Yeah, we're building confidence uh with our customers, no question about it. But the industry is moving so fast. There's so much out there. We have to continue to deliver on schedule with a quality product. You know, it's been fun to see the size of jobs increase, you know. They're bigger projects now. Something that separates us is Barrett and Blake's involvement in the company. So we're just now still we're big enough where we can have the right resources in place, but small enough to where Blake's still involved. Barrett's involved every day. You know, if a customer has an issue, Blake wants them to call. And I think that that separates us from a lot of, you know, I would say corporate company. Welcome to the Studio 321 podcast, powered by Brightway, the Steve Trout agency. We're sitting down with real estate pros, insurance nerds, mortgage masterminds, and local legends who are making moves on the Space Coast. Hosted by the best insurance crew in the 321. At Studio 321, it's all about community, real connections, and sharing a few laughs along the way. Strap in, let's launch into today's episode. The Space Coast is in the middle of one of the biggest growth periods in its history, and behind every rocket launch, every new facility, every aerospace company setting up shop here, there's a team of people building the infrastructure that makes it all possible. That's exactly who we have in the studio today. Acadian Contractors is a third-generation family business with over 50 years of history, and they are all in on brevard. Oh, and one of them is my big brother Nate. Gentlemen, welcome to Studio 321. What's up? Thanks, bro. Yeah, man. Thanks for coming in, dude. I appreciate it. I'd like to give a little fist bump before we get started, you know. Let's do it. Um what I wanted to do, I had a long intro prepared for each of you, put a lot of time into it, and then I'm sitting there reading and I'm like, man, this thing's way too long. I'm just gonna have you guys go around, do it a little different this time. Going to have you guys go around and kind of introduce yourself, um, talk a little bit about you know what brought you to Acadian and your history with the company and where you're at today. And I guess we'll start with you, Blake, since I know you got a lot to say on that topic. So well, I'm Blake Brussard, president of Acadian. Um, my story is a little different uh because it is my family's business. I so I grew up in the business uh when I was a young kid. I wanted to work with my dad. Um but went to LSU, graduated in business and right out of LSU, came into Acadian. At the time, we were a much smaller company uh than we are today. But Acadians also connected to another business actually uh called Bruce Art Brothers, is where my family got into business over 75 years ago. My grandfather and his two brothers bought an old wooden tugboat. Oh wow, and these guys they were pioneers of their day. Um didn't use a lot of words, they didn't talk a lot, they just had grit, they worked hard uh and delivered. Little did they know, you know, that they would ignite a legacy that's here today. And it's so cool to see uh where we've come. But my grandfather, he was always really good at at paying attention to what the customer needed. So uh Acadian comes around by another family business uh in 1973, and my grandfather bought Acadian in the early 80s because he had realized the customers that he had at the time they needed fabrication done. So he picked up Acadian at the time. There was probably 25 employees, very small shop, um, mainly fabrication. But we have taken that business uh over the last 30, 40 years and really really grown it. So from myself, uh I was in sales for half of my career, sales and sales management. About 10 years ago, moved into operations as vice president. In the last seven years, I've been sitting as president of Acadian. That's awesome, man. Yep. Well, glad to have you here. We got obviously gonna have a lot of questions for you. Yes, but let's move on to Nuno here. Yeah, so my name is Nuno Meine. I am the director for the East Coast, Acadian on the East Coast. Uh I've been for you know with Acadian for six years now. I know the time goes fast, man, when when you look back. But um it's a funny story, you know. I was very focused on my health at the time, going to the gym, and I met Blake. You know, we we were both going. Blake was my neighbor, we live in the same neighborhood. Our wives were, you know, friends and having a relationship, and we just start talking about work. But to be honest, I never really understood exactly what Acadian was. I never really, you know, I felt like it was a small shop, you know. I didn't, to be honest, I never really understood the magnitude. And then, you know, the stars aligned. And one day I make a phone call. I was not happy. Uh, I need you know to find something else. And then I asked him, he's like, is that quality still open? You still need help? And he said, Yeah, man, let's go. Bring it on. And that's how it started. You know, I went for a quick interview with Well, we had interviewed each other for a year in the gym. You know, it's like, I just need you to go and talk with someone, you know. So I got there and then the full gang was there, you know. So but they treated me very right. They make sure I was, you know, ready for the challenge. And then yeah, I joined. Um I'm I'm glad I did. You know, it's been a long journey and then bring me to Florida, so it's been a pretty cool story to talk about. So you guys still in the gym together? I've been going to the gym. No, a runner. Great question. That's a very sad topic, don't you? I'm gonna brag on Nuno a little bit. Okay. So two years ago, we were talking about running and exercise, and and he had never been a runner, to my knowledge. Yes. And he signs up for the T minus 10 miler here on the Space Ghost. And that was his first and maybe only run that he's done. But he's success he was successful at a 10-mile run across the Cape. I was turning 50, so I was crazy enough to commit, you know, and he was always on me, like you need to do it. You need to do it. When are you gonna do it? I was like, okay, let me do it then. And then it was too late to back up. So I didn't. He did it. Yeah, yeah. Check the box, done. No more running, please. And then uh it was it was cool. Oddly enough, I think the registration just opened uh for this year's. I'm not following that. Uh I don't know what you're talking about. And that probably lays some groundwork for some future questions on your guys' culture, but I love that you're, you know, you knew Nuno before you brought him in. Yeah. You know, bringing in you know a friend from outside almost. And uh and one thing I was worried about was you know going to the company and you know, working in it at the time Blake was my my direct you know supervisor. I felt like this will compromise our relationship and the way we are, and and they didn't, you know. And it was cool to see Blake being the same person inside his world like he was outside, you know. So that was pretty cool. That was one of the reasons that motivated me to be with the Kenyan for sure. That's pretty cool. All right, next but not least, my big bro, Nathan Trout in the house. Just for the record, I'm the middle bro, but uh yeah, I am Steven's uh middle or middle? Middle. Oh, okay. I am Steven's uh middle brother, I guess, or the the the little bit older than him, but um Nathan Trout. But I came on with Katie and I was you know going back a little bit. I was in the medical industry for 20 plus years and uh kind of floundering, I would say, needed more excitement. And my story is definitely different than their two, but I came across uh before I even came across the the job opening they had here, they were they were hiring uh a business development person. I came across Nuno's LinkedIn profile, and I started researching from there. I took pictures of it, screenshots, sent it to my brother. You know, what good networkers do. Do you know this guy? No, but so-and-so knows this guy. Sent it to a friend of mine at the port. He was part of the propeller club, so I started harassing Nuno online a little bit. And now he tells me, yeah, I couldn't respond to you because it's not professional. But um, we went through the process and uh God, what a blessing it's been uh to work with Nuno, he's been a great mentor to me. Uh, and this later on in my career. And Blake's been awesome, who I report into Blake now as a as a sales uh manager or business development manager. But uh what a blessing, man. It's been awesome. There's so much excitement in the area. And when I started at Acadian, we had two cars in the parking lot, Nuno and myself. And uh I literally the first day I put together my own furniture for my office. And uh so it was cool to be kind of on the forefront of that and and to see us grow. And now I don't even have a parking spot, I can't park anywhere. You're lucky if you get an office. Yeah, lucky I'm sharing an office now to be discussed. Um so but it's it's been a great experience, and I've been with the company just under three and a half years now, but it's been awesome, man. It's just super uh energetic around there. And of course, you know, when I first started my career, I started working with my brother, uh, Dave, our older brother. And it's really cool to be back in that atmosphere with Blake and his brothers and Nuno. It's it's really a family atmosphere. Um, you know, we tell each other we love each other, we hug each other when we see each other, so it's really cool to be around. No, that's really cool, man, because you would think like some of those, you know, the the bigger companies that are doing workout at the Cape, you would just think it's so corporate, you know. So it's super cool to see that you guys really do have like a special bond um behind the scenes. And I know Nate's been thrilled working for you guys. He says nothing but the best things. And um yeah, and as his little as his little brother, I appreciate you guys taking care of him. So um take care of us as well. Yeah, yeah, he take care of us as well. No, he's uh I would say this about my brother Nate, man. When he's passionate about something or when he's all in, he is all freaking in, dude. I mean, to the point where it probably drives you guys a little bit as that. No, no, it's never too much text message, never, never. Nah, man, I think camaraderie is key. You know, uh when the teams align, there's nothing we can't do. You know, when you trust each other, you can move a lot faster. Oh, absolutely. So we need to better talk straight, you know, coach each other up, have post meetings, talk about how we did, you know. That's the secret sauce of Acadian. Yeah, no, I love it. Um so you being a Blake, you being a third generation owner, um what kind of pressure comes with that? You know, now that you're the president taking over, uh it's you know what I mean? Like, did it come with pressure or is it felt like more like a privilege, you know? It came with a lot more pressure than I anticipated. Yeah, when I first got in the seat, I picked up reading books, a lot of books. I was up to about 50 leadership books a year. Oh, wow. Because I knew I needed help. You know, we had such a great team that was working hard, but we had to build some processes uh amongst the team to get us moving. You know, I felt like on Monday everybody was rounded up together all aligned. Then on Tuesday, everybody went in different directions. And and now today we're a much more focused organization. Yeah, I love it. Yep. Yeah, and I do want to say with Blake too, is his leadership style is pretty awesome because he does it by example. So he'll post books that he's reading. Yeah. But I'm, you know, we don't read like our mom never taught us how to read, but barely. But uh, but Blake, you know, is posting all the books he's reading online, posting how many runs he's doing, and it made it it really kind of energizes you to say, man. Maybe I need to go for a run. Maybe I need to read more books, you know. So I think you know, to attribute to him, he he does it by example, not by words. I say. Well, there was I remember when you finished that 10 miler, you know, you got a little emotional. He had his wife and kids there, which was amazing to see that emotion. And later that night we're sitting at his house and we talked about that emotion that came across him, you know. And I told him, I said, No, no, that feeling that you had, you can't buy it, and nobody can give it to you. You know, it's that sweat that you put in, you know you worked hard, and and that feeling cannot be bought. I was so proud of him. That's awesome. Yeah, no, for sure. And then inspiration, I think it's contagious, you know. He helps us feel and if you don't, you feel bad about it. So that's what it goes like, you know. Yeah, I would imagine you guys being like the leaders of the company, you know, that trickles down. Absolutely. You know, it starts at the top, right? Yep. And I can see in your guys' passion and your love for one another that that's got that trickles down to the rest of the field, and and it really does drive everybody else to be better. You know, so it's awesome. So about four years ago, you guys made the decision to open up a facility here on the Space Coast. Kind of walk us through that. Like what attracted you to here and and why here, why nowhere else? We had taken a leap of faith. There's no question about it. But uh before that, we had been awarded uh a contract to build a big structure. Uh there was a big EPC contractor that was awarded this structure, and they sourced us for fabrication. And uh, you know, throughout that next year, we were learning more about the aerospace industry, we were learning more about their challenges, you know, where they needed help. We were building relationships. So by the time we delivered that first project, you know, we had a good feel for what was gonna happen, you know, over the next decade, specifically with this one customer. And uh we started communicating with that customer about what we could do for them here uh in Florida, and and they had a need, you know. So we took a trip, we looked at a lot of real estate options. At first, we uh we had we we struggled to find one. Uh and then the facility that we found, we we thought it was too big. We're like, it's probably not you know, it's probably too big for what we need, but we're gonna we're gonna go ahead and buy it. And it did not take long to realize that it was way too small. Yeah. You know, that's a great problem to have, I would imagine. And really, once we got here, I think uh confidence was building because traditionally all in gas for 50 years, you know. But the more we learned about the aerospace industry, the more we felt we could contribute uh on these launch pads because it was a lot of the same stuff that we do. Yeah. Nate, how has that been, man? Basically, starting with a company that had almost zero footprint here on the Space Coast, and then you being such a part of that growth. Like, kind of walk us through that and what were some of your big wins? Yeah, I think you know, there's a lot of that to go around. Nuno, you know, obviously opened the facility here along with Blake and the team. And I think the the cool thing about it all is that they want to be involved in the community, they want to be here and stay. Nuno's pushed me from day one, get more involved in networking events. It doesn't matter if it's aerospace or not. Let's take care of the people around here and hiring local people and not bringing them in. Um, all that's been you know just crazy to be a part of. And and Nuno, to his to his leadership style, it's like, you know, let's do it the right way and not cut corners. Let's do it the way Acadian wants it done here locally. So I know you know Blake is appreciative of him of being that voice locally here. But you know, it's funny because we would get you know a ten thousand dollar coding job and we would be like, yes, this is the best thing. We made it, we we made it, we go out and celebrate all night and now you know we still are, we still are very humble, we still celebrate not as much as we used to, but we still celebrate it. Come on. But uh, you know, we're we're definitely involved in multi-million dollar projects now, and it's pretty neat to be a part of. And uh just the other cool part about being here and being local is is the first thing that I did was just to connect to all the people that we know we know growing up. So a lot of the people we met with originally, you know, Nuno got tired of doing lunches for the first couple months because it was like every day we were meeting with a friend of ours from that we grew up with, or a friend of ours' parents, or sister, or brother, or something at that point, just to connect the dots. Yeah, yeah. And then when that started rolling and those dots started connecting, and we started getting involved in some higher level um, you know, people at the this the aerospace industry, it really kind of took off from there. Yeah. Well, I'd imagine too. I mean, with some of this stuff, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Yep. You know, and Nate's probably one of the best connectors I know. You know what I mean? Merritt Island. You can't go anywhere with this cat around for barking. He's a legend. He's a legend, okay. He's a little bit of a legend. Yeah, that's right. Uh but uh no, you seriously can't go anywhere without my brother, without getting stopped, somebody wanting to say hello. And so, you know, and we do, you know, born and raised here, we have a lot of connections with people that you know work out at the Space Center and involved in aerospace and stuff like that. So I'm sure it's been a it's been pretty cool. But I loved what you guys have done, really, man. It's like even with uh the event you're doing tomorrow with the crawfish boil, where you're bringing the community together, you're getting all your centers of influence together to really just have a good time, share your Louisiana roots. Yes, like all that is like a big way outside looking in, it's just an all part of a big picture that you guys are painting. Yeah, right. And it it gets the community involved, it gets your vendors involved, it gets everybody that you guys want to be around doing business with too involved, right? And they get to see who you really are. Um and I I've just thought that was cool because I remember the very first one I got there and I was like, what does any of this have to do with aerospace? You know what I mean? I was looking at it super narrow-minded, like not, but man, I mean, it's just you know, being in business, it's this the number one way to really connect with people, right? Just bring them together, eat with them, fill their bellies up, and share your culture. Absolutely. Uh, you know, I'm a firm believer that people do business with people they like, you know, and people they trust. And and we want to we want to build a trusting relationship with them, but you gotta get to know them. Yeah. You know, it's not all business. Yeah. So that crawfish boil, man. So we got some special going on tomorrow. The uh we bring in on bringing in the guys from Louisiana. We I'll let you take that one. Yeah. Yeah, no, so we uh I don't want to spoil, you know, the uh the the party, but uh we we got something planned for sure. We'll have the the local cuisine, you know. Uh it's not coming straight from Louisiana, but it's still based and very influenced by Louisiana people. Okay. Uh we're gonna have a live band for the first time. We're gonna test it. I think you know we were missing some excitement at the party, so we're gonna test a live band that we are excited about. And of course, you know, drinks to and then entertainment, a little, you know, opening. We're doing also a grand opening, so we're you know, showcasing our new facility. So we've got to be a good idea. My brother for entertainment. Yeah, he's been doing us. Yes, yeah, but it'll be a big party. We are excited to to host it. Uh it's a big appreciation, you know. Like I said, uh, we don't need to do it to do business, you know, but there's something we want to show and be appreciative of our customers. You know, there's a lot of trust. Oh, we want to recognize that on us. So for people listening that don't know what Acadian does, like kind of walk us through like what is what does Acadian do day to day? Like what are some of your bigger projects? You don't have to get into specifics on it, but what are some of the bigger projects you guys are working on? And how can other people in the aerospace industry kind of you know find you, I guess, through with that? Uh here on the East Coast, uh, there's a lot of launch pads being built. Uh, and that infrastructure piece is where we come in. Uh, a lot of heavy steel fabrication, a lot of their big components they need built. Uh, and there's a lot more pads than people realize that are going up right now. We've seen it increase over the last four or five years. Yeah. Uh here in Florida, we've seen some uh some stuff in Texas. We've worked in uh delivered product to California. So there's a lot of different structures they need built. Mainly around carbon steel, there's a lot of stainless. Um we also do a lot of construction work here. So we don't only fabricate it either in Louisiana or here at our East Coast office, but we also follow it through uh for installation. Yeah. So when you guys are seeing rockets go up and stuff, is it feel you take a lot of pride in that, or you're like, man, we were a part of that. Not just us at this table. I can tell you, even the guys back home in Louisiana, this industry has really uh delivered new energy into our business. You know, our team, our craftsmen, they are proud, you know, to play their part. And they should be, you know. It's it's a big deal, you know. It's a big commitment for a big team to support it and and make it, you know, coming alive and being installed and and and working, it it's pretty cool. You know, we watch it and sometimes we need to pinch ourselves because we forget about how cool it is. It's it's it's amazing to be there. Yeah, it's definitely been part of the team culture, I would say. At some big launches, even if they're in the middle of the evening on the beach at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. one time. Uh it's it's part of what we do. We take a lot of pride in that and being a little bit, you know, a small part of it, but we definitely got together as a team and seen some of the big launches together. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, we want our customers to be successful. You know, we are part of the journey. When we do something for them, we want them to succeed so they can keep growing and doing more. So we can keep supporting them. Their success is your success. Yeah, absolutely. So we we like Nathan was saying, we want to cheer for them. You know, we want to make sure that they do well, so we are also doing well. Oh, absolutely. We committed. And also, though, it's which I think's neat. And us growing up here, I mean, these are people that live next door to us. And you know, a lot of them have grown Viera. You look at Vieira now, that's all you know, most of it's aerospace people. Yeah, and Marin Island's growth and Titusville's growth, and and Coco's growth, everything around is is aerospace engineers, you know, all the big players are bringing people in from all over the world to work right here and at the Space Goes. No, I mean and and in my industry, again my industry evolves around the real estate business. Yep. You know, your number one product is insuring homeowners, doing homeowners insurance in this area. And so, you know, I'm thrilled to have companies like you guys coming in, you know, helping our our our um you know our environment here and um you know getting our economy kind of booming again you know the Space Center for years, you know, growing up here, we had the shuttle program forever. And then you had that, you know, when the shuttle ended, we really had kind of a a super lull here in our economy, you know, really uncertainty in the future of space and all that. And then you guys, you know, you had people like SpaceX and Blue Origin and some of those really putting some really investment into the private sector, you know. And it's been it's been fun to watch. Like from my seat, it's been super fun to watch with how the Space Coast has grown. And it's energized everybody. Yeah. I mean I hadn't really seen our community come together quite like you know with Artemis II and all that. Yeah. I mean what a cool thing for the whole everybody here. I mean it was really neat to see everybody pulled over on the side of the road, standing on top of their trucks. Like it was old space. Yeah. It was like the old days, you know, when when everybody you know was super invested in in the space program and I think that's happening again. It's just such a big part of our economy here. It really it supports everything really on the Space Coast. I mean that's why we're called the damn Space Coast, right? I mean that's where the name come from well it is you know kind of what you're saying to reiterate that like when we grew up I mean that's why we're called Studio 321. Yeah that's right I love it love it. The launches when we grew up there would be you know it's a couple hundred thousand people came into town they're all over the roads and I think people take it for granted but you see the legacy launches like the Artemis going up and it's back. It's like wow you know that's kind of the next level from the the normal I would say it's almost become redundant like every day you know there's people I mean I'm guilty of not even getting off my couch anymore because there's a rocket launch going up every two days it seems like it's picking up too oh yeah. Which is again great for you guys. You know the guys that are building the infrastructure and are are on the ground floor of all that stuff happening I mean it's huge. And uh yeah I mean obviously four years ago it was probably felt like you were rolling the dice a little bit but um I would imagine now you're like man thank God we did that. Yeah I think we felt the excitement you know yeah of course like played a big role on this you know we when we saw the opportunity we felt like you know we don't want to come here and execute the job and then leave you know let's use this big opportunity to establish you know to commit to to the area yeah to develop Acadian in in Florida and I think that's what really made the difference you know we're not here like some companies are just send some guys to the job and leave you know we we we are local we have you know our own representation so I think that what's making a big difference. Yeah it's wild too because I can remember the first time we walked on a launch pad and I had to pinch myself that we were there you know to do business uh today just today we're on multiple pads same feeling you know we're just blessed we're we're grateful to play our part. Yeah. And I gotta be I mean I gotta be honest I'm just to me I think it would be super damn cool to have a company like you guys have and to be I'm sure you don't actually see a physical check but to see a line item or deposit that might say your your blue origins your and your you know and it's just like I mean that's freaking so cool, right? I mean that's got to be almost like a full circle moment for you know where you launched this thing on the Space Coast and now it's happening and you're rolling and it's got to be a pretty cool feeling. Well and you see the runway of it you know it's there's a space race going on and uh the next decade it's not stopping. So Nate I I know you were in medical sales and you did you were our brother salesperson at his manufacturing plant what has been different about the business development for Acadian like what it what is your focus? Like what are you doing differently now than in your past roles? I don't think the sales cycle's different uh business development you know it's building relationships networking doing all the right things uh trying to get the right people in the room I think the the most difficult hurdle I've had over the last couple years is I'm not an expert you know Blake and Nuno been in the fabrication world for 30 years. I've been in it for three you know I started out from scratch. I knew manufacturing and you know you know logistics of it all but uh trying to learn all the technical aspect and sitting there learning and which Nuno pushed me very hard to be to learn and learn and you know continue that because he knew I was good at the business and sales side he knew I could bring in business he knew I could bring in you know more people to touch around here but you know it's it's being confident in a meeting you know to do things the right way and the way the way that Acadian wants it done. So I think the talk yeah yep so I think uh that's been a learning curve for me especially later on in my career I would say uh but gosh man how exciting you know this is the third industry I've been in I went from plastics you know to medical um and now you know in fabrication so I I'm pretty well rounded now I would say after all these years and it's funny you look back well you know this like when you first started in the industry you're like gosh I'm just a new guy now you're like God I'm the older guy younger people are coming and asking me questions I'm like this is crazy about you know business development side but one cool thing about it is uh Rob who was David's first employee in 1998 and I started with David our older brother in 2002 he's now working at Acadian and he he came to me and said Nate I got 10 years to retire like you think we can make it I'm like I think we're gonna make it 10 years he's like this is awesome you know Rob's even like this is unreal and he's awesome man he never stops working oh I saw his excitement a couple hours ago man great guy there's not a lot like him for sure there's not a lot of people like him he never stops man he's amazing but the cool thing with Rob is he knew me when I was 1918 yeah when he first started with our brother now 30 years later it's like full circle you know from that aspect but yeah it's super cool yeah yeah he was always one of Dave's best employee I mean he's oh yeah he was a grinder for sure never stops never stops man yeah shout out to Rob yeah so have you found in the business development is it starting to get easier now that you guys are rolling I would imagine in the very beginning it was almost hard to get meetings and now it's like now that you've kind of planted a foundation I would imagine it starts to grow its own legs at some point and it's like you're it's now easier to knock down some of those barriers right because now you have a track record yeah you're doing more work and it's like you almost have the you have the resume now. Yeah. You know where when you guys were first coming in let's talk about that. I mean when you're first coming into this with kind of I mean you have a resume of fabrication obviously from the past but to break into almost a new section of your industry right um that's had to have been pretty challenging. I just trying to walk walk us through that like from there to like how you're getting the jobs today and how that has kind of developed you know yeah I could do that I don't have a problem with that. So I I think it's actually harder today than it was when I first started because the goals are higher. So higher level projects more competitions in the city no more beers after 10K so I know Nuno will have some input on that Nuno will have some input on this as well but I feel like it's tighter now it's harder we got to do a better job of communicating a better job of building relationships and building trust with the clients uh which is you know when I moved to to Blake's team uh what has been a big emphasis of the the company of just building stronger relationships because the tighter it gets and the and the higher level it gets and the more I would just say money um that our you know projects are up for the competition gets tighter as you know you know it's kind of like any sport the higher level you go the competition gets better and better. Yeah playing in the big league I think it's kind of the opposite but I think it's locked us in even more uh to do things the right way to build that trust and and honestly just say what we're gonna do. I don't know that's that's big with the uh Bruce Hard family and Nuno as well and the team here it's big just do what you're gonna say you say you're gonna email them email them you say you're you know you owe them something get it to them so I know Nuno has a lot of impact you know I I I think you you're right when you say it's different. You know I I don't I don't know if it's harder. You know I think it was pretty hard in the beginning you know when we started you know the brand was not recognized you know Akkadian was a brand if you go to Louisiana anybody knows about Akkadian you know on the oil and gas industry everybody's familiar with Akkadian here it was not the case you know so there was a lot of branding that we are still doing that needs to be done I think you clearly help us a lot and I don't know you probably be very humble but there's a lot of work that needs to be done you know there's a lot of relationships that need to be built and frustrations to be managed you know because most of the guys don't even answer to the emails or the text message or it's not an easy thing to do. I think now we are on a different level though you know originally we were promising probably you know and trying to build that trust without having that past performance now we are tied to something that they know we can deliver and we and they expect us to deliver and keep delivering the same level of quality and our on schedule that's challenging you know especially when you want to do it consistently all the time you know it's it's not for everybody. You know it puts a lot of stress on all of us but that's how you grow that's how you get to the next level like now we are seeing so that that was the journey that took us there very hard work I can tell you. And talk about our brand we are Acadian not our Acadian yeah yeah that's been that's been a trouble. Yeah yeah we're building confidence uh with our customers no question about it but the industry is moving so fast you know there's so much out there and and we have to continue to deliver on schedule with a quality product you know and that's it's it's been fun to see the size of jobs increase you know they're bigger projects now but it's been good we're uh we're right where we need to be we're positioned perfectly um for this time yeah absolutely yeah I think too that something that separates us is is is Barrett and Blake's involvement in the company. So we're just now still we're big enough to where we can have the right resources in place but small enough to where Blake's still involved Barrett's involved every day. You know if a customer has an issue Blake wants them to call yeah and I think that that separates us from a lot of you know I would say corporate companies well I would imagine too like when it gets down to to getting the job and fighting for the job I mean I know you're my brother and I'm gonna say good things but you guys ain't got a better person in your corner. I mean I couldn't agree more kid is well I mean talk about competitive yes I mean we've had a couple knockout drag out fights between us stop texting stop texting at 10 p.m next I mean he never stops he's always what I like I said earlier in the episode man when he's all in he's all in when he's all in his preparation is amazing too you know he'll he has that ability to round the team up and make sure that before we go into that meeting that everybody's up to date on on everything that was said or heard and our intent for the meeting it's been incredible to see him. Yeah yeah it's kind of a funny story too because Nuno and I joke about it all the time because he he we we pushed each other I would say pretty hard for the last couple years at times you know it's like and Nuno's become family to me you know almost an older brother mentor and he really has pushed me to be better everything I do but he also kind of created open the beast up because you know how competitive I am and how well we want to do and you know now he's to the point where like hey relax man you don't have to send a text out at 10 p.m I'm like bro working so um that's been a lot of fun though to be a part of it really has and again it goes back to that relationship and just kind of attacking the business and locking in and and uh you know relationships are important internal as well as you know absolutely are external too where does uh like you know you play in college sports and stuff do you think some of that like competitive edge you carry over to your business? Oh there's no doubt I and anyone that knows me well enough in my life knows when I'm into something I'm all in. I don't have a filter not I'm a filter from you know how hard I'm gonna work to get it and all that and that's actually you know kind of been an issue in the past at times because when I'm coaching it's like I'm all in. Yeah and I'm gonna do everything I can and sometimes I put other things to the side which probably aren't healthy. Sometimes sometimes my health but you know the other side of it too it's a great quality I think of myself of just pushing myself to be better and uh you know being that but you're the same way Dave's the same way. Look at Dave you know our whole all our both of my brothers are very successful. They're local they've done it right here in town and uh you know I'm super proud of both of them but they're we're all built from the same claw I mean you know I don't know if it's for my mom or dad. My mom will say her my dad will say him but no doubt really just kind of you know digging deep and you know trying to do what you can. I think for all of us man failure's just never been an option. No that's right. It's like when we focus we get do we do it if I gotta be here till midnight I got to be here till midnight it just is what it is right like we're gonna get it done. And so I'm sure it's the same way. But it's the same thing you got you know Blake and Barrett and Chip and and their their sister like they're the same way. Yeah this isn't you know it it's their dad built in the same way that which came from their grandfather. Yeah and you know that's what's cool with the company is just that you know being around it's almost like being around you and Dave as a kid again. It's like you know busting on each other pushing each other and you know in the end you go have dinner and tell each other you love each other and then you know get up the same day argue all day yeah so you know the same thing at night. So it's it's pretty fun to be a part of. And that's not just you know in Louisiana that's our culture here in the office here too with Nuno myself and the team but it's it's pretty neat to be a part of so any stories where Nate's like oversold something and you guys are like dude you got to reel it in bro I don't know if we can do that. How much how much time do you have yeah try it how much time do you have I could see that I could see it being like him him pressuring going no dude we can get this done let's do it let's do it hey that's operations problem yeah exactly just drop the bomb on us it takes a lot of work to win you know and and the team has to be aligned and and Nathan has pushed uh internally as hard as externally to win and that's it's really what makes us you know keep pushing. I love the way you just said that the goal is to win. Yeah that's it you know we gotta win yeah you know life short we we don't have time on our hands yeah yeah that's right you know when I started uh when I was interviewing I I was the first I was the first uh all-time leading scorer at Syracuse University history and they always say that that's why they hired me that is why we hired and then like a couple months later I was second really yeah it's like it's terrible we can't even talk about it wrong decision he's backing up backing up to lie on the resume. Yeah. How do you guys see the aerospace boom affecting the broader space coast like from your point of view like since you guys have gotten here how have you seen it I mean just today we were on the Cape and and seeing all the activity of all the pads going up it's uh I think it's still in its infancy stage you know we haven't seen where it's gonna peak out it probably will be a decade or two I don't I don't know that it ever will peak out. Apparently there's a lot of satellites to get up there because there's a lot of pads being built. The sky's a limit though you know I think it puts some pressure on uh the infrastructures you know this is uh an area that will need some development I think the aerospace is really growing too fast and and the area by itself needs to support it. You know so there's a lot of things that need to happen as well. I know you know like like I said we were about to celebrate a new facility you know but it took us almost two years to find a facility you know to really build so that's a stress for a company that wants to grow fast and had these opportunities and we don't have the infrastructure built to support that growth. So I think as an area I think that's the challenge that we all need to look into it you know and and it's the road you know it's the buildings it's apartments the houses you know everything needs to join that effort so when that peak happens everybody you know is still functional and supporting the that industry so I think that's the challenge for the the community and for Bravard County for sure. Yeah so the new facility was 45,000 square feet? Yes it sits on eight acres so you know coming from our uh current facility which is 1.3 1.3 acres about 11,000 square foot so it's a pretty big step for us uh and I think you know my dream is it's too the next facility is too small but at 45,000 square foot with eight acres I think it gives us a lot of room to expand. Absolutely yeah so with those eight acres you do the the acreage has the ability to build other buildings on it. Okay perfectly that's included uh I don't know if we discussed this earlier but we got a 125 acre facility in Louisiana you know with some of the where we build a lot of the larger infrastructure there that maybe we can't do here. Got you so you guys are building it some stuff there and bringing it here. Yeah either trucking it or barging it you know depending on the size of the project. Gotcha that's right you're right there on the coast of Louisiana so you can barge one access so that plays a big role makes us in a you know favorable position yeah yeah very cool what else anything you guys want to talk about anything you guys want to touch on let the let the people know I would just say on yourselves a little bit no this this community since day one has been extremely welcoming I mean from from day one when we moved here we were able to meet a lot of people really quickly everybody was welcoming I can see the excitement around tomorrow night's uh grand opening uh and our crawfish ball they're excited to come and support which is amazing you know for this area yeah I love it when when are you moving here? I love it here I can tell you that yeah I love Coco B. I love all the all the little surrounding towns that's been great. I always say man this is like the I think the Space Coast is the best kept secret in Florida. Yeah yep you know you got and price wise too I mean South Florida is I agree super crazy prices you know and has always been popular and then you got North Florida Jacksonville area and we've kind of been in that middle on the coast yeah and almost had been forgotten about you know and you have Orlando 45 50 minutes away you know so close. And now we're the number one cruise port. Yep that's right in the country in the country right yep um and with the space center industry going on I mean it's just uh it's just really cool to see and I'm just glad to be part of it. Yeah you know so yeah it's funny uh you know all this stuff's going on and you see complaints online about the infrastructure coming in and the roads always right so 528's always backed up and you remember as a kid there's a toll booth there can you imagine if there's a toll booth still yeah um but one of the things I try to I try to just I think it was like a nickel yeah it every time yeah yeah it was the one you threw you threw in there like I don't even know if you could get caught they didn't have cameras people don't go for it today but uh uh it's funny because you see you know people moving in here from Louisiana from our company like Nuno and I gotta correct him all the time he used to call Courtney was was Florida three yes Florida three and I'm like no that's Courtney you can't if you're gonna be a local you can't say Florida three Courtney so it's it's been it's been a struggle to teach them the uh you know the local phrases and yeah and what you call it because you know I don't even know what 528 used to be the B line so that was like the big name back then but with the toll booth but I can't imagine the with everything going on here if they still had that I always think about that with that toll booth if they still had it the line would be better that would be funny all the way to Coca Beach Orlando who knows but yeah I mean yeah even in our our hometown Mary Island dude like you can't the traffic is crazy they're gonna have to figure out something it's gonna get worse it's gonna keep getting worse yeah before it gets better for sure so what's next for Acadian man so like give us the vision as the president of the company what's what do you what do you think the next 10 years look like if you could so you're sitting here in 10 years what do you think you're gonna be saying you know looking back the last five years we've experienced a lot of growth it's uh you know above industry standard of growth uh we're in the people business you know uh without our people we can't do anything to tomorrow night we're gonna have our grand opening uh which is amazing but at the end of the day it's just a facility it's the people that'll bring it to life you know so without that you know we're going nowhere we're excited about that we're excited about the growth uh in the aerospace industry in general it plays a big role in our revenue today where five years ago it really didn't so we're gonna follow that you know we have a couple of different industries that we do focus into but I'm extremely excited about aerospace very cool well I really appreciate you guys taking the kind the time to come in the studio um one one last thing just because it's my brother yes be careful get him be careful with you yes yeah we're gonna be take the gloves off I'm ready to be honest dude I mean I just sit here he's gotta drive you guys freaking crazy sometimes all day every day every day all the time all the time no serious question though so I get asked all the time what my brother does for a living still a mistake we don't know and I gotta be honest man I never know how to freaking answer and I'm like ah he works for like a metal fabricator now you know he does sales for them doing anything so I cannot answer that. And so I guess that's a decent answer. Yeah but like what is the best answer for little brother to say when he gets asked what Nate does for a living I think he builds relationships and he does a great job he makes friends he does a great job doing that yeah it makes friends in the aerospace that's what I'm gonna start saying absolutely it's funny uh no work though just just friends no work we have a guy we work with uh Ross and he he was we were out one night he was telling us he he brought up a good point and it wasn't me he was talking about but someone said there was a bit a business development guy in the room and the guy the customer goes what is your job what are you doing here he goes I'm paid to be your friend that's a cool one that's true so that always stuck with me I'm like I'm paid to be your friend that's all and I'm good at it you're very good but I do want to say too uh just a shout out to our older brother Dave I made it on the podcast before him so nice where's Dave where's he at? Dude it's been funny man my brothers they've been like begging me to get on this ding podcast I'm like guys it's not that cool yeah you know barely it is hey we made it let's go yeah that's right that's awesome well hey I appreciate you guys taking the time I know you're super busy got a lot going on I know you got a big event coming up here so I appreciate you coming in and seeing me and shooting the crap so we appreciate it really rooting for you guys um nothing hope nothing but the best for you so thank you appreciate the support yeah man still looking forward to uh watching you guys crush it yes awesome thank you thank you man that's a wrap for this episode of the Studio 321 podcast powered by Rightway the Steve Trout Agency we can't thank you enough for being part of our journey if you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe leave us a review and share it with a friend until next time 321 we're out