Whenever I get the chance to visit a finishing operation, I look forward to walking the shop floor and meeting the people working the lines, racking parts, moving hoists, running lab tests, or shipping parts back to the customer.
For me, the chance to meet the frontline workers is what it is all about. I always try to shake a hand, ask how long they have been working there—and it always seems like they've been there 20, 30, or 40 years or more—and learn how they do their job and what they enjoy most.
Recently, while touring Varland Plating, I met Terry Willis, who works the barrel plating lines at the shop in Cincinnati that is celebrating its 80th year in operation. Terry has worked the lines at Varland for 42 of those years.
First, Terry looked as fit as any 20-year-old working a physically demanding job like his. I assume lifting barrels and moving parts around all day keeps a person in fairly tip-top shape.
More importantly, in talking with Terry, you could see he thoroughly enjoyed his job and looked forward to coming to work every day. Much of that can be attributed to working for the Varland company, which prides itself on taking care of its workers and encouraging employees' family members to apply for jobs. In fact, you can see the images of all the family members and their sons, daughters, cousins, and siblings in the article in this issue.
Terry told me his big dream growing up was to play in a rock and roll band coming out of high school. Still, when those plans didn't pan out as he wanted, he moved on and worked for a different electroplating company in Cincinnati for a few years before finding his way to Varland in 1984.
"I came here, and I never wanted to leave," Terry told me. "I've worked for all the different Presidents of the company, and I enjoy what I do. Why would I change that?"
That is a great question, and one I see in plenty of shops I visit. Employees are hired several decades ago, they enjoy the work that they do, and their bosses treat them right. It's a pretty easy combination to keep an employee for life. Still, I may be biased when I say I see it all the time in the finishing and coating industry, where I meet people on the front lines who walked in the door during the Reagan Administration and never left.
Perhaps it is because shop owners realize the value of hard workers and loyalty. Perhaps it is tribal knowledge these employees have that makes them indispensable to their employers. Either way, it is admirable to see an employee-employer relationship that often spans decades of stewardship.
You can find people like Terry in almost every shop you visit, and I always enjoy meeting them and hearing their story. To me, they are the heart and soul of the finishing and coating industry, and the backbone of what makes the manufacturing sector so vital to the U.S. economy.
Most people coming out of high school and college don't stay at an employer much longer than three years. Statistics say the average person in the U.S. will hold around 12 different jobs in their lifetime. That's a lot. That's a seriously crazy amount.
Hats off to people like Terry and others who stick with it when the going gets tough and are up for the challenge. And to employers like Varland Plating that work hard to keep employees like Terry.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go 
