Latest Fabrication News

Below is this months edition of Latest Fabrication News. Previous editions of our Latest Fabrication News can be found to the right.

Spotlight of the Month: Derwin Reams

Our Associate Spotlight this month shines on Derwin Reams, who has been part of our Team since April 10 of this year and works in our machining department. Derwin was born and raised in Springfield and spent a great deal of time in Chillicothe where his dad was living. He graduated from Kenton Ridge (Go Cougars) as well as JVS (now CTC) in 1989. While at JVS Derwin was enrolled in their machine shop classes and spent his junior and senior years there. After high school graduation he enrolled in the Navy where he spent the next two years. He was stationed in San Diego and was assigned to an aircraft carrier. Since his ship was already at sea, he was flown to it where he joined some 5,000 other Navy sailors. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Derwin took his first job as a machinist with Beach Manufacturing in Donnelsville. He then moved to Chillicothe and took a job with The Union Spring Company who made springs for the trains and the automotive industry. After five years there, he took a job as an auto mechanic in Circleville and then in 2005 he joined Carmichael Machine where he spent the next seven years. In 2012 he took a machinist position with Gem City in Dayton who did work for the military and medical fields. After being laid off at Gem City he fortunately joined the Valco Team. Derwin was recruited to Valco by Dave Cantrell who he had worked with at Carmichael Machine. Derwin spends most of his non-working time playing the guitar, which he has been doing since he was 13. He also has his own recording studio and enjoys making music and making musical recordings. Even after all these years he spends roughly 2-3 hours every day practicing and recording. Derwin says the hardest part of joining Valco was having to learn to become a very early riser to get to work on time. He has greatly enjoyed his first couple of months of being here and we certainly look forward to working with Derwin in the months and years ahead. It is great having him as part of the team.

Birthdays

Ed Ledent – June 11th

Jamie Callan – June 17th

We hope Ed and Jamie each have a great day on their special day and an even better year. Here’s hoping their new year is a healthy one, with lots of laughs, lots of parts to manufacture and fabricate, and much continued success. We wish each of them many more birthday celebrations in the years ahead. Enjoy your special time of year!

Years of Service

Bill Brougher – 6 years on June 12th

Allen Cook – 1 year on June 13th

Mariano Moralex Lopes – 1 year on June 20th

Denise Gordin – 18 years on June 20th

Dave Montgomery – 19 years on June 24th

Jon Young – 21 years on June 25th

Mike Bell – 12 years on June 27th

Uriel Sanchez – 1 year on June 27th

What a great month June was for hiring some great people. We thank each of you for being part of the Valco team. We appreciate all you have done throughout the years and that you continue to do for Valco and our many customers on a daily basis. We look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. Let’s keep on keeping on in 2023!

Welcome to the Team

We would like to welcome the newest members of the Valco Team –

Adam Hensley – Started on May1st and is working in our welding department

Hayden Durant – We are glad to welcome and introduce Hayden Durant who is a senior at Wittenberg and is an intern who has been with us since April. He is majoring in marketing with a minor in economics and will be graduating in December of 2023. Hayden is from Oxford, Michigan and when not attending college he teaches motorcycle safety classes as part of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. He is also a teaching tennis pro and travels the area doing professional photography work. Valco feels very fortunate to be working with Hayden, and to see the improvements already made on our website and online presence. Many of you have been following us on Facebook for a while now, but Hayden has also started a Valco Industries Instagram page where he has created and shared unique videos to highlight our capabilities, and our employee owners.  

2023 FDIC International Conference

Earlier this month a team of our employee owners went to the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference held in Indianapolis. This was a great opportunity for them to make new contacts and extend our presence in this important industry

Summer Arts Festival

We know summer is fast approaching as the Springfield Arts Council has announced the dates, shows, events and entertainment they will be having as they present the 57th season of the Summer Arts Festival. The festival returns to downtown Springfield on Wednesday, June 14 through Saturday, July 22, 2023 with over twenty-five evenings of admission-free entertainment under the stars! Be sure mark your calendar now and get your lawn chairs ready for the 57th season of Springfield’s favorite summer tradition, The Summer Arts Festival! For a complete listing of the upcoming shows and entertainment you can go to the Arts Council web site at https://www.springfieldartscouncil.org.