As co-founder of Harmonic Machine Inc., which began almost 20 years ago, Nathan Neels has demonstrated natural leadership skills through successive years when the company doubled in size. His unique knack for investing in the growth of his more than 50 employees creates a workplace made up of people who feel empowered, cared for and respected. According to his nominator, who calls Nathan an outstanding leader, he motivates and encourages his team members to give their best and is using modern technology to enable them to excel by maximizing efficiency. He knows how to get the most out of his employees, giving them a lot of responsibility and creating an atmosphere where everyone feels ownership over their workspace.

Nathan leads many of his team members through training courses, and he continually invests in educating those around him,” his nominator says. Most recently, about 15 Harmonic Machine employees worked through a 12-week course on productivity, and another group completed a mastermind study on John Maxwell’s book, “Leadership Gold.”

Having recently obtained ISO:9001 certification, Nathan continues to push forward, embracing technology such as the Industrial Internet of Things and automation.

“As employees, we will all gladly follow Nathan as he embraces advanced technologies and the winds of change that blow through our industry,” his nominator says. “I witnessed him invest in and adopt robotics before any other shop I knew about was doing so.”

Nathan says he values being a constructive force in the local manufacturing industry and is currently working toward his MBA. “I lead a progressive company that values employees and has a modern and positive workplace culture,” he says.

For more information about other Production Machining 2019 Emerging Leaders, read “Meet Production Machining’s 2019 Emerging Leaders.”

If you’d like to nominate an Emerging Leader for 2020 or find out more information about the program, visit our nomination page.