.jpg)
Q: Greg, what led you to engineering?
Greg: I’ve always been the kind of person who wants to understand how things work and then figure out how to make them work better. That curiosity naturally pulled me into engineering. I like that it’s hands-on and practical: you’re solving real problems, and you can see the impact of what you build.
A lot of my background has been taking what customers are dealing with in the field and translating it into solutions that are reliable and repeatable. That mix of technical complexity and real-world payoff is what’s kept me engaged over the years.
Nicopress appealed to me for the same reason. The company has a strong reputation for quality, reliability and safety, especially in critical applications where it has to be right every time. I also saw a mindset of continuous improvement and a real commitment to supporting customers, and that’s the kind of environment where engineering can make a meaningful difference.
Q: What trends are you watching in cable and wire connector work?
Greg: We’re seeing the bar rise across the board. Customers want higher performance, more traceability and tighter compliance as standards keep evolving. At the same time, everyone’s under pressure for faster lead times and solutions that fit a specific application. The part I always come back to is that selection, installation and certification really matter. If any one of those gets missed, you’re gambling with safety and long-term performance.
That’s also why we stay closely tied to sales. The goal is to keep them confident and well supported, especially when the application gets technical. We do that through regular product training, reviewing applications together, jumping into customer conversations when it helps, and making sure the team has current documentation and real-world examples they can point to.
Q: What’s the difference between “new” and “better” when it comes to engineering at Nicopress?
Greg: Innovation only matters when it helps a customer win in the real world. A lot of people hear “innovation” and immediately think “new product launch,” but to me it’s just as often about making what we already do more repeatable, efficient and reliable.
Sometimes that’s a design tweak that makes an installation more forgiving. Sometimes it’s clearer documentation, a better process or a training piece that helps a crew get consistent results across multiple operators. When we can stay in front of a customer, those kinds of improvements change the conversation. Instead of competing on price alone, we can talk about what customers actually care about, and that’s connections that perform the way they’re supposed to.
A good example of that is a customer we worked with who was having recurring installation issues. They were frustrated enough that they’d basically written off the whole product category, and not just one sleeve or one tool, but the entire approach. So, we didn’t treat it like a “sell harder” situation. Instead, we got closer to their process: what cable they were using, how they were setting up the splice, what tool and groove they were running, how they were sequencing presses, and so on.
Once you’re in it with them, patterns start to show up. We found the root cause, then backed it up with practical guidance and training. That’s what turned it around. The installs becamem consistent and the issues disappeared. In the end, we won the order and we became their preferred supplier, because we helped them solve the problem for good.
Q: What’s your leadership approach, and what are you focused on improving as a team right now?
Greg: For me, it starts with clear goals, open communication and mutual respect. Engineering work gets complicated fast, so people need to know what we’re solving, why it matters and what “good” looks like when we’re done. I spend a lot of time making sure everyone understands how their work shows up for customers because a design decision doesn’t stay on paper. It affects how easily something installs, how repeatable the result is and, ultimately, how confident someone feels putting that connection into service.
Short term, we’re focused on being faster and tighter as a group. That means getting more efficient in how we work, more responsive when a question comes in. The best solutions usually happen when engineering, sales and operations are all looking at the same problem together.
Long term, the goal is growth without losing what makes Nicopress the trusted name it’s been for over a century. We want to keep pushing better designs, processes and support, but always with the same reliability and safety standard in mind.
Q: What do you do outside of work?
Greg: I enjoy hands-on projects, problem-solving outside of work and spending time with family. Anything that involves building or improving something tends to grab my interest.
Q: Any words you live by?
Greg: “Do it right the first time.” It applies equally to engineering, business and relationships.
Q: Final advice for customers?
Greg: If there’s one thing I’d tell customers, it’s that product selection and installation matter more than people think. Most problems don’t start with the connector. They start with a mismatch in the application planning, or later, with a small step getting skipped. If you bring us in early—engineering, tech support, whomever you need—we can help you choose the right setup, confirm the process and avoid headaches. It reduces potential rework and gives you a connection you can trust.
Connect with Nicopress online or call 216-361-0221.