“Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way.” – John Wooden
Meet Kevin Bachota | A hard-working Yazoo employee who has been with our company for 11 years and strives each day to make an impact not only on his team but also on the company and our 15,000+ customers. Kevin works vigorously at any given task and completes it with maximum efficiency; always going above and beyond what is needed. He’s passionate about learning new skill sets and helping take the company to the next level which has landed him the promotion to Winding Supervisor.
In his new role, he is responsible for scheduling the work orders between machines in Winding to meet customers’ deadlines, maintaining high-quality standards while ensuring that his operators are also focused on quality, and communicating with various department supervisors to ensure efficiency across the board. He also focuses on driving company policy & discipline, ensuring all safety procedures are acknowledged & followed, and leads, teaches and coaching his team to be successful as well as have the tools and knowledge to continue operating as the supplier of choice for paper tubes and cores.
Kevin contributes his 11-year tenure at Yazoo to many different things. He says “Yazoo Mills is a family-owned company and the people that work here have become a part of my family, literally. The pay and benefits are second-to-none in the area, career advancement opportunities and safety are a priority that is taken very seriously.”
In his spare time, you can find Kevin spinnin’ the DJ table at weddings and events, spending time with his family, coaching his son’s travel baseball team or grilling and relaxing by the fire.
Fun facts:
- Kevin was born in Los Angeles, CA and lived in Vegas until he was 8 years old
- Het met his wife at a roller skating rink and fell in love with her instantly
- He loves to roller skate and is very good at it – “I’m a skate shuffler”
Congrats on your well-deserved promotion, Kevin! We’re excited to watch you grow in your new position.
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)
In today’s working world, it seems almost impossible to find good employees that are looking to stay at a company for a long time and make a career out of their work. When it comes to working at Yazoo Mills, we treat everyone like family which has contributed to our success of employees who remain with the company for many, many years.
Meet Donnie Myers. Donnie has been with Yazoo for almost 20 years now and has worked all of those years in our Winding Department. When he first started his journey with the company, he held the position as a Winding Operator. As time went on, Donnie was promoted to 2nd shift Winding Supervisor, in charge of over 15+ employees and managing the night shift production order and manufacturing flow.
Through Donnie’s hard work and dedication, he has recently been promoted to 1st shift Winding Supervisor at our newly expanded manufacturing facility located in Hanover, PA. In his current role with the company, he schedules orders, checks for quality and makes sure that the production is flowing smoothly. When asked what he likes best about working at Yazoo over the last 19 years, he said “The pay is the best in the area and the benefits are awesome – you really can’t beat what Yazoo offers. Along with excellent job security, I also like that the employees are given the opportunity to make advancements within the company.”
During his free time, you can find Donnie doing all things outdoors – hunting, fishing and boating. He also likes spending time with his family, traveling around the country to support his boys who compete in archery tournaments. Congrats on your well-deserved promotion, Donnie!
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Jesse Smith as our new Winding Supervisor at our New Oxford, PA manufacturing plant. Smith joined Yazoo six years ago, holding positions in our Winding Department as a nightshift operator, dayshift operator, and lead person – all of which led him to his new role within our company.
In his new position, Smith schedules orders for production, checks quality of products, and makes sure that the work, orders, and products are flowing smoothly through the plant. When asked what he likes best about working at Yazoo, he replied with “The stability, great benefits, and the opportunity to grow as an employee within the company are just a few of my favorite things about working at Yazoo. I’m given the opportunity to better myself and add to my knowledge base for the better of the company. It’s great working for an employer that truly puts their employees first.” Mr. Smith brings extensive knowledge and experience to his new role within Yazoo’s Winding Department.
In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his wife and two-year-old son, Cash, hunting and fishing are pretty high up on his list of outdoor activities as well as going to the races and smoking a variety of food in his smoker. We are excited to see where Smith will lead his department and the company in his new position. Congratulations on your well-deserved promotion, Jesse. We are glad to have you as a part of our team!