gener8tor Founder Series Spotlight: Jim Snediker, Stock Mfg. Co.

Jim Snediker is the Founder and CEO of Stock Mfg. Co., a Chicago-based premium workwear brand focused on customer-facing hospitality teams. Stock designs and produces elevated uniforms for restaurants, hotels, commercial real estate, and other service-driven businesses where aesthetics and function matter.

Jim and the Stock team went through the gener8tor accelerator in the summer of 2014, when the company was still in its early days. The experience pushed them to sharpen their thinking, pressure-test assumptions, and dramatically improve how they communicated the business, removing unnecessary complexity and focusing on what truly mattered.

Since then, Stock has grown into a profitable, cash-flow-driven company with a distributed team and a strong client base across hospitality and commercial real estate. Jim credits gener8tor not only with helping crystallize Stock’s messaging, but also with building long-term relationships that continue to support the company’s operations and growth today.

• Jim’s Insight
  “Make sure the business path you’re on actually makes sense, stay open-minded, and listen to feedback. You’re there to learn, not to defend every idea.”

• Jim’s Ask
  Jim is looking for introductions to leaders of multi-location, customer-facing businesses, including restaurant groups, hotel groups, and regional chains, who care about uniform aesthetics and operational excellence.

Jim’s journey reflects a founder who prioritized clarity, sustainability, and long-term relationships over hype. By aligning the business model with real customer needs and staying open to feedback early on, Stock Mfg. Co. built a foundation that continues to support steady, intentional growth years after the accelerator experience.

Watch the full conversation here: