See Video: AMT Honors Richard G. Kline Sr.

AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology is honoring Richard G. “Rick” Kline Sr., chairman of Gardner Business Media (GBM) - parent company of Production Machining, with its Albert W. Moore Leadership Award. The award recognizes industry leaders for outstanding contributions to the AMT membership and manufacturing technology.

See video of Rick Kline Sr.’s acceptance speech given at AMT’s MFG Meeting 2023 event.

Kline is an apt recipient as he has spent his life in the industry impacting a generation of manufacturers. “I was a young Modern Machine Shop representative calling on the Detroit auto industry in the 1960s, which was the ‘Mad Men’ era of advertising,” Kline says.

As the grandson of company founder Don Gardner, Kline Sr. could have fulfilled the cliché about family businesses: the first generation makes it, the second generation maintains it and the third generation kills it. Instead, he thrived. “With all the industry purchasing agents and automotive ad agencies, it was a tough market to be in, but it was a great market because it made me prove myself,” Kline adds.

Under his leadership as chairman and CEO, GBM has become a publisher of manufacturing technology magazines that reach beyond the U.S. and has expanded its influence as a media provider to connect with audiences in a variety of ways. Kline Sr. has grown the company to about 120 people, producing eight English-language publications and three publications for the Mexican market, as well as becoming an industry digital content leader, diversifying its products with Gardner Intelligence reports and in-person industry events.

Moreover, Kline Sr. has ensured that the next two generations understand what it means to be a leader. These include son Rick Kline Jr., GBM president; daughter Melissa Kline Skavlem, GBM chief marketing officer; as well as a niece, nephew and grandchildren, all active participants in the future of GBM.

“I joke and say you have to pick your kids and grandchildren very carefully,” Kline Sr. says. “Seriously, I tell our family that the ethic and effort they exhibit will become models for the company.”

Kline Sr.’s efforts have had a deep effect on the manufacturing industry. “Rick Kline Sr. is one of those rare individuals whose impact on the industry is hard to measure but unquestionably profound,” says Doug Woods, AMT president. “His vision helped advance the manufacturing industry — amplifying its value to the well-being and prosperity of future generations. To recognize his lifetime dedication to the manufacturing technology community, AMT is honored to present him with its Albert W. Moore Leadership Award.”

Kline Sr. is quick to shine light on others. One of the not-so-secrets to GBM’s success is “hiring people who are smarter than we are and not getting in the way of good people,” Kline Sr. reveals. During the early days of his leadership in the 1970s, he cites Modern Machine Shop editor Ken Gettleman for pushing more coverage of international developments and numerical control.

Here, Rick Kline Sr. shares a bit about the history of family-owned Gardner Business Media.

At the time, Kline Sr. recalls how the machine tool industry was provincially American, saying they became complacent, prideful, lost their way. “And overseas competitors ate our lunch. That was when Modern Machine Shop started to become a thought leader,” Kline Sr. notes. “We’re still doing it that way today, helping people navigate technologies such as automation and additive manufacturing. If we keep producing content that people want and doing good things for each other, we can’t help but succeed.”

On Friday, April 28, Rick Kline Sr. was presented with the Albert W. Moore Leadership Award at the 2023 MFG Meeting, powered by AMT and in partnership with NTMA, held April 26-28 in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit MFGmeeting.com.