A Chat with John Economaki, Founder and President, Bridge City Tool Works

For the past 25 years, our school systems have methodically eliminated most non-college prep offerings. This exposure typically bodes well for those who enter their 40s with discretionary funds and avocational needs. We now have a generation of young people who are work adverse and really do not know how things work — or care. This correlates with the decline in specialty interest publications and subscriptions which currently plague our industry. I don't see this niche market regaining the momentum of the 1980s, which means we have to be smart and conservative in how we allocate our marketing dollars.