The founding of Fabrication Nation

By Emma Peterson. 

A look at how this radio station combines music, entertainment and industry storytelling to create a one-of-a-kind experience for the metal fabricator community. 

In a new MetalCast™, Heidi J. Ellsworth had the chance to sit down with two members of the team behind Fabrication Nation Radio – Rod “The Rodman” Cochran and Kerri Gregory. Rod is the main host of the radio show and gets his monicker from decades of experience working with various stations such as CBS and WNXC. As for Kerri, she’s the producer keeping everything running behind-the-scenes at the radio when she’s not working as the president of Carell Industrial Solutions. 

The idea for the radio came from Rod’s background as a DJ and his father’s fabrication career. As he put it:  

My dad was a fabricator his entire life and because of that I knew that all the guys in fabrication shops were listening to the radio all day. And, as I had followed my dreams to become a radio DJ, I realized there was something there – we could make a station specifically for these guys working in the shop that keeps them going with comedy, good music and content centered around their lives. 

And from there, it just began growing. Kerri described the experience, sharing, “We didn’t know it was going to take off and blow up. We had started it and obviously we thought it was neat, but then we started hearing people's stories like behind how they got into fabricating or machine sales or whatever. And it was mind-blowing.” Rod added, “Hearing those stories really hit home that being a part of this industry is more than a job. It’s a lifestyle...That's why we call it Fabrication Nation, because this community feels like its own nation or world.”  

Even with all this success, Rod and Kerri are constantly looking for ways to grow and better serve fabricators in their “nation.” To learn more about how they are doing this, Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording!