Business Leaders of the Year: Hulecki led a company in crisis, while honoring a friend

Photo/MATT WRIGHT Gary Hulecki, CEO of MTD Micro Molding

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By Susan Shalhoub

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Gary Hulecki learned how to be a small business leader at age 17 at another small business – a very small business, with just two employees: him and the owner of a tool and die shop in Leominster.

“He told me, ‘You are going to do everything: Banking, payroll, repair of the molds … He was a one-man show, and when he went on vacation, I was his No. 2 man,” said Hulecki of Ronald Ringer.

Hulecki did not go the traditional college route, but to trade school. The move concerned his parents, but the lessons he learned at Ringers Die Repair would last him a lifetime, and serve him well as CEO of Charlton manufacturer MTD Micro Molding.

One of those lessons was the importance of cash flow, said Hulecki.

“I would deliver invoices to customers, and he always told me, ‘Don’t leave without the check.’ So, at 17 years old, I’d stay there. I’d hang around. Some customers would make me wait for the check. But business is all about cash flow, and I always remembered that,” he said.

Hulecki has been with MTD for 20 years, growing as the company has grown.

In 2021, MTD Micro Molding hit its goal of 20% growth. If a Best Places to Work award from Plastics News that same year is any indication, the 41 employees of MTD Micro Molding are solidly behind Hulecki and his brand of communication, transparency, and planning.

Fulfilling his friend’s vision

Some leadership qualities, though, are more difficult for a mentor to teach. Yet Hulecki has managed to excel in those ways, too – particularly leading in a crisis.

Hulecki had been leading MTD daily operations for years when company President Dennis Tully died unexpectedly in 2019. Hulecki jumped into action to keep the company on course.

“He was a mentor and the company owner, but also a friend,” said Hulecki. “I didn’t know how people would react, but we all got together and had a big company meeting. Everybody said, ‘What do you need?’”

Hulecki stepped into the leadership role. His humble nature is evident, praising his team during this time.

“They support me on all these adventures. They come to me with solutions,” he said.

One of these adventures was a sizable facility expansion Tully had set in motion years before. The project – under Hulecki’s supervision – was even completed on time, despite a COVID pandemic no one could have foreseen.

Hulecki shone, even with the adversity after Tully’s death, said management consultant Leo Casey, partner in the Arizona firm B2B CFO, who has worked with MTD and Hulecki for more than 10 years.

“I’ve seen this kind of upheaval cause companies to fall apart, but he kept the company afloat. Gary works on the company, not in the company. What I mean by that is that he doesn’t get in people’s way. He lets them do their jobs,” Casey said.

Casey, who has multiple small business clients, said this ability to let go of control is not a trait he sees often in small business leaders. Many, he said, have a hard time relinquishing control, and yet, people respond well to Hulecki, appreciating his respect for their work style.

Hulecki has executed Tully’s vision as he would have wanted, Casey said.

Understanding talent

Hulecki puts the right people in the right positions, maximizing their impact to the organization. He believes in finding individuals who are driven to serve and allowing them to do what they really like to do, examining how they would bring value to MTD.

Micro molding is a niche industry, Hulecki said, with only a handful of perfectly qualified candidates out there.

“It’s not always about what they’ve done in the past,” he said. “My right-hand man was in HVAC. But I loved his energy, and he wanted to succeed.”

Casey tells of Hulecki giving his business card to a woman he spoke with in a restaurant, in order to get her into MTD’s talent pipeline.

“She ended up coming in and made her mark,” he said.

Casey said Hulecki finds it rewarding to give other people new responsibilities and witness them learn and grow. That all begins with the right job, and a person who is the right fit.

Just like Hulecki was at age 17, back in that tool and die shop in Leominster.

2022 WBJ Business Leaders of the Year