Charlie DaRosa – MassMEP Employee Highlights

Charlie Darosa is the Operations Manager at MassMEP. He oversees all the Project Managers that deliver and train MassMEP’s clients throughout MA. Charlie currently has 10 on his staff, and with a couple openings yet to fill, will have a dozen in his charge when MassMEP is done hiring.

Charlie has been in manufacturing his entire career. He started in a company in Pawtucket RI, Hope Webbing, back in the late 70’s. “I did most of my education during the evening. I have an engineering degree, a plant management degree, and many professional development topics over the years. I was Plant Superintendent at the age of 21, with 300 reporting to me. My first real supervisory job was when I was 18 and had 40 under me. I then worked my way up to Plant Supervisor by the age of 21. I’ve been in positions similar to that my entire career: Director of Operations, VP of Operations, and running multiple plants. I joined MassMEP in 2005 where I worked until 2010. In 2010 I went to a company who was one of our clients at that time and worked there until John Killam reached out to me. We had some conversations, and I had always enjoyed working at MassMEP previously, so John convinced me to come back to MassMEP. It’s been a lot of fun since I’ve been back. I’ve been fortunate over the years in my career to enjoy continuous improvement. When companies see that someone is never satisfied with the way that it was, you end up getting promoted and they give you more responsibility. That’s what has happened to me over the years. We talk about Lean today as a tool. I think I was doing it intuitively over the years. Organizing and reducing costs, I think it was natural for me,” Charlie says.

What does Charlie find most fulfilling about his work? He continues, “Operational excellence is very satisfying when you see the results of a turnaround, whether it’s a department that’s underperforming or a company that doubles in sales because they made improvements. It’s that feeling that you get when a team of employees feels good about themselves because they’re working smarter versus harder. People are doing things in their job that they don’t like anyway. A successful improvement usually means that they end up making more widgets for less effort. When you see that happen its very rewarding – seeing and helping teams become better.”

Charlie shares, “Outside the office I love boating and fishing. I have a small boat and live near Narragansett Bay. Its only 10 minutes away so its easy to get in and out. I enjoy landscaping around the property. I like tinkering around too, and subsequently have an invention patent. I’ve tried others but it’s the only one I have right now. I also spend a lot of time with family, which lives nearby. My parents live 15 minutes away. I have three sisters and a brother. My brother lives in North Carolina, and he calls in every Sunday when we’re at my parents’ house to check in. My sisters all live within 10 minutes of my parents, so no one flew very far away from the nest.”

How well do you know Charlie? Two of these statements are true and one is not. Can you guess which one?

1. I have 3 grandchildren.
2. I do bungee jumping. I participate with some friends that do that about 3 or 4 times/year.
3. I have a motorcycle I enjoy riding every day.