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.
We are pleased to announce that Cait Naugle has joined the company as Human Resource Generalist.
Prior to joining Yazoo, Cait was a long-time bartender/server before pursuing a degree in Elementary education. She obtained all the required credits and was on the brink of beginning a student teaching program where she decided to make a career change. Cait graduated from Penn State in 2020 with a BS in Labor Employee Relations/Human Resource Management.
After earning a degree at Penn State, she went on to work as a generalist for a local paper manufacturer. In this role, she entailed recruiting, running a co-op program for paper sciences, and handled union grievance procedures. She later went on to work for one of world’s largest food retail groups in a remote position to manage its New England Health Fund, as well as two other Locals in the New England/Jersey area. Cait completed many audits of the union employee’s fringe benefits, and balanced their ledgers in a monthly process. Through her experiences working in unionized workplaces, she knew it was time to make a switch. Currently residing in the New Oxford area and having heard many great things about Yazoo, she jumped on the opportunity to apply for the open HR role.
As a HR Generalist, Cait is the direct contact for all employees to ensure they have all their questions answered. Her responsibilities expand into onboarding new employees by making sure they feel welcome and encouraged from day one. She also plans and coordinates most of the company’s yearly corporate events, in which she enjoys as it is a switch from the everyday HR duties.
Outside of Work
In her spare time, you can find her doing something with her husband and two kids; 5-year-old son Bentley, and a 4-year-old daughter Ariel. They like to play Mario, go to the park, and watch the Netflix popular series, Stranger Things. In the rare moments that she gets to herself, Cait enjoys to go for a run or do something active outside.
Something you should know about Cait is that she is OBSESSED with anything spooky or Halloween. She could leave those decorations up all year if her husband would let her. Fun fact, she has won her neighborhood holiday decorating contest 3 years in a row! She takes her decorating very serious, lol.
Welcome to the team, Cait! We are excited to watch you thrive your role and help Yazoo to maintain its strong workforce for providing our customers with fast, friendly, and hassle-free service.
When looking for a new employee to join our amazing team, we make sure we take our time to find the perfect fit, not only for our company but also for our customers. It’s important to us to find a teammate who has the drive, determination, compassion, and knowledge to allow us to continue giving the best service, experience, and products to our valued customers. We are pleased to announce the hiring of Chelsea Weaver, who has joined our Customer Service Department.
Celsea, a graduate of Millersville University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, joins our growing team as a new Customer Service Representative. Prior to coming to Yazoo, Celsea worked as a Branch Manager at a local staffing agency. During her tenure there, she worked diligently to place temporary and temp-to-hire staff at local manufacturing facilities. From interviews to placed advertisements to delegating tasks to her recruiters, she’s well-rounded when it comes to customer service.
As a Customer Service Representative for Yazoo, she is responsible for entering custom, stock, and purchase orders as well as handling customer inquiries about orders. Additionally, she is taking on a temporary role as Receptionist which includes directing phone calls, handling incoming POs, entering the website, eBay, and Amazon orders, assisting customer inquiries, pricing orders, and preparing sales quotes and catalogs for mailing purposes.
Celsea mentions that she has always heard great things about Yazoo Mills and when she saw the job opening posted, she knew she had to jump on it to continue her career in Customer Service with an extremely reputable company. When asked what she likes most about working at Yazoo, she says “I really enjoy the atmosphere. Everyone is friendly and very welcoming. I also feel extremely valued as a team member which says a lot about a company.”
In her spare time, you can find her socializing with her fiancé, friends, and family members. She has a dog named Sam who takes many adventures with her and her fiancé from playing and going on walks to exploring new places. Additionally, she likes to listen to music, shop, and decorate her home. When asked if she wanted to share anything else, she continued to say “There are quite a few local manufacturing facilities that I am familiar with from my previous employer that placed orders with Yazoo Mills. It’s great to see local businesses supporting each other. Being familiar with these businesses also helps me understand how many different uses tubes and cores can really have!”
Welcome to the Yazoo team, Celsea! We are super excited to have you join our company as well as continue to watch you succeed in your role!
In 2012, our Hanover Distribution Center was built to broaden our production capabilities, product lines and to accommodate our rapid growth. Throughout the years, the Hanover Distribution Center has continued to grow, expanding to 90,000 square feet and now houses five, custom-built winding lines. With production growth comes company growth and adding new, knowledgeable employees to our 135+ staff.
Amber Burns joined the Yazoo Mills team in June as the Distribution Center Logistics Assistant at our Hanover location. Before coming to Yazoo, Amber worked for a local logistics company as the Office Manager. She has been in warehousing for over the last 10 years with knowledge and understanding of the trucking and office work. As a Logistics Assistant at Yazoo, Amber is responsible for pack out orders, printing BOLs and makes sure the work gets to the warehouse in an orderly fashion and the entire process of shipping goes smoothly.
Amber joined Yazoo to better herself and family, especially with just having a little girl. She heard how great of a company Yazoo is to work for and knew the hours would be very beneficial for her family. When asked what she likes best about working at Yazoo, she said “The environment is so nice and polite. With having a little one at home, the hours are very nice and allow me to be home with my family as I did not have the luxury of that at my previous job.” In her spare time, she likes to spend time with her family and friends, loves all things outdoors, soaking up the special moments with her little daughter and enjoying every minute of her daughter and husband, Shaun.
Since joining the team, Amber has been a great asset to the company and we look forward to watching her excel in her role. Welcome to the team, Amber!