Today we would like to take time out to recognize our veterans. We honor you, we thank you, and we appreciate you. Thank you for serving our country and protecting our freedoms!
Blog Archives
Clow Valve Company Recognizes Team Service
This spring, Clow Valve Company celebrated the service and dedication of 56 team members with years of service ranging from 5 all the way up to 45. To recognize these team members, Clow held awards banquet ceremonies in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Corona, California, and at the National Sales Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.
Clow Corona’s awards banquet was held on February 28th at Taps Fish House & Brewery Corona. Approximately 15 Clow Corona team members and their families along with several Clow Oskaloosa team members enjoyed a night filled with great food and even better company.
On April 26, approximately 80 Oskaloosa team members, joined by friends and family, attended the awards banquet held at the Musco Technology Center on the William Penn University Campus in Oskaloosa. Attendees were treated to a delicious meal catered by Sodexo. General Manager Mark Willett, Chief Talent Strategist Tiffany Tremmel, supervisors and Plant Managers expressed their appreciation for the team’s dedicated service and presented service awards.
Also in April, Clow recognized three Sales team members for their service at the 2018 McWane Valve and Hydrant Group National Sales Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The focus of the sales meeting was to update new products, engage in growth strategies and learn from one another as well as from the engineering and management teams. Having the opportunity to spend time with coworkers and friends gave the sales team a sense of comradery and energy moving forward to promote and sell the best products in the waterworks industry.
Clow has held the Service Awards Banquet for the past four years and will continue to do so every spring to show team members how much we appreciate their service and loyalty to the company. Without our team members, we would not be able to fulfill our mission of being the world’s leading resource for water works products and premier place to work and do business, and providing the world with life sustaining water products though service and manufacturing excellence.
The 2018 Clow Valve service award recipients are:
Retirees: John Stuchel, 35 years; Gary McClun, 35 years; and James Webb, 30 years
45 Years: Gregg Moore
40 Years: Randy Malloy; Dennis Stam; Jerry Jones; and John Johnson
35 Years: Steve Davis and Jerry Jess
30 Years: Paul Callahan; Jeff Howard; Bill Klett and Robert Smith
25 Years: Kyle Clark; Ron Garrels; Larry Spoelstra and Mike O’Sullivan
20 Years: Kevin Jones ; Brian Campbell; Richard Thomas; Paul Montgomery; Dean Hubbard; John Grahek and Jim Elder
15 Years: Alfonso Campos; Dean Scholtus; Juana Plum; Joe Reed; Brian Playle; Jonathan Coster; Brett Johnson; Dennis Glassford; Juan Matias and Gerardo Victoria
10 Years: Andy Kohler; Nic Lynch; Travis French; Annie Hol and BJ Bowie
5 Years: Luke Parson; Rod VanVeen; Shane Utterback; Dustin Shinn; Ron Pearson; Calvin Visser; Logan Williams; Jim Campbell; Keith Newport; Kyle Silvey; Brian Gott; Storm Cristobal; Tyler Little; Jeremy Smith; Dave Shepherd and Ward VandeKrol
Meet McWane: Mike Emhoff, Tyler Couplings
Mike Emhoff is retiring from Tyler Couplings in Marshfield, Missouri, after 43 years of dedicated service. Mike celebrated his retirement with fellow team members, family, and friends at a reception held on December 31. Everyone enjoyed a slideshow presentation showing how the facility and people had changed over the years.
Mike began his career in 1972 as a tool maker in the Tool & Die Department when the facility was known as Northern Metal Products. Through the years, the company changed to Alloy Unlimited, Plessey Aero Precision, and Tyler Pipe and finally to Tyler Couplings. Mike transferred to the Maintenance Department in April 1979 and was promoted to a management position in 1986. Mike’s latest position was the Supervisor of Maintenance, Tool & Die, and Screws.
Mike was presented with a watch, a plaque from Tyler Coupling, and a plaque from team members working in his department in appreciation for his many years of service. We wish Mike the best during his well-deserved retirement
Community Outreach on the Other Side of the Border
During the weekend of November 6-8, AB&I team members Carlos Gonzalez, Enrique Ramirez, and Zeydi Gutierrez embarked on a community outreach project on the other side of the border. They headed toward an area of Ensenada where there is no running water or electricity to participate in building a loft house for a family in need.
Thirteen people participated in the build; eight were from the bay area. Carlos’s sister, Graciela, came from Mexico, D.F., to join the team along with his nephew, Mario. The pre-build took place in a parking lot during the week of October 17. Carlos participated in the pre-build along with approximately 70 people from all ages and walks of life.
Loft houses are prefabricated in church parking lots in the U.S. and assembled in Mexico in just one day. Though not luxurious by any definition, a loft house provides basic protection and shelter from the elements. A loft house is a 12-foot by 12-foot structure with 4 windows, a lockable door and a second story attic loft for sleeping that can be reached by an interior ladder. The kit-house consists of prefabbed panels made from simple building materials widely available at most home improvement warehouses: 2x4s, 2x6s, plywood, and tar paper roofing. The house has a raised wooden floor, covered with linoleum, and is built on concrete piers. One member of the team hauled the kit-house on a trailer all the way from Oakland to the work site.
This particular loft house went to a couple, Maria and Fidel. Maria is blind in one eye and going blind in the other. Both Marian and Fidel work picking tomatoes six days a week and have also worked alongside everyone else in building their new home. They were paying 1,000 pesos a month in rent and couldn’t wait to have a home of their own. Their excitement was overwhelming.
There were so many moments of closeness of community and joy while watching Maria and Fidel get the keys to their new home.
Thank you AB&I for sponsoring Carlos, Enrique, and Zeydi in this community endeavor.
Meet McWane: Marcia Calvert & Billy McMichael, McWane
McWane recently celebrated two of their team members that have over two decades of service with the company.
Marcia Calvert began working for McWane Coal/Empire Coke in 1989 in the Sales Department. Fifteen years later, in 2004, she transferred to McWane Pipe as Administrative Assistant for the General Manager and Executive Vice President for the Pipe Group. In 2008, she transferred to the Pipe Sales Department as the Inside Sales Manager until 2012 when she transferred to McWane International.
Billy McMichael started his career with McWane at Union Foundry in the summer of 1986 while still in high school. He worked after school and during the summer cutting grass and picking up trash in the parking lot. Union Foundry hired Billy on October 5, 1987, in the Flange Shop where he worked nights threading stand pipe. After about six months, he moved into the Warehouse/Storeroom as a clerk, but was later promoted to Warehouse/Storeroom Supervisor/Buyer in 1997, and promoted to Purchasing Manager in 1999. He worked in that position until January 2008 when he joined the Supply Chain Department in Birmingham, Alabama.
Thanks, Marcia and Billy, for your decades of service!
Meet McWane: Marlene Moody, Tyler Couplings
Meet Marlene! She is a team member at Tyler Couplings in Marshfield, Missouri, and has been with the company for 44 years – WOW! On Monday, August 31, a retirement reception was held at Tyler Couplings in Marlene’s honor. Cake and punch were served to team members, retirees, family, and friends.
Marlene was also presented a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a watch in appreciation of her many years of service.
Congratulations and happy retirement, Marlene!
Update on McWane Ductile-New Jersey Community Advisory Panel
McWane Ductile-New Jersey (MDNJ) has a Community Advisory Panel (MDCAP) that meets on a monthly basis. The purpose of the MDCAP is to establish a forum for the regular candid and constructive communication between MDNJ and the local community. The MDCAP contributes approximately $60,000 annually to community projects, organizations, and events, and MDNJ makes separate donations to the local community. For example, MDNJ recently revamped their locker room and donated the left over lockers to a local homeless shelter.
The MDCAP donates quarterly to five local food banks that help feed those in need with a meal on a daily basis. They also awarded 8 scholarships – $2,000 each – in 2015 to local high school students to help further their education. During the holidays, they participate in the Polar Express and supply tickets to families who would not be able to afford this event, and provide hats, gloves, and food to local residents at the annual tree lighting ceremony. The MDCAP also adopts families during the holidays and provides presents and gift cards so every child will have something special at Christmas.
A few of the charities the MDCAP has supported are:
- Big Brother Big Sister
- Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter
- Wounded Warrior Project
- Cancer Support Community
- Wrangler to the Rescue
- Relay for Life
- Steele Hill Youth Organization
- Boy Scouts of America
Through the CAP, MDNJ also encourages team members to get more involved in the community. Pictured is one of the many sheds MDNJ has throughout the facility where team members put cardboard and paper items for recycling to help Norwescap, a local children’s center that provides summer classes and after school programs.
M&H Valve Veterans Have Over 520 Years of Combined Experience
L to R: Tommy “Mr. Clean” Fielder, Terry Christjohn, James Hubbard, James Butterworth, Harry Christian, Dennis Turner, Larry Parker, Harold Westbrooks, Andy Higgins, Larry Joe “Chopper Joe” Mays, and Wilbur (Peter) Price. Not pictured are Glen Key and Jack Williams.
In the recent issue of quarterly newsletter “The Valve Stem,” M&H Valve featured 13 team members that each had 40+ years of service for a combined experience of over 520 years! M&H observed that as time goes on, names and faces change and processes and developments continue to move forward to meet the ever changing and demanding times in which we live. Despite this, they did not want to forget the veteran team members with 40+ years of service that have contributed to the overall process and successful growth M&H now enjoys and will continue to experience in the future.
Over the years, the M&H team has gained a wealth of knowledge from team members that started work in the 1960s and 1970s while also experiencing some growing pains together. They all gained a great deal of experience which they are happy to share with the future generations joining the company in the future.
Individual Years of Service:
- Tommy “Mr. Clean” Fielder (10/2/72) – 42 years
- Terry Christjohn (11/15/73) – 41 years
- James Hubbard (11/27/72) – 42 years
- James Butterworth (5/24/72) – 42 years
- Harry Christian (1/25/72) – 43 years
- Dennis Turner (10/11/71) – 43 years
- Larry Parker (8/21/72) – 42 years
- Harold Westbrooks (5/30/73) – 41 years
- Andy Higgins (7/10/73) – 41 years
- Larry Joe “Chopper Joe” Mays (7/13/71) – 41 years
- Wilbur (Peter) Price (11/27/72) – 42 years
- Glen Key (9/12/69) – 45 years
- Jack Williams (4/25/71) – 43 years
A great big THANK YOU to these seasoned veterans for their many years of service!
McWane, Inc. 