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| Steve Schweitzer |
Gate Precast Co. has named industry veteran Steve Schweitzer as vice president, operations manager, at its Winchester, Ky., plant, an 18-acre site with 30,000 sq. ft. under roof. His precast industry tenure spans 36 years, most recently in the commercial sales and estimating departments at Prestress Services Industries. In addition to his work experience, he is also a member of several Precast/Presstressed Concrete Institute committees and active in PCI Central Region programs.
In his new position, Schweitzer is responsible for all operational and administrative issues for Gate’s Kentucky facilities. Schweitzer has a degree in architectural technology from Lexington Technical Institute, is a Certified Lean Facilitator, and was trained in project management at UK Gatton College.
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| Jim Stini |
Separately, Gate Precast has promoted 25-year industry veteran Jim Stini to manage operations at its Pearland, Texas, hollow core plank plant. He joined Gate in 1996 and most recently served as estimating and sales manager. In his new role, Stini will handle all duties associated with operations in Pearland, a PCI (C2) certified plant and one of eight precast/prestressed operations under the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company.
Stini has chaired the Spancrete Marketing Committee, and held Spancrete Manufacturers Association and PCI Erectors Committee leadership positions. He is trained in the AGC General Contractor Superintendent’s Course, and is a PCI Certified Field Auditor and Company Auditor. He holds contracting licenses in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, and has received 30-hour OSHA training.
Also, Gate Precast’s Oxford, N.C., plant recently reached a significant milestone, celebrating 20 years of service to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Proof of the plant’s success is in its numbers, management notes: Since opening the facility in June 1995, Gate’s Oxford plant has fabricated 11 million square feet of architectural precast concrete and 18 million square feet of hollow core concrete plank. The plant is SHARP and PCI (A1, C2) certified.
“[Our] success and longevity in Oxford is directly related to the skill and dedication of its 148 employees, all striving to provide the highest quality architectural and hollow core concrete products in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic,” says Gate Vice President and Operations Manager Travis Fox.
“The [Oxford] team is a class act, and they take pride in everything they do,” adds Gate President Dean Gwin. “The plant thrives on cutting edge product lines such as polished Gatestone and edge-to-edge thermally efficient panels. Additionally, the plant’s new hollow core beds are less than a year old and yield a superior product.”
Brick and block giant General Shale has received the North Carolina Department of Labor’s top annual safety awards for a production facility and several retail locations across the state. The Gold Safety Award, which honors outstanding health and safety efforts in 2014, was recently presented for the fourth consecutive year to each of General Shale’s retail locations in Charlotte, Kernersville, Raleigh, Sanford and Wilmington. The company’s manufacturing location in Brickhaven also received a Gold Safety Award.
“The well-being of our employees is of utmost importance to our organization, which is why our corporate culture emphasizes the significance of a safe work environment,” says General Shale CEO Charles Smith. “I am proud of our North Carolina teams for achieving this level of excellence and for their dedication to health and safety.”
“At General Shale, we believe that upholding excellent health and safety standards is a key component of a successful organization,” adds Safety and Risk Manager Brian Ogle. “This award acknowledges our stringent efforts to ensure the welfare of our employees.”
The North Carolina Department of Labor’s Safety Awards Program recognizes private and public firms throughout the state that achieve and maintain good safety records. To qualify for a safety award, a firm must have a) had no fatalities during the calendar year at the site or location for which the award was given; and, b) maintained an incidence rate that is at least 50 percent below the average for its particular industry group.
The board of Oldcastle Inc. parent company, Dublin-based CRH plc, has appointed Rebecca McDonald, a U.S. citizen, as a non-executive director—a position she likewise holds with Aggreko Plc, Veresen Inc. and ITT Corp. Until recently she also served on the board of Granite Construction, a heavy/civil contractor and construction materials producer based in California. McDonald has held a variety of executive leadership positions in the energy sector, including chief executive of Laurus Energy; president, Gas and Power, BHP Billiton; and, Amoco Energy Development Co. chief executive.
U.S. Concrete, Inc. in Euless, Texas, has commenced a search for a successor to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer William “Matt” Brown, who left the company late last month to become CFO of an international building products company based in the Dallas. U.S. Concrete CEO William Sandbrook credits Brown’s role as a “valuable member of the company’s senior leadership team and instrumental in guiding the Company through a period of significant growth. Thanks to his efforts, the Company is not only in a stronger financial position but is poised to deliver on our long-term growth strategy.”