At Phoenix Mecano, we hold ourselves accountable to high standards and make sure our values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, commitment and sustainability come to life in the way we work. Our culture, like everything at our company, is made possible by each employee’s contribution. Each of our team members has a can-do spirit that allows us to find the perfect solution for your application — on time, and on budget! For our latest Employee Spotlight, we had the opportunity to sit down with our devoted Machinist, Ed Plumer, to learn more about him and what he does here.
Phoenix Mecano February Employee Spotlight: Machinist, Ed Plumer
What is your role at Phoenix Mecano and has that always been your role here?
I was hired in as a machinist almost 13 years ago, and I’m still a machinist today.
What do you like most about your job?
I love that it’s a challenge and that there’s something new every day to look forward to. I’ve been in machining for 25 years now, and I’m still always learning something new. I don’t look at a problem as a problem – I look at it as a challenge, and I’ve encountered some great experiences because of that.
What do you like most about Phoenix Mecano?
I enjoy the people I work with. They’re really decent and we’re all after the same thing. You have to like your job to put in as many hours as we do. If you’re not working, you’re not accomplishing anything. To put it simply, I don’t like weekends.
What has been your favorite project at Phoenix Mecano?
While I don’t have a specific project in mind, I would say that learning how to use many different pieces of equipment has been a great experience. Knowing how to work different machines has only made me a better employee and able to help where needed.
What is your background? Ex) Where are you originally from, where did you go to school, etc.
I was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – but, I was raised in Ladiesburg, Maryland. I graduated from Walkersville High School in 1974, and I’ve been in the manufacturing field for over 40 years. I’ve been happily married for 37 years, going on 38. My wife Marlene and I have two kids, now in their 30s. Both my son and daughter were in the military – my son was in for eight years and my daughter for four. We now reside in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
If given a chance, who would you like to be for a day?
Superman! I’ve been called a lot of things on the Production floor, but ‘Superman’ has been the best one. I even have a Superman shirt I can wear too!
If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Jesus Christ, because he’s my savior and I’d like to meet him face to face.
Three words to best describe you:
Good work ethic … that’s technically three words!
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I wanted to be a baseball player for the longest time. I was big into sports. I actually didn’t learn machining until I was 35. From that point on, I knew I didn’t want to do anything else.
What’s on your bucket list?
You know, I’ve never given it that much thought. I got to travel a lot when my kids were in the military, so I think if anything, I’d like to travel cross country. I’m usually too busy working though to think about that sort of thing.
What’s the one thing, you can’t live without?
My wife, Marlene.
Is there anything else you want people to know?
Just that I try to be as humble as I can. I’m very much out of my element being in the spotlight. I’m more so here to serve, not to be served – if I can help or share my knowledge in any way, I’ll always do it.
“Ed brings years of machining experience to the production team. His dedication and willingness to share this knowledge with his teammates is a huge asset to the company,” said Phoenix Mecano’s Machining Lead, Larry Davis.
There’s more to working at Phoenix Mecano than just the work itself. It takes people with different ideas, strengths, interests, and cultural backgrounds to make our company succeed. We hope you enjoyed learning more about Ed and we can’t wait to bring you more ‘Spotlights’ in the months ahead. Stay tuned to our blog to see what’s next!
