Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing | Official Podcast Series

Why Manufacturing: Problem-Solving, Pride, and Purpose in Modern Manufacturing with Logan Hicks

• The Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Welcome to Why Manufacturing, a podcast series from the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing, where we share real stories from the people powering our region’s most essential industry.

In this episode we sit down with Logan Hicks of Real Performance Machinery to explore what keeps him energized and engaged in his manufacturing career.

Logan shares how he went from exploring career options to finding a true sense of purpose in problem-solving, hands-on work, and continuous learning. He walks us through a typical day on the job, debunks common myths about the industry, and reflects on the mentors and moments that have shaped his journey so far.

Whether you're a student considering your future, a parent curious about career paths, or an educator guiding the next generation, Logan’s story is a powerful example of how manufacturing offers growth, pride, and opportunity—right here in Southwest Virginia.

SWVA Manufacturing Careers (open jobs / updated weekly): swvam.org/mfgcareers

Real Performance Machinery - www.rpmachinery.com

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to Why Manufacturing from the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing. Yep, we're SVAM, and one of our goals is to spotlight the people, tech, and pathways that keep modern factories humming right here in Southwest Virginia. Today, we're talking with Logan Hicks from Real Performance Machinery. Logan grew up in Independence, Virginia, jumped into RPM's high school apprenticeship at 16, and is now three years into building custom sawmill machines that ship worldwide. If you're curious about hands-on careers, stick around. Logan, thanks for joining me today. Let's just start with a brief introduction. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. Well, my name is Logan Hicks, and I'm from Independence, Virginia. I was born in Galax, and now I just work at RPM because, well, it's in Independence, and it's a new and upcoming company in our area.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so let's rewind. What's the story behind how you landed in manufacturing in the first place?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I'm starting on my third year up here, but I was in high school. I was 16 years old. And. I was in auto shop and we got pulled out of auto shop because we had some kind of thing to go look at in the library. And when we got there, it was just RPM. You know, Jake was up there and they were just telling us all about the company. And we had the chance to fill out this form paper for a chance to have an interview. And I got the interview. And on the day of my interview, I went in there. I'd been working on a car and they just seen I was hands on and I like to work on things and stuff. So they offered me an apprenticeship job starting out up here.

SPEAKER_00:

Was there a moment early on when you thought, yeah, this could actually be a career for me?

SPEAKER_01:

I felt good about my work and just seeing how things come together, like when we got to put stuff together and just seeing things complete and getting to test them and how they worked. That was just, I don't know, I just really liked what I did.

SPEAKER_00:

What's a typical day on the job look like for you? I mean, what do you juggle? What's the pace?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, each day we get here, we have a morning meeting and we all get on the same page of what we're going to be doing during the day. I'm just in assembly. You know, we put things together. We got to look at the model and stuff because we just build everything completely from the ground up here. And so, you know, everything's like a figure out as you go. But we got models and stuff where we get to pull up the pictures of the builds we're working on and It'll show us how to put together. That's what I do. I just put the stuff together, and you've got to pay real close attention to how it all goes together because everything's real particular on it.

SPEAKER_00:

What's something that people might find surprising about what you do every day?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Whenever we go to send the machine out of the shop, we actually have the semis pull all the way in the shop so we can load them with our cranes. I think that's pretty cool. That was something I hadn't got to experience until I worked here. They let me load the trucks, too, every once in a while. I get to load the trucks and stuff. That's enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00:

If you had to say, what's a skill or a part of the job that you think you've really gotten better at since you started?

SPEAKER_01:

Something I've gotten a lot better at is paying attention to detail on some things. It could be just the smallest thing, like a little lip on a hole that could be stopping you from putting the bearing in and you just got to look for like a little burr and stuff like that. It's just a lot of attention to detail.

SPEAKER_00:

Tell me about a moment where you looked at something and you thought, I made that. I was part of the team that made it. It's here because of us.

SPEAKER_01:

All the time, like every time we finish a build and like if we've all been working on it together, it's just, it's really cool when we get these machines together and just hooking them up to the power and running everything and making sure everything works good and firing all the little cylinders that control each little thing. I just have that moment about every time we finish a build.

SPEAKER_00:

What's one tool? It could be a literal tool, a mindset, but you rely on that tool to get things done every single day.

SPEAKER_01:

My hands. Yeah, my hands are definitely the big tool for me because if I ain't got a tool, then I know a coworker who will let me use a tool out of their box so we can get the job done. But that and like paying attention to detail, like not everyone's going to be doing the same job because some people are more watchful and careful than others. So like I may get put on a job that you got to pay really close attention to because He may be setting these heavy plates against these bearings, and he don't want the O-rings to fall out of their pocket because the plate maybe moved a little bit when he's putting the plate on the bearings.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's a great answer. What's something that didn't come easy for you at first, but you stuck with it, and you finally got the hang of it?

SPEAKER_01:

I wouldn't necessarily say there's been anything super hard. Like, really, if you can't figure something out, whenever we run into a problem, we're We're all kind of scratching our head and trying to figure it out together as a team. So when we run into problems, that's just how we kind of handle them.

SPEAKER_00:

Logan, when you look ahead a few years, what's next for you or what are you hoping to grow into?

SPEAKER_01:

Hopefully I just kind of stay where I'm at, you know, keep doing good work and making money and getting those raises because that's what everyone likes to get whenever they're working at a place.

SPEAKER_00:

So what's giving you energy these days? What's keeping the spark in what you're doing?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I do work with a lot of great people and they're all like, they're good people. I mean, they're always there for you. Like, they'll treat you like family. But what's keeping me really excited about work recently is since I've started here, I've heard talk of this one great machine. It's supposed to be the best of the best kind of machine, nothing I've ever seen before. And we finally got it in the shop, and we've been working on it. I'm coming on my third year. I'm working on my third year here. And I'm just now getting to see it this year, and we're getting to work on it. And it's supposed to be like the best of the best for sawmilling. And no one will ever see anything like this before. It's going to be like a revolutionary speed of technology. what this thing can do. That's pretty exciting for me.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, you're talking to a senior at the high school in Independence, somebody you know, or maybe it's somebody you know at Withfull Community College who's just finishing up. What would you say to them if they were thinking about either maybe pursuing the internship program at RPM or just looking at a career in manufacturing altogether?

SPEAKER_01:

If they were looking for a job here, I'd tell them don't come here unless you're gonna actually care about what you do and want to do a good job because we don't i mean i wouldn't want a bunch of people getting hired up here if they just here to like oh i'm here to collect the check and do the bare minimum and put it together like what makes this place so good is there's a lot of people who do care and want to do a good job So, like, if you don't have those things, then I wouldn't even try to come here.

SPEAKER_00:

Logan, once again, thank you so much for being with us today. If you'd like to learn more about careers in manufacturing, check the show notes. There you'll find links to Sfam's career resources, including over 130 current openings with Sfam's member companies. Until next time.