Silver-Line completes expansion - Lawton, OK PDFs/Silver-Line Complete... · 2016. 9. 4. · beef...
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(580) 917-2706 Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Facebook Home Theaters in The Oaks Football season is upon us. Where are YOU watching the game? Call us TODAY to see one of our move in ready homes with a PERSONAL HOME THEATER! (580) 917-2706 www.TheOaksDevelopmentCo.com E SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 BY VIC SCHOONOVER SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Farmers and ranchers are in the lead using modern technol- ogy for help in mapping fields for fertilizer uptake, guiding tractors precisely across fields when planting and harvesting, and other chores once done by the use of one’s eyes, brain and experience Now, using technology devel- oped by Oklahoma State Uni- versity animal scientists, cattle producers can use two new electronic gizmos to keep bet- ter records on cattle mineral consumption. One tool is used to help them keep track of the amount of minerals being fed in each pasture. The other one assists producers in determin- ing the amount of minerals con- sumed on a per head, per day basis. Reported by Glen Selk, OSU Extension emeritus livestock specialist, the two new tools, developed by OSU Extension beef team members Chris Richards and Gant Maurer, will help cattlemen make sure prop- er mineral and vitamin intake will help cattle make good weight gains, have strong im- mune systems and reproduc- tive performance. Proper mineral consumption, Selk explained, is critical when it contains chlortetracycline or ionophores. Commercial miner- al mixes have a target con- sumption rate included in the feeding directions, he said. The tools will allow produc- ers to more closely monitor mineral intake in their live- stock and provide opportuni- ties to make adjustments if un- satisfactory consumption is taking place, he said. Both of the tools are available free of charge and can be downloaded from the OSU website, beefex- tension.com. Go to the right side of the page and click on the appropriate item you wish to download, Selk said. The simple-to-use tools will be ex- tremely helpful to beef cow/calf and stocker calf pro- ducers, he said. Keeping cattle healthy Cattlemen can help their calves stay healthy and also be- come used to being handled by people by accomplishing such tasks as vaccinating and worm- ing. And according to Kansas State University Extension beef cattle specialist A.J. Tar- poff, working with the cattle even before calves are weaned will pay off in easier-to-handle cattle. “Producers who check their cattle often will be able to stay ahead of any problems such as injuries, symptoms of sickness, making sure all of the cattle are still present, and at the same time ensure both cows and calves will become used to the owners’ presence and become more gentle,” Tarpoff said. “Just walking through the herd once a week or so will pay off with cattle becoming less stressed when they are penned and handled.” He said producers will have a variety of health factors to consider during precondition- ing, including vaccines and pre- ventative measures as possible controls for illnesses such as individual parasites, coccidian and worms. He recommends working with your local vet to help prioritize what health risks are important to pay at- tention to in your area and which ones are not as threaten- ing in order to reduce health- related stress to the herd. New tools keep track of minerals being fed MICHAEL D. POPE/STAFF Tim George, plant manager for Silver-Line Plastics, and office manager Tammy Stanley stroll through the currently empty 75,000-square-foot addition to the pipe manufacturing plant. George hopes to have the new space in production in November. BY STEPHEN ROBERTSON STAFF WRITER SROBERTSON@SWOKNEWS . COM Silver-Line Plastics has essen- tially completed its 75,000- square-foot building expansion and expects production to begin before the end of the year. Plant manager Tim George said the city has issued a certifi- cate of occupancy, and only mi- nor construction work remains to be completed. He expects equipment installation to begin in a couple of weeks or so. “Hopefully, after Thanksgiv- ing we’ll be making some pipe out there,” George said. The project — a $10 million ef- fort that doubled the size of the plastic pipe manufacturing oper- ation — has required consider- able coordination and planning because the factory kept turning out pipe during the entire process. Despite the challenges, the company is on track for comple- tion of the project, and the good news is the company has already added more new employees than it publicly projected and more jobs are coming in the future. The company secured an $800,000 loan from the Co- manche County Industrial De- velopment Authority, with the money to be repaid by creating — and maintaining, for five years — 19 new jobs. Tammy Stanley, the plant’s office manag- er and personnel director (among other jobs) said the com- pany hired 43 people from last November through this August and it has retained 70 percent of them (about 30 people). “That’s huge for us,” she said. Part of the high retention, she and George said, can be ex- plained by the training program that’s been put in place for new hires. When the company — based in Ashville, N.C. — opened its new plant here in 2001, it relied upon a rudimentary training system. Essentially, workers from North Carolina trained local hires on the job. “We knew that wasn’t work- ing,” Stanley said, “but it was just growing so fast.” Eventually, the company insti- tuted a three-day training pro- gram; if workers stayed on they learned more on the job. For the expansion, Silver-Line took a different tack. In the most recent round of hiring, workers go through a month-long pro- gram in which they learn not only production but also a bit of what the other departments, in- cluding maintenance and ship- ping, do. “We want them to feel like they’re part of the whole pro- gram,” George said. Much of the training has been overseen by Siliver-Line plant employees. George said that ac- complishes two purposes: It al- lows employees to share their expertise and current employees and new employees get to know each other. “It’s not just ‘those folks,’ us and them,” George said. “It be- comes more like family.” That’s important, he said, be- cause Silver-Line wants to re- cruit and hire people who will consider working at Silver-Line a career. “Some folks just want a job, but many folks are looking for a career,” he said. The training sessions have worked so well, George and Stanley said, that some two-week sessions have been instituted for current employees. More training is on the hori- zon. The plant will have a hiring event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fri- day and Saturday in Building 600 at Great Plains Technology Cen- ter, 4500 W. Lee. The company offers $11-15 an hour to start, with benefits. The last hiring event in Octo- ber attracted 300 people. “We’re trying to mimic what we did last year because it worked out so well for us,” Stan- ley said. The most important qualifica- tion is attitude, and not aptitude, experience or training. “If we can just get good people who have a desire to work ... we can teach them what they need to know,” is the motto. Silver-Line completes expansion MICHAEL D. POPE/STAFF Tim George, plant manager for Silver-Line Plastics, and office manager Tammy Stanley stand in front of the plant’s new quality assurance lab, part of a 75,000- square-foot addition. The lab also doubles as a safe room. BY MITCH MEADOR STAFF WRITER MMEADOR@SWOKNEWS . COM Job seekers and prospective employers will have the perfect opportunity to meet up at an Oklahoma Military Connection Hiring Event on Thursday. It will last from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Fort Sill Armed Forces Reserve Center, Building 3955 Cannoneer Field Road. To get there, enter Bentley Gate on Sheridan Road, turn left onto Mow-Way Road and make an immediate left onto Cannoneer Field Road. If you do not have a Department of De- fense-issued ID card, you must obtain a visi- tor’s pass to come onto Fort Sill. You can get one by stopping at the Visitor Center just in- side the perimeter fence on the east side of Sheridan Road. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Oklahoma Military Connection has held an event on Fort Sill. Last year’s event was at- tended by over 300 career seekers and 40 lo- cal employers. “We’re very fortunate to have so many mil- itary-supportive employers in Oklahoma,” said Oklahoma National Guard Employment Coordination Program Director Col. Warren Griffis. The hiring event is for military members and their spouses, members of the National Guard and Reserve, and veterans. It can pro- vide civilian employment for active-duty service members who are separating from the military, or weekday employment for Guardsmen and Reservists who need a steady income that will keep them coming to drill weekends and annual training. Military spouses can use it to find jobs while they’re stationed here with their service members. The goal is to have 50 employers who have jobs available now, according to James Tay- lor, program manager for the Lawton office of Oklahoma Works. It’s called a hiring event rather than a job fair because all participating employers must have current job openings. The event serves not only Lawton but out- lying areas as well. There will be some police organizations coming from Texas. “We have other industries coming in now that we may not have seen before,” he added. There is a new effort this year by a consor- tium that includes Great Plains Technology Center, Cameron University as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Center and other en- tities to help individuals who want to start their own businesses. This will be done in collaboration with Syracuse University. One person who did is Sandra Gonzales, founder and president of Docere E-Learning Solutions. She is both a veteran and a mili- tary spouse, and she will be present to give others tips on how to follow the road she took. The deadline to pre-register for the hiring event was last Wednesday. The advantage to pre-registration was that by submitting your resume, you would be matched up with four or five employers who have jobs for some- one with your skill sets. Walk-ins will be accepted, however. Two workshops were held beforehand to help people exiting the military and veterans update their resumes, dress for job inter- views and polish their interview skills. Par- ticipation was down this year, but Taylor thinks that may be because of what Okla- Military Connection Hiring Event set FILE PHOTO Nalevra Barnett, left, talks with Great Plains career counselor Rhonda Mahffery at the Oklahoma Military Connection hiring event held on Fort Sill in 2014. This year’s event will be held Thursday in the Fort Sill Armed Forces Reserve Center, Building 3955 Cannoneer Field Road. SEE HIRING, 3E
Transcript of Silver-Line completes expansion - Lawton, OK PDFs/Silver-Line Complete... · 2016. 9. 4. · beef...
(580) 917-2706 Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Facebook
Home Theaters in The Oaks Football season is upon us.
Where are YOU watching the game? Call us TODAY to see one of our move in ready
homes with a PERSONAL HOME THEATER! (580) 917-2706
www.TheOaksDevelopmentCo.com
ESEPTEMBER 4, 2016
BY VIC SCHOONOVERSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Farmers and ranchers are inthe lead using modern technol-ogy for help in mapping fieldsfor fertilizer uptake, guidingtractors precisely across fieldswhen planting and harvesting,and other chores once done bythe use of one’s eyes, brain andexperience
Now, using technology devel-oped by Oklahoma State Uni-versity animal scientists, cattleproducers can use two newelectronic gizmos to keep bet-ter records on cattle mineralconsumption. One tool is usedto help them keep track of theamount of minerals being fedin each pasture. The other oneassists producers in determin-ing the amount of minerals con-sumed on a per head, per daybasis.
Reported by Glen Selk, OSUExtension emeritus livestockspecialist, the two new tools,developed by OSU Extensionbeef team members ChrisRichards and Gant Maurer, willhelp cattlemen make sure prop-er mineral and vitamin intakewill help cattle make goodweight gains, have strong im-mune systems and reproduc-tive performance.
Proper mineral consumption,Selk explained, is critical whenit contains chlortetracycline orionophores. Commercial miner-al mixes have a target con-sumption rate included in thefeeding directions, he said.
The tools will allow produc-ers to more closely monitormineral intake in their live-stock and provide opportuni-ties to make adjustments if un-satisfactory consumption istaking place, he said. Both ofthe tools are available free ofcharge and can be downloadedfrom the OSU website, beefex-tension.com. Go to the rightside of the page and click onthe appropriate item you wishto download, Selk said. Thesimple-to-use tools will be ex-tremely helpful to beefcow/calf and stocker calf pro-ducers, he said.
Keeping cattle healthyCattlemen can help their
calves stay healthy and also be-come used to being handled bypeople by accomplishing suchtasks as vaccinating and worm-ing. And according to KansasState University Extensionbeef cattle specialist A.J. Tar-poff, working with the cattleeven before calves are weanedwill pay off in easier-to-handlecattle.
“Producers who check theircattle often will be able to stayahead of any problems such asinjuries, symptoms of sickness,making sure all of the cattle arestill present, and at the sametime ensure both cows andcalves will become used to theowners’ presence and becomemore gentle,” Tarpoff said.“Just walking through the herdonce a week or so will pay offwith cattle becoming lessstressed when they are pennedand handled.”
He said producers will havea variety of health factors toconsider during precondition-ing, including vaccines and pre-ventative measures as possiblecontrols for illnesses such asindividual parasites, coccidianand worms. He recommendsworking with your local vet tohelp prioritize what healthrisks are important to pay at-tention to in your area andwhich ones are not as threaten-ing in order to reduce health-related stress to the herd.
New toolskeep trackof minerals being fed
MICHAEL D. POPE/STAFF
Tim George, plant manager for Silver-Line Plastics, and office manager Tammy Stanley stroll through the currently empty 75,000-square-foot addition to the pipemanufacturing plant. George hopes to have the new space in production in November.
BY STEPHEN ROBERTSONSTAFF [email protected]
Silver-Line Plastics has essen-tially completed its 75,000-square-foot building expansionand expects production to beginbefore the end of the year.
Plant manager Tim Georgesaid the city has issued a certifi-cate of occupancy, and only mi-nor construction work remainsto be completed. He expectsequipment installation to beginin a couple of weeks or so.
“Hopefully, after Thanksgiv-ing we’ll be making some pipeout there,” George said.
The project — a $10 million ef-fort that doubled the size of theplastic pipe manufacturing oper-ation — has required consider-able coordination and planningbecause the factory kept turningout pipe during the entireprocess.
Despite the challenges, thecompany is on track for comple-tion of the project, and the goodnews is the company has alreadyadded more new employees thanit publicly projected and morejobs are coming in the future.
The company secured an$800,000 loan from the Co-manche County Industrial De-velopment Authority, with themoney to be repaid by creating— and maintaining, for fiveyears — 19 new jobs. TammyStanley, the plant’s office manag-er and personnel director
(among other jobs) said the com-pany hired 43 people from lastNovember through this Augustand it has retained 70 percent ofthem (about 30 people).
“That’s huge for us,” she said.Part of the high retention, she
and George said, can be ex-plained by the training programthat’s been put in place for newhires.
When the company — based inAshville, N.C. — opened its newplant here in 2001, it relied upona rudimentary training system.Essentially, workers from NorthCarolina trained local hires onthe job.
“We knew that wasn’t work-ing,” Stanley said, “but it wasjust growing so fast.”
Eventually, the company insti-tuted a three-day training pro-gram; if workers stayed on theylearned more on the job.
For the expansion, Silver-Linetook a different tack. In the mostrecent round of hiring, workersgo through a month-long pro-gram in which they learn notonly production but also a bit ofwhat the other departments, in-cluding maintenance and ship-ping, do.
“We want them to feel likethey’re part of the whole pro-gram,” George said.
Much of the training has beenoverseen by Siliver-Line plantemployees. George said that ac-complishes two purposes: It al-lows employees to share their
expertise and current employeesand new employees get to knoweach other.
“It’s not just ‘those folks,’ usand them,” George said. “It be-comes more like family.”
That’s important, he said, be-cause Silver-Line wants to re-cruit and hire people who willconsider working at Silver-Line acareer.
“Some folks just want a job,but many folks are looking for acareer,” he said.
The training sessions haveworked so well, George andStanley said, that some two-weeksessions have been instituted forcurrent employees.
More training is on the hori-zon. The plant will have a hiringevent from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fri-day and Saturday in Building 600at Great Plains Technology Cen-ter, 4500 W. Lee. The companyoffers $11-15 an hour to start,with benefits.
The last hiring event in Octo-ber attracted 300 people.
“We’re trying to mimic whatwe did last year because itworked out so well for us,” Stan-ley said.
The most important qualifica-tion is attitude, and not aptitude,experience or training.
“If we can just get good peoplewho have a desire to work ... wecan teach them what they need toknow,” is the motto.
Silver-Line completes expansion
MICHAEL D. POPE/STAFF
Tim George, plant manager for Silver-Line Plastics, and office manager TammyStanley stand in front of the plant’s new quality assurance lab, part of a 75,000-square-foot addition. The lab also doubles as a safe room.
BY MITCH MEADORSTAFF [email protected]
Job seekers and prospective employerswill have the perfect opportunity to meet upat an Oklahoma Military Connection HiringEvent on Thursday.
It will last from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. inthe Fort Sill Armed Forces Reserve Center,Building 3955 Cannoneer Field Road. To getthere, enter Bentley Gate on Sheridan Road,turn left onto Mow-Way Road and make animmediate left onto Cannoneer Field Road.
If you do not have a Department of De-fense-issued ID card, you must obtain a visi-tor’s pass to come onto Fort Sill. You can getone by stopping at the Visitor Center just in-side the perimeter fence on the east side ofSheridan Road.
This is the fourth consecutive year that theOklahoma Military Connection has held anevent on Fort Sill. Last year’s event was at-tended by over 300 career seekers and 40 lo-cal employers.
“We’re very fortunate to have so many mil-itary-supportive employers in Oklahoma,”said Oklahoma National Guard EmploymentCoordination Program Director Col. WarrenGriffis.
The hiring event is for military membersand their spouses, members of the NationalGuard and Reserve, and veterans. It can pro-vide civilian employment for active-duty
service members who are separating fromthe military, or weekday employment forGuardsmen and Reservists who need asteady income that will keep them coming todrill weekends and annual training. Militaryspouses can use it to find jobs while they’restationed here with their service members.
The goal is to have 50 employers who havejobs available now, according to James Tay-lor, program manager for the Lawton office ofOklahoma Works. It’s called a hiring eventrather than a job fair because all participatingemployers must have current job openings.
The event serves not only Lawton but out-lying areas as well. There will be some policeorganizations coming from Texas.
“We have other industries coming in nowthat we may not have seen before,” he added.
There is a new effort this year by a consor-tium that includes Great Plains TechnologyCenter, Cameron University as well as theU.S. Small Business Administration’s SmallBusiness Development Center and other en-tities to help individuals who want to starttheir own businesses. This will be done incollaboration with Syracuse University.
One person who did is Sandra Gonzales,founder and president of Docere E-LearningSolutions. She is both a veteran and a mili-tary spouse, and she will be present to giveothers tips on how to follow the road shetook.
The deadline to pre-register for the hiringevent was last Wednesday. The advantage topre-registration was that by submitting yourresume, you would be matched up with fouror five employers who have jobs for some-one with your skill sets.
Walk-ins will be accepted, however.Two workshops were held beforehand to
help people exiting the military and veteransupdate their resumes, dress for job inter-views and polish their interview skills. Par-ticipation was down this year, but Taylorthinks that may be because of what Okla-
Military Connection Hiring Event set
FILE PHOTO
Nalevra Barnett, left, talks with Great Plains careercounselor Rhonda Mahffery at the OklahomaMilitary Connection hiring event held on Fort Sill in2014. This year’s event will be held Thursday in theFort Sill Armed Forces Reserve Center, Building 3955Cannoneer Field Road.
SEE HIRING, 3E
