Patrick Robb Announces Retirement

We here at Wilson Manufacturing Company are both happy, and a little sad, sharing the news that Patrick (Pat) Robb has announced he is retiring, effective at the end of the month. Pat has been with Wilson Manufacturing for 20 years, serving most of that time in a customer service and support role and has been with us every step of the way as our company has grown and changed.

What a career to celebrate! Pat first came to Wilson already having 15 years of industry experience under his belt. Though he started in sales, it soon became clear he enjoyed the technical aspects of the job—more specifically, solving some of our customers’ most challenging problems.

In fact, Pat says the thing he will miss most about his job at Wilson is solving all the complex issues that customers throw at him. “Give me something no one else can do,,” he says with a smile. “I tell people all the time: ‘The improbable we handle with ease. The impossible just takes a little longer.’”

Sit down with him for a moment and Pat can rattle off some of those seemingly impossible projects: making specialty dies to cut circuit boards for Tesla, perfecting a cutting process for gold and silver, creating tooling for clear plastic so manufacturers could rapidly produce face shields during COVID. Even when an application was straightforward, Pat would hunt for a way to make it better.  More than one customer conversation started with Pat getting down to business with the phrase, “Tell me which die you’re having the most problem with…”

For the past six months, Pat has been passing on his knowledge to team members Wade Fouts, who will focus on design and technical advising, and Tracey Harmon, who will oversee the day-to-day technical support for customers.

When we sat down with Tracey (who herself is new to Wilson but has been in the industry for over 35 years) we asked her to tell us honestly how the transition was going. “It’s been really smooth,” she reported. “Pat is a patient teacher and very detail oriented.”

As for her future work with Wilson, Tracey says she is ready to carry the torch, and that she is also eager to take on some new projects and challenges as well. For example, Tracey looks forward to streamlining and documenting some of the processes at Wilson to make future training easier as the company continues to grow and expand.

Since Tracey has been with us less than a year, we also asked her about adjusting to Wilson and its culture. “The atmosphere here is relaxed, in a good way. People still take their job seriously, but they also treat people like people. And that makes it so much less stressful overall.”

That sort of “people first” attitude is exactly the kind of culture we have sought to maintain here at Wilson, and it is exactly the legacy Pat is leaving behind as he tackles a new chapter in his life. “The customer always comes first,” Pat reminds us. “If there is anything that I want to be known for, it’s sticking to my word and always putting the customer first.”

As for how he plans to spend his newfound time, Pat has no lack of ideas. His first priority—after a few quiet days of trout fishing, of course!—will be scratching off an item on his bucket list by spending a week at Yellowstone. An avid outdoorsman, he also plans to spend plenty of time hunting and fishing.  He will continue coaching youth football and lacrosse as well.

Although we will miss having him around day-to-day, sharing his wisdom and down-to-earth sense of humor, we also feel incredibly lucky to have had Pat with us all these years. Thanks for all you have done for our company, Pat—this is a retirement that is well deserved!