November 2008: Concrete Tie Plant Marks First Anniversary

November 2008 marked the one year anniversary of Nortrak’s state of the art concrete turnout tie plant, located directly adjacent to the trackwork facility in Cheyenne, WY. During a luncheon celebration held November 6, Dave Millard reviewed the history and accomplishments during the last 12 months. One year ago, thirteen new employees, with no concrete experience, accepted a challenge from Dave and Steve Mattson, to safely produce the best concrete turnout ties in North America. This team, led by Dave Peterson, rose to the challenge, knocking down hurdles with a positive, continual improvement, attitude. All personnel worked the entire year without a lost work day injury. The team has efficiently produced over 100 concrete turnout tie sets for the primary customer, Union Pacific. Scott Lesher led certification of the plant to ISO 9001:2000 in September, and leads quality improvements in the plant. The challenges going forward are to continue to work injury free, expand the business during difficult economic conditions, and continue to improve operational performance.