Join us in celebrating National Truck Drivers Appreciation Week September 12-18, 2021! We’ve been tested to our limits over the last 18 months and this week we celebrate those that have been there through it all, delivering the goods and services needed to keep our country moving forward. From the food served at our tables to the vaccines and emergency supplies that have kept us safe and healthy, truck drivers show up to keep delivering vital supplies to our homes and businesses, even with risk to themselves.
Founded in 1998 by the American Trucking Associations, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week highlights why tucking is critical to our nation’s economy. Thank you to all the hard working men and women drivers who work hard day in and day out! Here are some of the pictures taken during this years celebration across Infra-Metals locations. NTDAW2021 Photo Album
Next time you see a trucker give them a shout out of appreciation for all they do!
Corey Swords is currently the Safety Supervisor in our New Boston, OH facility.Corey began his career with Infra-Metals in 2013 as a first shift crane operator. Since New Boston was a brand new facility there were plenty of opportunities to grow. Working previously at a steel fabrication facility, Corey was familiar with how things worked with steel. His shipping and logistics experience helped him to understand the production side of the business.
Career Growth at Infra-Metals
Starting with a 3 month training program working with veterans in the Wallingford, CT facility, afforded him the knowledge necessary to successfully operate machinery in the new service center opening in New Boston, OH. He was excited to work for a “brand new company that he could grow with.” Corey quickly learned how to operate the band saws and spent several months working in processing. Soon after he began working as a loader for the remainder of the year. In 2015 and over the next three years, Corey moved between several shift supervisor positions, ultimately becoming the 1st Shift Warehouse Supervisor.
Personal growth and working with a quality team are what Corey values when showing up everyday. “Putting the right people in the right positions to utilize everyone’s strengths and maximize output is a recipe for success.”
Current Day-To-Day
Corey enjoys coordinating with the team in New Boston. “It is very dynamic and every day is different.”
Our services centers work towards monthly goals and it takes every department working together to achieve it. Corey says his environment really makes him feel that he is part of a team and a greater purpose. We are always working to find the most efficient way to deliver our products and services to our customers. That’s the Infra Way. Thank you Corey for all your efforts! Now go get out there and swing those clubs!
John Perez is the Maintenance Supervisor for the Tampa, FL division. He has been with Infra-Metals since September of 2008. During his time there, John has held several positions which has led him on a diverse journey with the company. When John arrived at Infra-Metals he was starting in a new industry and proved his ability to adapt and grow with the company.
Career Growth at Infra-Metals
John had moved from Puerto Rico to California where he began life in the States. At the time John had been working in a hospital as a Dispatcher when his company had transferred him to another Florida hospital. John was introduced to Infra-Metals through a family member and current employee in July of 2008. At that time John was brought on as a temporary worker in the Tampa warehouse. After several months John was offered the position of Crane Operator in September of 2008. John quickly moved into other positions within operations such as Loader and then CNC Operator.
Eventually the position of 3rd Shift Supervisor became available and John decided to apply for the job. He had held that position for the next 5 years and demonstrated strong leadership qualities to both his team and the warehouse’s operations management. In 2019 he was able to apply for the position of warehouse Maintenance Supervisor. Because of John’s strong operations background and diverse skillset he is able to lend his expertise to his current role very effectively. John holds certifications as a Forklift Operator, Man-lift Operator, Dispatcher, CPR First Responder and Trainer. John also holds a CDL-A and is a trained programmer.
“If you want to grow, show initiative. Don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do. When you do something, do it better than what they expected you to do. Go above and beyond. And never be afraid to ask questions.”
A Funny Story
“It was my first day as a temp on the job. The Operations Manager came up to me and stepped on my boot to check and see if I had steel toe boots on. I thought to myself, did he just step on my brand new, steel toe boots? At first, I thought, I’m not going to like it here, but instead, I really did! And well, my Operations Manager saw something in me that I at the time didn’t see in myself. He was instrumental in my growth.”
Current Day-To-Day
In John’s current role he enjoys teaching others how to work safer and smarter. Since he is cross trained, he can jump in when we are short- handed and load trucks, drive the forklift, do programming, burn material or unload trucks. He maintains our equipment as well as the facility. When asked: What do you enjoy about your current role? John responds: “Everything in my position now; I get dirty; I fix equipment and when I’m needed somewhere else in the facility, I can jump in and help. No one day is ever the same. This job keeps me on my toes. It constantly provides challenges and allows me to use my knowledge along with my skills to trouble shoot.”
Our Tampa Plant recently participated in a Cereal for Summer Food Drive with Feeding Tampa Bay.
Our Tampa employees heard the plea from this Organization to help with the never ending fight for childhood food insecurity. During the summer months, 1 in 4 children are food insecure. They needed the support from the local community, more than ever, as they are not guaranteed free or reduced meals that they have grown to depend on in school. Once our employees heard this heartfelt message, they needed to act quickly. Our employees brought in boxes of cereal, instant oatmeal, pop tarts, and bags of chips.
We are a thriving company that wishes to give back to our community for which we live, work and play in. Infra-Metals Tampa are proud of their employees and their giving hearts!!!
On Tuesday, June 8th, our Infra-Metals Tampa Traffic Manager, Edwin Rivera and HR-Safety Manager, Jennifer Goulbourne, participated in a Second Chance Job Fair hosted by Grace Family Church at their Ybor City Tampa Campus.
Job seekers were able to connect with competitive employers, while gaining access to different service agencies like Florida Restoration Rights Coalition, the States Attorney’s Office, the Department of Health, and more. Our community partners also offered resume workshops and coaching to participants, as well as business attire. This job fair helped empower and practically equip members of our community for success.
Infra-Metals Tampa was pleased to take part in the Second Chance Job Fair.
TJ Ellis, Operations Manager for Infra-Metals New Boston, began working as a Maintenance Supervisor at our company in 2014.
Career Growth at Infra-Metals
TJ, like many employees at Infra-Metals, has held several roles throughout his time with us. The New Boston facility was recently opened and was in need of bringing several CNC machines online for production. This became TJ’s number one priority. Several months in he was approached to take over the burn department to manage tooling, scheduling, and operational procedures. With the successful implementation in New Boston, TJ had the opportunity to lend his experience to our Tampa, FL location where he reduced our processing backlogs and shortened lead times.
TJ notes that his transition between previous and current roles has been very seamless given the fact that he worked with many seasoned mentors within the organization. Working in our current team environment enables people to continuously drive, improve and curate new ideas all while making our warehouse safer and more productive for everyone.
Current Day-to-Day of Operations Manager
In his current role as Operations Manager, TJ strives to build a team dedicated to safety and drive the concept of continuous improvement while exceeding our customer’s expectations. He enjoys setting goals and reaching them. TJ has been part of a greater initiative to create a safer work environment. His role has allowed him to work on programs that facilitate employees reaching their personal and professional potential.
Looking to the future, TJ strives to move up and contribute at different levels of the organization.
“The key to success is to focus on the goals, and not the obstacles.”
Ryan Nelle is currently the Traffic Manager at Infra-Metals in Marseilles, IL. Ryan’s journey with Infra-Metals began as a CDL A Driver and now he is a Traffic Manager. Here is a little about his story with us.
Ryan is a self-taught CDL driver that took the initiative to study the Illinois CDL study guide on his own. He had experience driving semis helping farmers but not flatbed trailers. He applied with Infra-Metals Marseilles and was offered a Class A CDL job on a Friday. He took the CDL test on Saturday and began his employment as a Class A CDL driver in 2009 after passing his test with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
He began his training with experienced flatbed drivers with our company hauling steel beams. Our experience drivers taught Ryan the importance of safety, the business, and our customers. He was in training for about 3 months before he started driving on his own. Ryan continued to drive a flatbed and after gaining experience, became a trainer for new drivers starting with our company. He likes to see the experienced employees help the new.
Career Growth at Infra-Metals
After a few years of driving for Infra-Metals, an office position for the traffic department became available; Traffic Coordinator. Ryan applied for this position. His great attitude, knowledge and experience being a driver for our company was a great fit and he was selected. His new role as a Traffic Coordinator involved helping schedule drivers with their loads and routes to customers. As a Traffic Coordinator he worked all shifts and saw how each shift had different experiences and responsibilities. While working as a Traffic Coordinator Ryan saw that the warehouse needed help, at times, moving the flatbed trailers within company property. He suggested his help and trained to help drive a Spotter Truck. When the warehouse needed help, Ryan went out to move trailers to help the team.
Current Day-to-Day as Traffic Manager
In 2018 there was another climb for Ryan into the new role of Traffic Manager. As a Traffic Manger he is responsible for company drivers, traffic coordinators, outside carriers, and the fleet. He has an intricate part in coordinating with warehouse, sales & customers to schedule sale orders for delivery & receiving for our company. He not only helps his department but goes out to the warehouse to help explain why and how loads need to be loaded a certain way. He jumps in to help anyone at Infra-Metals without being asked.
Ryan enjoys keeping busy and likes to see the steel go out. He enjoys the changes that his new role has brought. He wants to learn, grow, and become more versatile as be climbs within the company. He believes everyone’s goals should be to get to the next level and/or take the next step.
We are pleased to announce that on March 6, 2021, our Infra-Metals Florida Division employees, have worked 2 Years Accident Free!!! Our employees have worked over 117,640 hours and shipped 159,280 tons without injury. This is an extraordinary accomplishment!
When we asked our employees, what keeps them motivated to work safely, their answer was to go home to their families in one piece, every day and for their fellow workers to do the same. When we asked our employees, what their favorite safety quote was, many of them answered “Safety, Quality, Production”. Finally, when we asked our employees, what can we do better as a company in regards to safety, their answer was that they wanted us to continue encouraging them to work Safely. They wanted us to continue to provide them with the tools necessary to work safely.
As we celebrate and honor our employees who have reached this milestone, we all recognize that they must continue to work safely, as their work is far from being done. We are so proud of our employees and their similar mindset of wanting to live in the culture of Safety First. As a company, we want our employees and their families to know, that our mission is to ensure the safety of all our workers, as they are our Number One Priority!
These pictures are of our employees who have worked hard to be accident free over the last 2 years and counting.
Robert Jamison has worked at Infra-Metals for 21 years and started out as a Crane Operator. Over his long career with us he has held numerous positions including Saw Operator, Assistant Shift Supervisor and finally Processing Manager and Safety Coordinator.
When he started with Infra-Metals he worked at the Maryland location and now he is living in Virginia, working at the Petersburg, Virginia warehouse.
In the beginning of my career, training was rushed and only the basics were taught to get associates up to speed and working daily, on their own. As the years have passed, training has become a top priority for Infra-Metals. This is the at the forefront of the overall changes, increased safety, and training! Creating a better safety culture remains the primary focus of the Infra leadership teams.
Current Day-to-Day as Processing Manager
My role as the Processing Manager is to schedule all of the processing orders to all of the equipment and the Safety Coordinator aspect of the position requires training all of the team members on all safety procedures of our company to ensure that everyone remains safe.
What I like the most about processing is the challenge of trying to get as much of the work done as I can out of each machine each day. I also like the safety aspect of the job; it is a new responsibility and I enjoy learning new things. Both parts of my role allow me to interact with the team members and since recently moving to Virginia it has help me to meet the rest of the team and build relationships.
The greatest change I have seen in the company over the last 21 years is the safety focus and safety culture and how the company cares about the employees first!
My future goal is to learn everything that I can possibly learn to move up within the company as far as I can in the company. If I had to pick a pick a position, I would say I would aspire to be the Operations Manager.
PJ Rase, General Manager for Infra-Metals New Boston, began working as a Sales Representative at our company in 2013. PJ earned two degrees, a Bachelor degree in Accounting and a Bachelor degree in Business Management from the University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Ohio.
Career Growth at Infra-Metals
Rase, has held several roles throughout his time with Infra-Metals. PJ brought his previous retail sales experience and applied to this new career opportunity. He started with Infra-Metals by working in the sales department as one the first sales representatives trained before the New Boston, OH facility went live. He learned through his travels to and from the Wallingford, CT facility how the steel business worked and where Infra-Metals participated. At that he was mentored and worked very closely with the then general manager of the new Ohio facility, Oak Williams.
PJ quickly embraced the new company culture and earned his way to the Sales Manager position. His new responsibilities included nurturing and motivating a staff of six sales personnel. When asked what he likes about working for Infra-Metals his response was: “Exciting. Fun. Never Monotonous. I work with all types of people.”
In 2018 PJ moved into the role of General Manager for New Boston, OH.
Current Day-to-Day of General Manager
In his current role as General Manager, PJ oversees the New Boston, OH facility and all its employees.
“I am offered the opportunity to have an impact on the lives of the people I work with every day and can see myself retiring from this place. It’s a great company to work for.”
Starting from the ground up, the New Boston location has enjoyed watching it’s employees grow personally and professionally. PJ has witnessed this location grow and become successful due to the hard work and dedication of a lot of people.
“There are many stories like mine throughout the organization and that is special to have an employer that takes an interest in your personal success.”
Updated 6/1/2022 – At the time of this story, PJ was the General Manager of the Ohio facility and as of the beginning of June 2022 he will oversee the Atlanta, GA location. Congratulations on your continued success PJ!
TJ Ellis, Operations Manager for Infra-Metals New Boston, began working as a Maintenance Supervisor at our company in 2014.
Ryan Nelle is currently the Traffic Manager at Infra-Metals in Marseilles, IL. Ryan’s journey with Infra-Metals began as a CDL A Driver and now he is a Traffic Manager. Here is a little about his story with us.
Robert Jamison has worked at Infra-Metals for 21 years and started out as a Crane Operator. Over his long career with us he has held numerous positions including Saw Operator, Assistant Shift Supervisor and finally Processing Manager and Safety Coordinator.
PJ Rase, General Manager for Infra-Metals New Boston, began working as a Sales Representative at our company in 2013. PJ earned two degrees, a Bachelor degree in Accounting and a Bachelor degree in Business Management from the University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Ohio.