line news story these days, are your power swivels used offshore as well?
Larry: They are used offshore. But for the well servicing part of the business, which is the small end of the range, the big BP disaster is a very major multi-billion dollar effort and only four or five companies in the world can mount such an effort. And we're not related to that. Our biggest machine is 250 tons and the smallest one you'd use on something like that is probably 500 tons.
Russ: Okay, okay. I get the picture. All right now, I have to be honest. You got on our radar because not only have you started and operated a very successful business over a long period of time, but you've also sort of taken this whole entrepreneurship thing to a new level with this program that you have called America in Recovery. Tell us about America in Recovery.
Larry: Well I've got a long background in support groups and in helping other people, and so back - gee whiz, I don't know - 15 years ago, I hired a guy named John Jordan and he was from a drug and alcohol abuse program that I was a parent group leader in. And John was a recovering addict and a counselor, and he had an oil field background. And it turns out, he worked on the kinds of rigs that use our equipment and so I ended up hiring him. And he was a very effective leader in our shop for maybe, I don't know, seven years, something like that. And it was his idea to start hiring kids from the program. These are under 18 years old here, just sort of ne'er-do-well kids, and the idea was put them out here and put them in the company of a real working man and show them what sweat is about and maybe inspire in them the idea that a college education might be useful for them. And so that worked pretty well, and after a year or so, we started hiring machinists, mechanics.
Russ: And these were all from an alcohol and drug recovery program.
Larry: Well he started because the typical person like that would be working in an AA program. And so he'd meet people that were welders and so forth in his AA group and he'd bring them around and we'd hire them. And that worked out so well that we eventually found that we had maybe 30 percent. I think at one time we had up to 40 percent of our staff from that kind of a background.
Russ: That's real cool. We love to hear stories like this where people use entrepreneurship way beyond just the success of creating jobs, but helping society. And I want to talk a little bit more about that after this. We're talking with Larry Keast, Founder of Venturetech and also of America in Recovery. And we'll be back with more with Larry after this. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com.
[Commercial]
Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com. And continuing on with Larry Keast, Founder and CEO of Venturetech and also Founder of that cool organization we just started talking about in the last segment, America in Recovery. It seems to sort of go against conventional wisdom Larry for you to be hiring people out of alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs. I mean it seems like that might be a risk.
Larry: That's true. It does go against conventional wisdom and we hire people out of prisons too that are labeled as not hirable by the typical business in the country.
Russ: So prisons too. So that means America in Recovery means more than just hiring those that have some kind of addiction problem.
Larry: It does. There are actually four classifications that we've really identified of people that are sort of labeled as America's unemployables.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: And those are as you have said, people in recovery from drugs and alcohol addictions, but also people that are ex-cons, ex-offenders of our legal system. Also old folks. Maybe they're over 55 and okay they're not being discriminated against, but they can't find a job.
Russ: Right.
Larry: Our oldest employee is our lead CAD designer and he's 81.
Russ: [Laughter] Goodness gracious. Now I've got to ask this. He's a CAD, so he's on a computer using computer aided design?
Larry: Of course.
Russ: Wow, hey, that's cool.
Larry: I asked him when I hired him ten years ago, I said, "How can an old guy like you know how to do this?" He said, "If I hadn't learned how to this, I couldn't be working anymore."
Russ: [Laughter] All right, all right. So wait a minute, you've got older people, people that are coming out of prison, people with alcohol and addictions problems. Does that cover all of them?
Larry: We actually also have a website that is for people that are our disabled people.
Russ: Oh, okay.
Larry: Handicapped.
Russ: Wow.
Larry: I quickly must tell you that we have identified those as a group that needs support from a small business offering jobs, but we don't have any experience with them.
Russ: Okay. all right. So this is something new. Is that the newest of the four?
Larry: They're all really about the same age. We just don't have any experience with them. My friend Steve Lufborough that runs Good Will here on the Gulf Coast -
Russ: Right. Steve's been on the show before.
Larry: I bet he has, and he's a fine leader in that area, and we hope that he'll use this particular website.
Russ: Okay, that's cool. So you mentioned a website for that. So perhaps you have websites for all four of those categories? And why do you have websites? I mean are you just hiring them here?
Larry: It started working out so well for us because turnover went down and productivity went up, and gee, people liked working together more. And you know, it wasn't always that I could even enjoy walking through my own shop. I was the owner and still I didn't really always feel comfortable walking in front of some of the people that we were hiring. Well after we started doing this, it just changed in the next year or two. People that are working a program of honesty and integrity, and we give them a second chance and a supportive workplace. They come here and they're enjoying life and they're proud to be here. They're thankful to have the opportunity and they rub off on all the rest of us.
Russ: That's real interesting. So you're telling me that you sort of felt like an uplift in the culture here when you started hiring what most people call the unemployable?
Larry: That's right. It started being a nicer place for all of us to work, and the people coming out of prison, of course there's a lot of drugs related of that. But even when they're not, if you don't have a place to have them go to work, then they're going to be going into a U-Turn back into the big house, and you and I are going to be picking up the tab, and we're not helping them. It's not a productive use of our tax payers dollars. We just happen to keep them off the street.
Russ: Sure. Well I'm totally tuned into that. We've featured the prison entrepreneurship program a couple of times on the show. We love to see entrepreneurship working this way, but let's sort of fill in the gaps a little bit. We keep talking about you hiring them here at Venturetech, but I think your program is encouraging a much broader utilization of hiring the unemployable. Do I have that right?
Larry: That's right. After two or three years of success here, I felt so good about it, I had to ask myself, well how could we possibly do something for all of Americas small businesses? Could I somehow find a medium to convince Americas small business CEOs to do the same thing that we are? I mean what would happen to our country if we did that? Would we be able to improve productivity? Would we reduce turnover? Would we help small business with more profitability like it has to us? Nobody stealing stuff anymore, we're cutting our costs, things are just better. So I had the idea of starting a website.
Russ: Okay.
Larry: And that is AmericaInRecovery.org, and it is the umbrella website that hosts four free hiring websites. All you have to do is click on AmericaInRecovery.org and it'll give you a place to click up any one of these four websites, if that's for your particular classification, your background -
Russ: Right.
Larry: - rough background that you came from -
Russ: Right.
Larry: - then you can go there and you can create a free account. Now a small business owner or his hiring authority anywhere in the country can also create a free account and log on and go shopping for an employee that he might want to give a second chance to.
Russ: Wow. So it's kind of a match-making website with these people that fall into this unemployable category, and people that have learned to believe what you - Larry tell them about your success. And is it working? Are small businesses and medium-size businesses hiring these people through your websites?
Larry: It is beginning to work. We have had usage in up to 43 states. Now as you can imagine, the last couple of years have not been good for anybody hiring, so we haven't even tried to do a thing. And do you know we get 40,000 hits per month.
Russ: Wow.
Larry: We're up to almost two-million hits in this thing and we haven't done a thing for two years.
Russ: Wow.
Larry: And you can go see that number at the bottom of AmericaInRecovery.org.
Russ: Right. That is so cool. But let's be realistic too. I mean we always sort of do that here on the BusinessMakers Show about sometimes just about how difficult it is to start and grow your own business, you know. We think a lot of the success stories are just because people were so determined to break through problems and challenges. Same thing must be true in America in Recovery. I mean I assume you've had at least bad experiences.
Larry: If you go onto the website you'll see, we tell you all the bad stories. We are not painting this as the panacea. We're not saying we can save them all. We're saying we can't. We have seen people go back to prison. We've seen people go back on drugs.
Russ: Okay. We're talking with Larry Keast, Founder and CEO of Venturetech, and also Founder of America in Recovery. And we'll be back with more with Larry after this. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com.
[Commercial]
Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com. And continuing on with Larry Keast, the Founder and CEO of Venturetech which is where we are right now, and also the Founder of this real cool program, America in Recovery where he's really sort of taken a risk and stepped out there and done something that's unconventional in business hiring by hiring people that fall into these unemployable categories, which is so cool. I want to talk a little bit more about that. But before we get to that, let's say that we have a young, aspiring entrepreneur tuned in right now that's totally intrigued with what you've accomplished with your mechanical engineering background, and she or he is thinking about starting their own company someday in the future. What kind of general advice would you give to them?
Larry: Well I hope that they're going into it because they're passionate about it, because I guess the idea is that if you're going into it because you think you need to get rich, you probably ought to just try to get a good job and keep it.
Russ: Okay. [Laughter]
Larry: It took me 25 years before this thing started making enough money to matter to me and so I think that it's very important to be following your dreams, your goals. If you're fortunate enough to be one of us who is really passionate about what you're doing, then you're very blessed and jump on the bandwagon and plan on it being tough. That does not mean it's going to be easy. Probably if you're really following your heart, you probably will end up making money.
Larry: All right. I like what you said earlier. You said, "Boy, looking back, I look kind of smart, but it didn't feel smart for a long time."
Larry: My wife thought she was marrying a mechanical engineer that would get a paycheck every Friday.
Russ: [Laughter] And she found out that wasn't the case along the way.
Larry: Sorry Sandra.
Russ: [Laughter] All right, all right, all right. Now let's sort of shift gears again. Let's imagine we have a small or medium-size business owner that's tuned in and is hearing this story about America in Recovery and thinking, "Boy, that is real cool." What do they need to do to start learning about and perhaps participating in a similar program?
Larry: Well it's very simple. You just go right to AmericaInRecovery.org and then you click on whichever one of the buttons for the website that you choose for the background that you're interested in. If you're a small business owner and you want to hire people that are coming out of our prisons, then that is No U-Turns. I named it that because I couldn't spell recidivism.
Russ: [Laughter] Okay, all right, that's good. No U-Turns, meaning you're stopping the U-Turn for the prisoner to go back to prison.
Larry: That's right. Can you imagine how much we might reduce our government overhead if we didn't have to hold up all these people and not helping either?
Russ: It'd be huge. Okay. And so can somebody sign up for all four categories?
Larry: Sure. No charge anytime ever. This is sort of like an eBay without any money, you know. The buyer meets the seller and that makes it a little challenging for us to collect statistics, but we now have statistic collecting programming in our websites.
Russ: Okay. You know what I like about this program so much, you know, you read all the time these days about successful people contributing to charitable causes and they're all good and very well intentioned. Usually they involve sort of giving money or maybe kind of giving some sort of training or education. What it seems like you do in America in Recovery, you bring them into the mainstream with responsibility and teach them how to be a productive citizen from thereon and therefore not having to rely on welfare.
Larry: Well that's the hopeful result, you know. The more we can reduce welfare, the better off we all are. And there's no money required. I mean if you want to donate, we have a place you can donate. But our overhead is very low, so Venturetech with our manufacturing company is holding up the limited overhead. And then the idea is we use any money - else that comes in exclusively for publicity. We don't have any grant writers. We also specifically will not accept any government money or any money from any organization that receives government money.
Russ: Okay, that's good.
Larry: We are out to show that small business can make a difference in this country without government money.
Russ: Okay, that's real cool. Now lastly, let's imagine that there's a parent or a sibling or a friend of somebody that falls into these unemployable categories. What do they need to get into this program? What do they need to do?
Larry: It's a simple matter. Go to the website, create yourself a free account. You can write anything about yourself you want to. You can lie about yourself. We are not a clearing house. You do not need to know who I am or who Venturetech is. This is just a resource. This is something that connects small business owners to people that need a job.
Russ: Okay. And that's AmericaInRecovery.org.
Larry: That is right.
Russ: Okay. Well Larry, I really appreciate you sharing your story with us about Venturetech, and I really appreciate you about having the initiative to start America in Recovery. That is real cool.
Larry: Thank you.
Russ: You bet. That's Larry Keast, Founder and CEO Venturetech and Founder of America in Recovery. And you're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at theBusinessMakers.com.
