Yazoo Mills is delighted to announce the hiring of Kim Weaver as Human Resource Manager! Kim brings to the team more than 25 years of progressive HR experience, primarily within the manufacturing industry.
She earned a BSBA in Human Resource Management as a scholar-athlete at Shippensburg University and an MBA in business at Mt. Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, MD. Kim also obtained her SHRM certification as an SPHR and continues building her education through local HR training, SHRM online, and in-person training.
What led Kim to Yazoo came through a professional contact who had reached out to her upon learning about this opportunity. Although Kim was not actively searching for a career change, she mentioned that the timing was undeniably perfect.
When asked what she likes most about working at Yazoo, Kim said, “smaller employer, family-owned, and they give back.” She continues, “Yazoo has a caring culture, great people, and good benefits at reasonable costs! I feel appreciated and my work is valued. I also enjoy the people I work with. It’s fun most days! Trust me when I say you can notice a bad culture.”
Outside of work, Kim lives a busy lifestyle. She spends much of her time with her boyfriend, 3 children, and 2 bonus daughters. They fill their days at sporting events, working on outside projects, camping, beach trips, and tending to their farmette. They have 2 goats, 2 ducks, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 bunny, and a fish!
We are super excited to have you as part of our growing team, and we look forward to watching you thrive in your role!
Yazoo Mills is excited to shine light on Tony Hammond, our Senior Network Engineer and the dedicated team member behind our IT programs!
A graduate from YTI and Elizabethtown College, Tony began his journey at Yazoo Mills in 2021 as Senior Network Engineer where he is responsible for empowering the business through technology. In his role, he manages, maintains, updates, patches, and troubleshoots our entire IT infrastructure. He provides elevated technical support across the organization by troubleshooting IT-related issues, provides technical solutions to solve problems, and streamline processes. Tony ensures we’re securely protected through proactive security measures by analyzing and responding to security threats. In addition, he establishes strategic direction for the integrity and reliability of our Information Technology practices.
Tony has been working in the Information Technology field since graduating with an associate degree in Computer Systems at YTI in 2012. With a strong passion to learn, he continued his education in 2015 by attending the adult learning program at Elizabethtown College to earn a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, just two years later. It is through his continued education and experience that he has gained a deep knowledge in areas that include: Virtual Servers, Networking & Routing, IT Security, Backup Infrastructure & Disaster Recovery, Wireless, technical infrastructure design, industry best practices, telephony systems, database administration, as well as organizational strategy and execution of IT operations.
Prior to joining Yazoo Mills, Tony managed the technology infrastructure of a large construction company with over 500 employees, 50 satellite offices, and 4 warehouses across 10 states. He also has experience in the Nonprofit, Architecture & Engineering, and Construction industries having previously held roles as an IT Technician, Network Administrator, Technology Consultant, Business Development Consultant and Systems Administrator. Through his years of knowledge and experience, Tony has been a huge asset to our team here at Yazoo Mills.
WHY YAZOO MILLS?
When we asked Tony why he chose Yazoo Mills, he replied “I was attracted to the opportunity for career growth, to have a seat at the decision table, and to be the driving force behind the advancement of here at Yazoo. I came for the opportunity to earn the IT Director role here.”
What Tony enjoys most about working at our company is the positive work/life balance his role provides. “I like that it’s a private company with limited ownership that understands that its people are its most important asset,” he added. “It feels good to contribute where your work is meaningful, and you matter. We have excellent leadership here.”
OUTSIDE OF WORK
Outside of work, Tony lives a very active lifestyle. He’s played both Ice and Roller Hockey since the age of 7 years old. He is an avid weightlifter, having hit his 10-year anniversary. Tony loves hiking with average 15-20 miles a week, as well as board sports as he is avid skateboarder, surfer, snowboarder and more recently wakeboarder. Music and art are also a passion of his. He enjoys listening to just about every genre of music and has played guitar since the age of 13 years old. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano and singing are his areas of expertise. In addition to music, Tony also enjoys street art and has dabbled in the stencil graffiti style (think Banksy).
Other interesting facts you should know about Tony, is that he grew up on a horse farm in Spring Grove, PA. He knows how to ride horses, bail hay, run heavy equipment, and to be a true a farm boy. He is a distant relative of the Brothers Grimm through his father’s mother. The Brothers Grimm are German authors who published a book of folk tales in 1812 popularizing such stories as Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and more.
Our Yazoo Mills family is proud of the work Tony has continues to do for our company and we are lucky to have him! We are excited to watch Tony continue to grow professionally and help in our efforts to be the industry leader and supplier of choice for paper tubes & cores.
Yazoo’s Sales Department provides top-notch service to all customers, big or small. Our team focuses on your pain points and delivers innovative solutions to help make operations more efficient.
We are happy to announce that Wanda Bankert has been promoted to Lead Sales Representative. Wanda has been with Yazoo for 22 years and has been helping our sales department flourish ever since she started with the company. In her new role, she will be assisting the Sales department with any customer, Epicor, and operational questions as well as communicating with new and existing customers to discuss their needs and find solutions fit for them, provide quote pricing and lead times, and assist customers with the appropriate product selection that is beneficial for their company and customer’s needs.
The family-owned and friendly atmosphere is what she enjoys most about Yazoo. The secret to her 22-year tenure? She says “I enjoy helping customers with their tube and core requirements as well as the generous pay and benefits Yazoo has to offer!”
In her spare time, you can find her spending time with her grandson and family and going antique shopping. A hidden talent of hers? Well, I guess you can say finding new wineries that have great wine — we will call her an amateur wine connoisseur.
Congrats on your promotion, Wanda! We know you are going to help take our Sales Department to the next level!
Manufacturing – it’s what drives the world around us. Our plant workers are the backbone to our company. They work with pride all while manufacturing high-quality paper tubes and cores that our customers can depend on. Meet John Black – 1st Shift Winding Supervisor that has been with Yazoo for 32 years.
John likes to get a jump start on things so it’s no surprise that he’s an early riser at 3:45am. He hops in the shower to wake up, jams out to music while he packs his lunch and writes a note to his wife, makes a protein shake with a banana or fresh pineapple, kisses his wife and puppy goodbye and heads off to work on his short 2-minute commute.
Once he’s at work, he turns his computer on and brings up the production/recut dashboard to see what jobs came in from the night before. He takes the orders that were laid on his desk from 2nd shift and starts scheduling them into production. During scheduling, he will make the necessary adjustments needed in order to get the work out and over to the Recut department on time. Around 5:30am, he meets with a lead and floater to give them key points to focus on and listens to their feedback. John is a people-person and problem-solver so he likes to get others involved as much as possible. At 6am, the winders are fired up to begin the production day and John checks with his crew to see how their night was, all while assisting them with getting their machines ready. At 8am and 11am, you can find John running machines to cover his team going on break. Throughout the remainder of the day, he is communicating with the Shipping and Recut departments to ensure a good flow through the plant. He continues the day with checking on his winding lines to ensure that everything is running smoothly, receives paperwork from Order Prep and separates the orders between the front and back lines then schedules them. John thrives on being a part of a team-oriented company, knowing that he is helping manufacture the highest-quality of paper tubes and cores that industries across the nation can trust.
John credits his tenure at Yazoo to the people and the challenge of making everything flow together. Those two are the driving force behind his 32 years of service, which also include his previous positions of table person, winder operator and lead.
A few fun facts about John:
What would you do if you hit the lottery?: Make sure the older generation in his family as well as his kids are set up for life
Dream vacation: Travel to Ireland and hangout in a real Irish pub with locals
Hobbies: Spending time with his family and puppy, riding his motorcycle, watching his grandchildren play sports, hanging out with his friends while enjoying some beverages, shooting guns and lifting weights
Fun facts: John is a member of the Green Springs Fish and Game, NRA and HOG (Harley Davidson Owners Group)