Published 07/02/2025

Built by People

Remembering and celebrating colleagues, and valuing the everyday moments we share.

editorial

Editor-In-Chief, Gardner Business Media

The past month was a long and difficult one. In May, Gardner Business Media lost one of its longtime employees, Tom Beard, who made an indelible mark on the company in many ways during his career of 36 years with the company. Tom joined the company as an editor for Modern Machine Shop and became the company’s content director, helping to shape so much of the strategy that Products Finishing (PF) and its sister brands continue to embrace as we serve the various manufacturing industries.

I first met Tom when I was trying to get my foot in the door with the company. There were two publishers in Cincinnati at the time — I worked at the other one — and if you were in publishing here, almost everyone was (and still is) connected to someone else. And so, Tom met me for lunch. I instantly liked him. Although there was no opening with Gardner at the time, he spent the afternoon talking with me, asking me about my career and just listening. A few months later, the right opportunity with Gardner opened up and I got the job. In the years that followed, Tom and I would occasionally get a chance to talk and he always made me feel the same as he did at that first meeting — listened to. That’s what anyone who knew Tom will tell you. He was a great mentor who truly cared about passing the torch and continuing the work he’d invested his own career in.

Just the other day, I attended a retirement party for another longtime Gardner employee, Bob Huff, who has filled more sales, marketing and strategic roles through the years than I can recount. Many of you likely remember Bob running the PF booth at events and promoting our events. Like Tom, Bob always listens, is always humble and is as eager to learn as much as he is to teach.

Saying goodbye and farewell to colleagues and friends is never easy. But, it’s an important reminder to appreciate the people around you and to never take your time together for granted. Sitting down to write this month’s editor’s letter, I found myself reflecting on how much I truly value the people I work with. I’m not only talking about the amazing editors on my team, who go the extra mile every day, every week, every issue — but my colleagues on Gardner’s other brands and the industry partners and customers that we cross paths with at trade shows and events, teams that welcome us into their facilities and all of you that we engage with every day as we conduct business. Not only because we are partners in work, but because we spend time together — which is truly the most precious thing we all have.

When I think of the relationships that I’ve made over the past seven years working for Gardner, I feel incredibly lucky. So many people not only opened my eyes to new ideas and perspectives, but have shared aspects of their lives with me — stories about their kids, travel advice, book recommendations, and insights into their hobbies, musical tastes or favorite foods.

And these are things that bring us closer as we collectively work to forward the industries we serve. The manufacturing community is, at its core, about people — without one another, it would all fall apart. I’ll see you out there.