Tag: Ellwood Aluminum

Categories
Faces of Manufacturing

Ellwood Aluminum employee touts WorkAdvance for life-altering career change in manufacturing

To most people watching, navigating a larger-than-life Caterpillar wheel loader would be intimidating.

 

Add trails just wide enough for the machine and towering piles of aluminum, it would seem a nearly impossible task.

 

Bernard Jones Jr. makes driving the wheel loader look easy.

 

It’s one of his responsibilities he looks forward to performing at Ellwood Aluminum in Hubbard.

 

The company produces large-diameter aluminum ingot and billet, rectangular slab and cast plates.

Taking care of the “work family”

When Jones gets out of the wheel loader and stands near the piled scrap, everything looks scaled to match him.

 

Standing at around 6’8” tall, his enthusiasm for work matches his stature.

Bernard Jones stands with equipment.
Bernard Jones Jr. learned to operate a wheel loader while working at Ellwood Aluminum in Hubbard. For most people, working the wheel loader is intimidating. Jones took the responsibility and embraced it.

The furnace operator began working at Ellwood in March 2022.

 

He learned the basics of the manufacturing industry through WorkAdvance after being recruited through the National Center for Urban Solutions.

 

WorkAdvance prepares inexperienced individuals for entry level positions in advanced manufacturing; positions with MVMC member manufacturers that include career growth opportunities. NCUS is a community grassroots recruiting partner of MVMC.

 

“Going through the training to work at Ellwood, it was very helpful,” Jones said, adding he was transitioning from another job.

 

At Ellwood, everyone has to be responsible and it’s taught in the training, he said.

 

Safety is among the largest responsibilities stressed, Jones said.

 

“When you’re responsible for others along with yourself, that makes it along the lines of a family rather than just an employee.”

 

Training is an important component of working at Ellwood.

 

“With the type of work we’re dealing with, we have to have that extensive training,” said Hank Stull, HR manager.

Don’t think twice about WorkAdvance

Jones, Stull and Steve Page, general manager at Ellwood, have advice for anyone thinking about completing the WorkAdvance program.

 

In two words: Do it.

 

“The more education you have coming into this field itself, the better. Listen to what you’re learning,” Jones said. “Any type of work advancement lets you be better than you were before.”

Bernard Jones Jr. stands in front of scrap aluminum.
Enrolling in WorkAdvance has provided Bernard Jones Jr. an opportunity to learn the basics of manufacturing.

 

Folks interested should be willing to learn, ready to work, Stull added.

 

WorkAdvance helps people “understand what’s needed to succeed in manufacturing,” said Page.

 

“It’s a great way to get hands-on experience but also decide which aspect of the industry – or if at all – is the right fit,” Page added.

 

Jones offered a bit more guidance: “Just be patient.”

 

When Jones isn’t working as a furnace operator, he’s a motivational speaker and works on a nonprofit he’s putting together: Rehabilitation to Revitalization.

 

Its focus is to bring individuals who were incarcerated to get together and help clean Youngstown.

 

From his nonprofit to his work at Ellwood, a common theme for Jones is sharing knowledge.

 

“You have to have a passion for what you’re doing and respect the energy being passed on,” sharing what you’ve learned with those around you, Jones said.

Categories
Member Manufacturers

Hubbard company reaching for stars after expansion

Ellwood Aluminum in Hubbard is in a big start-up phase.

 

The manufacturer produces large-diameter aluminum ingot and billet, rectangular slab, and cast plates.

 

Following a 72,000-square-foot expansion last year, the facility covers 105,000 square feet.

 

The century-old, family-owned company melts down metal to form a 94,000-pound aluminum slab, human resources and safety specialist Hank Stull said.

 

“You don’t realize how big the slabs are until you see them,” he said.

 

The metal slabs are purchased by other companies, including Boeing and SpaceX, to be formed into a new part.

An Ellwood Aluminum employee monitors molten aluminum.
An employee with Ellwood Aluminum in Hubbard monitors molten aluminum, which will be formed into a large slab. Following a 72,000-square-foot expansion last year, its facility covers 105,000 square feet.

Looking to grow

There are currently 10 salaried people and 25 hourly, working two shifts. The goal is to grow the hourly positions.

 

“I need to double what I have now,” Stull said.

 

Ellwood Aluminum is among the newest member manufacturers of Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition. They have been working together to bring more people on board at the facility, as well as with help with online promotion with social media, Stull said. The collaboration with MVMC helps lead people to the plant, Stall said.

 

A second round of WorkAdvance, also with MVMC, is being implemented. Earlier this year, three candidates were hired out of the program.

 

WorkAdvance offers a five-week training program to the candidates specific to Ellwood Aluminum’s various roles.

 

This time around, Stull hopes to see 10 candidates.

Women joining the force

 

Ellwood Aluminum welcomes women to work, too.

 

Out of the 25 hourly employees, seven are women who worked up the ranks, Stull said.

 

“They didn’t have aluminum experience, but they all serve in key rolls now,” he said, adding they moved up from casting operator into their roles, which include control room and saw operators. “It happened pretty organically.”

 

While the company continues its path in the aluminum industry and create ways to hire new employees, Stull feels the expansion and upcoming projects are good signs of what’s to come.

 

“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” he said.