Long-time Employee Receives Promotion to Leadership Role
SALISBURY, NC – August 7, 2025 – Early in his tenure at Advanced Machining & Tooling, Patrick Reynolds learned his first important lesson from President Keith Felts.
“The guys in the shop scrapped an expensive piece of material. Keith was like, ‘Well, let’s go ahead and order another piece of material,’” said Patrick.
“He didn’t pass the stress on to anybody. We just ordered another piece of material. A month later, it came in, and the guys scrapped it again. Keith turned to me and said, “I guess it’s your turn to order this piece of material.’”
That calm demeanor in the time of crisis was the first of many teachings Patrick took from his decade of working for Keith. Patrick will now have the opportunity to deploy those lessons on his own.
On Thursday, Advanced Machining & Tooling, a Salisbury-based machine shop specializing in 5-axis CNC milling and turning along with wire and sinker EDM, officially announced Patrick’s promotion to VP & General Manager.
Patrick is replacing Keith in the top leadership position at Advanced. Compass announced Keith’s promotion to VP of Engineering, a newly created position, on July 31.
“I’ve been working to mentor and train Pat for years to eventually assume this position anyway,” Keith said. “With my move to corporate, that just hastened that move. Pat is completely ready.”
Patrick served as Operations Manager at Advanced for more than nine years. He first joined the operating company in 2015 as a Production Manager.
Ironically, Patrick’s promotion comes near his 10-year anniversary at Advanced. When he reflected back on his decade with the company, he expressed pride in the company’s teamwork.
“We’ve been able to build a whole entire team, build a culture, change the day-to-day, change the way we operate, change the way we interact with our customers,” Patrick said. “It’s been a long road probably with the biggest accomplishment, I feel personally, putting together a team and a cohesive unit of people that like to work together, not work alone.
“I think that’s my biggest satisfaction.”
He added that his shift to General Manager is about maintaining “the status quo” and continuing the legacy that Keith helped start 40 years ago with the founding of Advanced in 1985.
“I need to make sure it doesn’t break. That’s the biggest thing,” Patrick said. “Keep all the guys happy. Keep them motivated.”
Because Keith began training Patrick for a leadership position a few years ago, Patrick described his transition as rather seamless. Advanced Machining also recently made a few other staff changes.
In July, the company hired another machinist and added responsibilities for Quality Manager Jeff Geoghan. In August, Advanced will also add a new programmer.
Those changes all aim to continue Advanced’s tremendous growth. Advanced is in the midst of its best year yet. The operating company is on track to set a new yearly revenue record by the end of August, with four months still remaining in the year.
Patrick will lead the day-to-day operations at Advanced going forward. As general manager, he plans to deploy all of Keith’s teachings – from his calm demeanor as a leader to his knowledge in the field.
But Patrick will continue to have Keith as a resource as well.
As VP of Engineering, Keith will support all of Compass’ operating companies, including Advanced. Keith will also continue to work out of Advanced’s machine shop in Salisbury.
“We talk a lot of things out. We understand a lot of what each other is thinking,” Patrick said. “Being able to carry that way of thinking that he instilled in the company over the last 40 years is kind of a goal. Carry on his legacy.”
Patrick previously worked for several different machine shops. Most notably, he worked about half a decade for Vermont Aerospace before moving to North Carolina.
Just prior to accepting a job at Advanced in 2015, Patrick worked three years at ECS Enterprises.
Originally from Lancaster, New Hampshire, Patrick earned a Manufacturing Engineering degree from New Hampshire Technical Institute. He has more than 20 years of machining experience.
In addition to promotions for Patrick and Keith, Compass officially promoted Bill Canning to President two weeks ago. Bill will assume oversight of all nine Compass operating companies. He previously shared oversight of some of those operating companies with previous Compass President Gary Holcomb.
While Bill replaced Gary as president, Gary is remaining with the company as CEO.
Founded in 1985, Advanced Machining specializes in prototype and short to intermediate run production for customers requiring demanding, mission-critical components. The company’s capabilities include 5-axis milling and turning, wire and sinker EDM, CAD/CAM, Zeiss CMM and grinding.
Advanced is experienced with a lot of different materials, including all steel alloys, fully hardened steels, high-nickel alloys, titanium, aluminum, ultra-hard ceramic composites, non-ferrous alloys and polymers.
Compass Precision was founded in October 2019 with the acquisition of three greater Charlotte-area machine shops, one of which was Advanced Machining. Compass now has nine precision machine shops across the United States.
Five of the other operating companies are in Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Oregon. Compass also acquired another machine shop in the greater Charlotte area.