“When you’re born you create a path. How do you educate yourself? Who do you hang with? These are important choices.” – Rich Cole
Growing up in the shadow of Notre Dame’s Golden Dome in South Bend, Indiana, a young Rich Cole was never far from his Lego or motorized erector kits. That doesn’t surprise anyone who’s visited Rich in his Buchanan office, where he keeps a collection of Hot Wheels and a Lego-constructed vehicle.
“When I was young, my mom, who’s from England, told me, ‘You might be interested in mechanical drawing.’ So I took drafting classes in high school, and so it began.”
Rich, who has an older brother George, says he could have ended up a cook like their father, owner of “Cole’s Café in Buchanan. “That’s where my love of breakfast began. I got paid $1.50/hour to do dishes and cook. But it wasn’t my passion,” he says.
“Funny thing, before my father bought his diner on Red Bud Trail, he worked at Clark Equipment, which at the time may have been located in the very building I work in now.”
Rich credits his father, who toiled 17 hours a day at the diner, for inheriting a good work ethic and witty sense of humor. But when he followed his passion and went to Lincoln Technical Institute in Indianapolis, where he finished at the top of his drafting classes, he admits “I guess Mom was right.”
CAREER PATH
“My first real job was at Capital Technologies. I worked there until six months after 9/11 and was laid off. So, I worked roofing and siding at my brother George’s company. It was the biggest piece of humble pie you could eat. To make it worse, I don’t like heights.
“While I was still roofing, Dave Goodenough, who was at Dane Systems, reached out. He had heard I was a good designer through a former Capital colleague and took a chance and hired me as an engineer when many wouldn’t have.
“I did all I could at Dane, went briefly to Eagle, then John Berndt, who was at Edgewater, got me an interview with Rick Blake and, once again, Dave Goodenough. I picked up right away on what a good guy Rick was. I told myself, “I’ll do whatever it takes to work at Edgewater.
“I began as a mechanical engineer in 2013 before a two-year role in project management. Now I’m a mechanical design engineer. When the company expanded to Buchanan, I was one of the first seven to join. We all did a little bit of everything. During COVID, we adapted.
My son Jacob works at Edgewater Buchanan as an apprenticeship machine builder. My advice to him was, “Every real job that I ever got, was a result of someone there knowing me and recommended me for the position. Your reputation precedes you.”
“I’ve been involved with FIRST Robotics most of my time at Edgewater. Tim Dunaj at Kendall Electric asked me if I would be interested in being a judge at the FRC event in St. Joseph High School. It sounded like fun, so I gave it shot and since then it has become a huge part of my life. It’s incredibly rewarding to speak to students who have a passion for STEM. Both of our sons have been involved. Our youngest son’s team had the opportunity to compete in the World Championship in Houston this April.
EDGEWATER PRIDE
“What I’m most proud of is how I’ve grown as an individual here. I’ve learned what it’s like to work at a very nice place. We’re all very proud of what we do, we’re really nice to each other. We can have disagreements, but at the end of the day, we work well with each other. When you’re born you create a path. How do you educate yourself? Who do you hang with? These are important choices.
