Bret West has been making molds since before most of today’s injection molding software existed. His career in the tooling industry spans 41 years — starting on the shop floor as a mold maker and progressing through tool design, engineering management, sales, IT, and marketing. He holds a 2-year degree in Mold Making and a Mechanical Engineering degree, giving him both the hands-on trade knowledge and the formal engineering foundation that most mold makers have one or the other of — rarely both. He has held nearly every role that exists in a precision tooling operation and understands how each one affects the quality of the mold that ships to the customer.

Bret’s path to western North Carolina was originally planned as a step toward retirement. When unexpected circumstances from a previous business partnership forced a difficult pivot, Bret did what he has always done — he went back to what he knows best and built something new. Brown Tool & Mold was founded in Nebo, NC in 2024 with a clear mission: deliver the engineering depth and precision of a large mold shop with the responsiveness and accountability of an owner-operated business.

What sets Bret apart in 2025 is not just four decades of mold making experience — it is the combination of that experience with a genuine passion for artificial intelligence and software development. Bret has integrated AI tools, automated SEO systems, and custom engineering software into Brown Tool & Mold’s operations in ways that most mold shops have not considered. That combination of deep tooling expertise and modern technology is what BTM is being built on.