Meet Dustin Klein from Leadership Coshocton County
Dustin Klein is a Coshocton native, having grown up on his family’s property in Tyndall. He attended Conesville Elementary followed by River View Junior High and High School. His family included parents; two brothers and a sister, and he considers himself “very blessed.”
His father worked at Kraft while his mother was a stay-at-home mom, who would often take in other’s in need. He came from very humble beginnings, and is thankful to now be able to provide for his own family. He wrestled from elementary school through high school and also played baseball. He met his future wife Amanda, in homeroom in junior high and they began dating in 10th grade. His family would take camping vacations at Seneca Lake and Dustin was afraid of the water, so he would stay behind at the family campsite, and “tinkered with scraps of wood” left from his grandfather’s odd jobs, and “built stuff” with the pieces of wood.
His sophomore year he decided to attend the career center which was “a big decision; leaving friends, but the best decision ever” in his life. He was very interested in how things were put together in the building industry, from start to finish. He competed in trades competitions and went to a state competition his senior year. His building trades instructor introduced Dustin to the commercial side of building and help him get work at a union shop to complete the apprenticeship program. He wanted to work at Hathaway, but they weren’t hiring at that time.
He and Amanda married in July 2002 and made the decision to move to the Portage Lakes area as he was employed by Zetts Construction. Dustin said, “It was a great experience” to work for Zetts, but he wanted to return home and work for Hathaway, which led him to “call in to Hathaway to ask if they were hiring. After a year, they finally were and I started there as a first-year apprentice.”
He continued his schooling, returning to Richfield for a week every four months. They moved back to Coshocton; bought their first house and soon their first daughter was born. By this time Dustin was a second-year apprentice and work “kept him busy.” Daughter number two soon followed and he got laid off. He went to work as a second shift millwright at AEP and after four months he returned to Hathaway and finished his apprenticeship.
Their third daughter was born and Dustin had now moved up to job foreman, working closely with Dave, who had hired him. He now “ran work” and got to “see the other side of how things were done.” Continuing to gain skills with Hathaway, Dustin was learning more about working in the office and at the recommendation of Dave and owner Chuck Hathaway, he took continuing education classes for estimating and construction management. Following Dave’s retirement, Dustin took over in the office, and “ran the guys,” overseeing a crew of five foremen and 15-20 guys.
After a year and a half of estimating and running the business, the conversation started about buying the business that had been passed down to Chuck from his father. It was a four-year process, and wife Amanda was “a driving force behind, and very supportive of, buying the business.” “It is the only union company in the area and the hardest thing about running the business,” said Dustin, “is finding quality employees.”
As vice president of the company, Dustin has meetings to discuss jobs; current and future work, which he describes as “job interviews with the customer;” and answer questions and admits he’s “on the phone a lot more than I’d like to be.” Construction is “his passion” and he “likes to see things go from nothing to something.” Dustin works closely with insurance companies for the purposes of bonding. The superintendent works under Dustin and oversees the guys, and can do some estimating. They work together to “ensure the customer is happy” and oversee the work from beginning to end; “make sure the whole aspect comes together.”
The majority of the work Hathaway completes currently is in the local factories – McWane, Kraft, Cleveland Cliffs, and Wiley Organics, and they have done work nearby in Newark for Owens-Corning. They have made some changes since coming to Hathaway that allow “time for doctor appointments and take care of the guys the best we can.”
Dustin is on the building trades board at the career center and also has served on a scholarship selection committee for the Coshocton Foundation. He is a member of the junior fair auction committee and his family regularly hosts a foreign exchange student for the school year and also the summer program.
Dustin saw how much his daughter Rileigh benefited from Coshocton County Youth Leadership, and he decided he “needed to do his part and be a leader.” It “struck his interest, seeing everything Rileigh learned.” Dustin said, “there’s always room for improvement” learning about your “personality and how to work with others; look at others’ perspective. I’ve learned tremendous things that will stick with me the rest of my life and met phenomenal people.”
Dustin views the community as good but views some in leadership roles as holding the community back. “We were an industrial community for years but it’s gone. We need to do more to encourage young people to return. If you tell them there’s nothing to do here, they’ll leave. We’re fortunate for the industry that is here and takes care of it’s people.”
To make the county stronger, Dustin would like to see “more transparency in local government and fewer career politicians. We need to encourage youth to run for elected office and take on leadership roles. For the county to do better, it needs to start with better leadership. Don’t put all the focus on Main Street only. There needs to be more support for small businesses so they can survive and last.”
Dustin would “absolutely” recommend leadership for others stating, “I’ve enjoyed meeting new people and looking at things differently. I’d like my superintendent to participate. I appreciate the volunteers and leaders who participate.”
Category: People & Places
