01.29.2026 A visionary leader in manufacturing with over 40 years of experience, Jerry, a Northern Michigan University graduate, founded Premier Engineering & Manufacturing and grew it into the largest U.S. manufacturer of aircraft deicing equipment by 2000, with a global reach across Asia, Russia, Europe, and Australia. Now, as co-owner and chairman of Green Bay Decking, he oversees the DuxxBak® Composite Decking brand, nationally recognized for setting new standards in outdoor living through innovation and sustainability. Committed to his community in Menominee, Michigan, Jerry supports youth athletics and local health initiatives, embodying authenticity, collaboration, and a passion for teamwork, along with a love of outdoor activities with family and friends. Leadership Insights from Jerry DeRusha Dr. Karen Love, the MBA program chair at Judson University and COO of the Love Family Christian Foundation, introduced the inaugural session of Friday Night Chats, a platform for leaders to share their expertise. She highlighted the diverse range of topics covered in previous sessions, including leadership, innovation, and organizational culture. Jerry DeRusha, a visionary leader in manufacturing with over 40 years of experience, was introduced as the evening's guest. Dr. Love expressed her excitement to learn from Jerry's insights and experiences. Enhancing Constructive Conversation Techniques The meeting focused on improving conversation techniques to elicit clear, practical, and evidence-based responses. Participants discussed how to steer discussions towards constructive outcomes and focus on real results, emphasizing the importance of making decisions quickly and moving forward efficiently. The session aimed to practice using specific prompts to surface valuable insights and evidence, ensuring discussions remain tight and productive. Engineering Impact on Marketing Outcomes The discussion focused on analyzing a pivotal moment where engineering changes influenced marketing outcomes, with the speaker prompting participants to share concrete examples and data. They emphasized the importance of tracking leading indicators that signal progress toward their North Star goal and planned to dive into specific data changes and their implications for activation and revenue. The conversation covered various marketing and engineering concepts, including AARRR metrics (acquisition, activation, retention, and referral), and concluded with a call to share experiences on how engineering perspectives have impacted marketing strategies. Engineering and Marketing Trade-offs The discussion focused on decision-making frameworks for situations where engineering constraints conflict with customer demands, particularly regarding prioritization and trade-offs. The conversation explored various metrics, including North Star metrics, AA's, and triple Rs (activation, acquisition, retention, revenue, and referral), jobs to be done, and product-market fit, with an emphasis on how engineering decisions impact marketing outcomes. The discussion specifically sought examples of pivotal moments where engineering choices significantly affected marketing results, though no specific examples were provided in this transcript segment. Product-Marketing Data Integration Strategies The discussion focused on frameworks and strategies for translating product engineering data into marketing strategies, with an emphasis on cross-functional team collaboration. The participants explored various mental models, including AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Retention, and Referrals), and discussed the importance of integrating product engineering and marketing teams to avoid working in silos. They also discussed a failed growth experiment and the resulting process changes before concluding with plans for a follow-up meeting next month.
