Lloyd Armbrust is a tech entrepreneur turned manufacturing leader whose journey began as a 13-year-old selling newspapers door-to-door in Duluth, MN. Seeing how much his community relied on local news, he studied journalism at York University. But early roles in the industry made him uneasy as big corporations began taking over small papers, shifting them from community-focused news to corporate-controlled media. This shift, coupled with the internet’s impact, fueled Lloyd’s concerns about the future of local journalism.In 2010, he raised $1 million to launch OwnLocal, backed by Y Combinator—the same incubator that started Reddit, Instacart, and Airbnb. Over the next 14 years, OwnLocal helped local newspapers transition to the digital age, generating $1 billion for them. But as consolidation continued in the media industry, Lloyd saw the challenges to independent news deepen. In 2020, after buying out his investors and taking OwnLocal private, he was ready for a new challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.Seeing U.S. doctors and nurses forced to rely on foreign sources for essential PPE, Lloyd founded Armbrust American to produce masks and nitrile gloves in the U.S. From raw plastic to finished products, his fully vertically integrated operation could make a million masks a day within six months. Armbrust American’s growth revealed tough challenges from foreign manufacturers selling products below cost. When the U.S. Trade Representative encouraged Lloyd to file an anti-dumping case, he chose instead to focus on making his company more efficient. By implementing AI-powered quality control, he reduced labor per shift from 27 people to 5, cutting costs while ensuring higher standards.Today, Lloyd runs four active companies—two AI software companies ($17M revenue) and two manufacturing companies ($34M revenue). Outside of business, he’s a father of six (ages 2 to 18) and loves spending time growing his longhorn herd at the Armbrust Howdy Ranch in Elgin, TX.