From the Reader: A Road Less Traveled — Mark Norton
A Road Less Traveled
My professional career started out not in a factory, but on a stage. After graduating high school in 1974, I went to Gonzaga University in my hometown of Spokane, Washington. I was enrolled in a special honors curriculum for gifted students, where I had good success my first year … and then dropped out to become a professional touring musician (piano and keyboards).
Touring was an education all in itself — meeting people from all walks of life and different cultures, long hours of traveling, and seeing a good portion of the Western USA over a span of three years. The lifestyle, however, was not conducive to long-term relationships or having a family. I married at 21, lived in Seattle for a year while still performing, and then returned to Spokane to get back to the “real world.”
Having no industry experience or degree, my first job was on the order desk for an industrial manufacturer and distributor. I do have both an artistic and analytical/math mind — I fell in love with the creative aspect of the work and the challenges of solving complex manufacturing problems in the supply chain. I found I had a talent for connecting with people, helping them to solve problems.
Back then, there was no internet, cell phones, or even fax machines. When I was traveling as a key account rep, finding the nearest phone booth was the only way to communicate real-time with customers or co-workers. And forget GPS — I remember carrying around huge maps on my lap while driving, trying to find sites in major West Coast cities (probably not the safest way to navigate)!
I was fortunate to be able to build relationships and collaboration among companies to solve problems. But to continue to get better at that, I felt that understanding the ecosystem of my customers and collaborators was critical. With no internet at the time to research information, I subscribed to technical book publishing companies and learned about tool making, material science, statistical process control, lean manufacturing, and anything that touched on the manufacturing world.
That self-education track enabled me to build a very broad understanding of industry. I was able to talk with engineers, production leads, and CFOs or CEOs with enough background to make them feel that I understood their world and their specific challenges. That knowledge helped me to sell vertically through an entire organization and become what was later termed a “trusted advisor.”
Perhaps most importantly, my guiding principle was always to put the customer’s interests first — even if it was not advantageous to me in the short term. Doing so has created a high level of trust and quality relationships that have served me well in my professional life.
When I quit traveling and settled back down in Spokane, I was invited to join the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium, a small regional industry group covering Eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana. It was my first time serving on a board, and my first experience in working with a non-profit entity.
I became board chair a year later, and started the learning curve of non-profit industry development work. In 2024, I took on the role of executive director; we re-branded as the Northwest I90 Manufacturing Alliance, and expanded our industry scope beyond just aerospace to include energy, space, and medical manufacturing sectors.
This move was more in line with our regional industries, but I also believe that all advanced manufacturing sectors face common challenges (AI, workforce, automation, etc.). I think that rather than staying in our industry silos, it just makes sense to work together in a cross-sector fashion to solve these problems.
NIMA works with the entire ecosystem around manufacturing — colleges, apprenticeship organizations, National Science Foundation and manufacturing extension partners, economic development organizations, underserved community groups, and fellow industry groups in the Northwest USA and Canada. I can truthfully say that the leadership of these groups is uniformly dedicated to supporting industry and their communities, and willing collaboration. Collaboration is critical if we expect to have our industry voice heard by our local, regional, and federal entities.
Most of all, I believe in the positive impact that manufacturers can have on their communities. Our industry provides great career paths — whether for non-degreed trade/tech roles, or advanced degree careers in engineering, finance, etc. Where we have seen an increase in the working poor population segment in recent years, industry can provide an opportunity for economic security and an exciting and fulfilling path toward professional development at any level. In the end, if we can help our neighbors and our communities, that is a great legacy of which to be a part!
