It all started July 5, 1978. I landed a job working for the only knife grinder, restaurant equipment repair and service company in South Jersey - Atlantic Grinding Company. They were an established company with a sparkling reputation. My job entailed: delivering knives to our rental customers, picking up and dropping off slicing machines, meat grinders and food processing and weighing equipment.

After a few months, I was trained how to sharpen knives on a 30" diameter grind stone. I officially became a knife grinder. Later, I was rewarded with minor training on the equipment we sold and serviced.

In April 1979, I met the man who would become "my guiding light" in this business, Peter A. Rinck from Northeast Philadelphia. At the time, I was traveling each weekend to Delaware County, PA and would beg "Uncle Pete" (as he was known by all)to help him on weekends. I wanted to learn my craft from someone who was the best in the industry. After many months of badgering him, he agreed to let me drive the hour to his place and go out on calls with him. It was my greatest learning experience ever. He taught me the foundation for life and business. It remains the blueprint for all that I do.

By November 1981, Atlantic Grinding Company was in decline due to family issues. However, I did not want to leave the industry. I was encouraged by two of the greatest business minds I have ever met- Ricky Rich, Co-owner of Tony's Baltimore Grill and Tony Basile, owner-founder of White House Sub Shop, to go out on my own. Between the two of them I had the honor of attending the greatest business school on the planet. When Atlantic Grinding Company went out of business, I decided to go for it. November 2, 1981, I started Rick's Slicer Repair with $900 and a "shop" which was 8’ x 5’ in a spare room at my friend’s house.

After a couple years in business, I realized I was unable to sell a lot of equipment because my name was associated with a repair company. I started adding the initials RSR to sound more industrial. By January 1987, I officially changed the name to RSR Foodservice Equipment Corporation. This allowed me to cover all areas of the food service industry, including the sale of equipment.

My greatest moment that changed the direction of RSR came in May 1987. I attended my first Food Marketing Institute (FMI) convention in Chicago. I met all the companies I was doing business with in-person and struck up many friendships, that I still enjoy today. Also, this allowed me to realize that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. Nothing was intimidating any more. Whether you repaired, built or designed, it started with an individual not afraid to take risks.

After my Chicago visit, and as a direct result, I was now being asked to rebuild components for other equipment service and sales companies nationwide. I had created a niche market for myself among my peers. Thus, 181918 Mfg was born. This was an internal division that catered to companies and individuals in my niche. I found this to be a source of great pride to be recognized by my peers as able to create methods and ways to rebuild and repair components that were once thought to be unfixable.

In December of 1993, I was asked to visit the third largest slicing machine manufacturer in the world. The company wanted assistance in designing their next generation slicer. Ironically, I was selling their biggest competitor’s slicer at the time. However, thanks to my network of devoted followers, I was highly recommended for the job. After a lengthy telephone interview, during which I was told I was the only one in the country to come up with the answers needed. Immediately, they sent me airline tickets for the meeting.

This first-hand experience allowed me to learn the manufacturing process side of the business. My slicing machine design was a tremendous success. Many of my ideas are still prevalent in the industry today. This experience and education culminated in the creation of the next division of RSR- The Institute of Technology and Design.

I now knew that I could manufacture, design, and build all the products and components that I became familiar with over the previous 12 years. I rapidly started to design and make my own assemblies that were, what I believed, were better than the originals. I also developed many specialty tools and methods to repair and remanufacture many of the popular internationally used machines and components. All of my techniques that I use are closely guarded company secrets, not for publication.

As time passed and my reputation grew, I was sought out by numerous other manufacturers for assistance with other projects. I have since thus designed, produced and re-engineered well over 1000 projects.

It is very informative to see a product from its inception. In this industry, like so many others, mechanics are always giving ideas of what will work better and be more cost-effective. I have the luxury of knowing the whole process. This is not to say that I am better than anyone else, I am simply informing people of how grateful I am to have the opportunity to make this impact.

This brings us to the last division, Metal Art Creations. In September 2007 I purchased a CNC plasma cutting system. I did not know how to operate it and had never used a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) program. My favorite memory is when people would ask me if I knew how to use a CAD program, to which I replied: "I can’t even spell CAD". This system was purchased to make parts for an ever-growing business demand of both projects and concepts. It gave me the flexibility to do much more work in-house.

After a couple months of struggling, I decided to make something non-work related. I designed and fabricated new street numbers for my mailbox along with my favorite landmark, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. This led to much inquiry by my customers about my custom street numbers. When I told them I made it, the evolution of my metal art began.

My first year creating metal art, I completed 6 art projects. Years 2 through 10 and that number stands at over 1000 plus. Metal art opened up a completely new market. Everyone who walks the planet could use something that RSR can produce.

This whole journey has been a very humbling experience. I have many great people who have helped through this journey and I thank all of them. The most important person I thank is my mom. She had the utmost faith in me and instilled in me everything that I am.