Mitsubishi-1.5-Million-Safe-Hours

Congratulations to the GreenWood project team at Mitsubishi Polyester Film in Greer, South Carolina for achieving 1.5 million safe work hours.  The accomplishment was reached after thirteen years of performance without a lost time event where GreenWood provides capital project work and supplemental maintenance for Mitsubishi.  This production plant is recognized as a global leader and one of the largest suppliers of polyester film in the world.  The 193-acre Mitsubishi site is an autonomous facility that covers more than a million square feet with 24-hour manufacturing processes.

A seamless relationship between GreenWood and Mitsubishi personnel ensures strong communications to maintain safe work environments.  Getting jobs done is a continual focus, but completing projects safely and in a timely manner is the true priority.  This applies to routine and special project work where the ultimate goal is always zero incidents.

“We emphasize safety in every aspect of our work regardless of the size and complexity of the project,” says Mike Simmons, Safety Director for GreenWood.  “Our team approach with Mitsubishi is built on mutual trust which allows us to achieve these safety goals and celebrate the accomplishments together.  We appreciate and value their continued confidence in our team as we perform all services in the safest manner possible.”

GreenWood-30-Years

GreenWood, Inc. is marking its 30th year in business in the industrial marketplace.  For three decades, the company has been delivering integrated maintenance, construction and workforce solutions to manufacturers across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states in a wide range of industries.

The business started in 1990 when Allen Green and John Wood launched GreenWood, Inc. with the goal of helping customers solve problems and fulfill needs in operating, maintaining, improving and expanding their facilities.  In 1992, John assumed complete ownership of the business whose leadership has remained in the Wood family transitioning from John Wood to his late son Brad and currently under the leadership of John’s daughter Laura Wood Lipscomb.

GreenWood, Inc. has grown from a single project 30 years ago to over 50 project locations today and  employs over 700 personnel across numerous client project sites in nearly a dozen states.  As a hallmark standard for 30 years, GreenWood’s consistency in safety emphasis has resulted in surpassing millions of safe work hours at several long-standing client projects.

“We attribute the longevity of our company to an unwavering emphasis on safety and delivering customer satisfaction on every project,” says Laura Lipscomb, CEO of GreenWood, Inc.  “Our goal is to deliver efficiencies that improve bottom line performance for our customers through a work environment that allows our employees to enjoy their work.  By doing this consistently, our clients achieve success which leads to our own success.”

GreenWood President Kevin Crittendon added: “GreenWood has earned a reputation as a service provider who delivers flexible solutions that easily adapt to the changing needs of our clients.  This allows us to quickly pivot to a changing situation without interrupting operations or existing processes.  We feel this service level characteristic integrated with our expertise sets us apart from others.  As a result, clients know they can count on us to perform at the highest level and in the safest manner to contribute to their success.”

As the business looks to the future, customer relationships and safety performance will prevail as top priorities. At the same time, attention to recruiting, training, and professional development will remain focal points as cultivating employee relationships is an essential element to fulfill GreenWood’s mission.

NCCER Recertification Completed

NCCER

GreenWood recently completed the The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) recertification process thanks to the efforts of Cam Clendenin and Mike Simmons. NCCER’s purpose is to standardize training and provide industry-recognized credentials for those working in the construction, maintenance, and pipeline industries.  Our alignment with NCCER encourages employees to earn the NCCER certification which means that the holder is highly trained, knowledgeable, and qualified to do the job anywhere in the country. NCCER’s workforce development process of accreditation, instructor certification, standardized curriculum, registry, assessment and certification is a key component in the industry’s workforce development efforts. GreenWood is proud of this continued affiliation with NCCER.

Site-Managers

GreenWood, Inc. announces the promotion of Gary Bennett, Robbie Baxley and Tony Boswell as Project Site Managers for the company.  Gary Bennett moves to a project site in Augusta, Georgia; Robbie Baxley is managing the GreenWood team at a project facility in Athens, Georgia; and Tony Boswell has been appointed Site Manager at a project location in Hodges, South Carolina.  GreenWood is responsible for production and facilities maintenance, as well as supporting other operational services across the three locations.  All three of the GreenWood site managers bring extensive maintenance leadership experience gained from various industrial manufacturing and facility environments.

Gary Bennett moves into his role after serving as the GreenWood Site Manager at a project in Athens, Georgia.  He has extensive training in management, mechanical, electrical, and fluids.  Gary holds a Six Sigma Black Belt Certification and has completed ISO 9001 Quality Management System Lead Auditor and Implementation Training from Lloyd’s Registry.

Robbie Baxley previously served in multiple maintenance roles at the project site in Athens as special projects coordinator, planner/scheduler, and with the team of maintenance technicians.  His background includes numerous maintenance supervision, management, and plant operations responsibilities involving facility equipment maintenance, preventive and outage maintenance scheduling, spare parts inventory, safety, and technical training.

Tony Boswell is now the site manager at GreenWood’s project location in Hodges, South Carolina where he previously served as Maintenance Supervisor.  Tony brings maintenance proficiency and leadership experience to this role gained from problem solving, maximizing productivity, minimizing manufacturing costs, and identifying areas of improvement.  He holds an Associate’s Degree in Industrial Electrical Technology and has advanced skills in Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) with additional experience with Machine Tools and CNC Operation.

Merck-5.5-Million

Congratulations to everyone at our Merck project site for achieving 5.5 million safe work hours. The major safety milestone was achieved across a 30-year continuous work relationship between GreenWood and Merck. GreenWood’s team provides Merck with various construction related services. This Merck facility produces vaccines in a plant covering more than one million square feet and has been operational for over seven decades.

At the center of this significant accomplishment is GreenWood’s “Always Aware” safety program which emphasizes safe work practices for individuals and employee teams at all times. The program integrates into the Merck safety standards where prevention of incidents, accidents and injuries is an ongoing priority.

Merck says that safety is the number one priority and credits GreenWood for doing an excellent job in looking out for their interests. Every morning begins with a safety meeting to review jobs and the work involved with projects. GreenWood personnel participate in the Safety Observation Reports (SOR) where they are empowered to recognize safety issues, report them and play an active role to ensure safety practices are always observed. Merck officials commented that “Safety belongs to everyone and GreenWood takes it seriously.  We consider GreenWood a major player and a spoke in the wheel of what we do here at Merck. We are one team, one community.”

Kevin Crittendon says that it takes continuous training and a personal commitment to maintain safe work environments in every job performed. “These milestones are reached only by having a safety mindset through employee engagement at all times. When we do that consistently, we all enjoy celebrating the accomplishments of having zero incidents. Being able to have this kind of relationship for nearly 30 years at Merck is a privilege and we thank them for the opportunities to do even more in the years to come.”

GE Team Addresses COVID-19

GE-Team-with-Logo

Our GE Power project site team in Greenville has been instrumental in keeping the facility safe and open during these unfamiliar times. In response to their hard work, GE expressed their appreciation to Team GreenWood and requested a group picture of all participating members supporting the COVID-19 initiatives and activities. The group is shown in front of the “GE Meatball” sign that will soon be installed above the main entrance to the building.

Those shown in the picture include GreenWood and GE employees who have sanitized break areas, cafeterias, vending machines with parts and supplies, turnstiles, and other areas as identified multiple times per day. This team has also assisted with setting up the new temperature scanning areas, modified break areas, and worked with others to support social distancing. They have sanitized the entire office facilities on two separate occasions along with many other jobs.

A big “thank you” and “job well done” for the great work this amazing team has performed! We appreciate their exceptional efforts during such unusual times.

Scott-Hatfield

Scott Hatfield has been named Maintenance Supervisor for our project location in Augusta, Georgia. Prior to joining this project, Scott was the maintenance lead at a neighboring project in Augusta. He spent 20 years in the Army as a helicopter mechanic before transitioning to air traffic control equipment repair and was deployed 5 times. After the Army, Scott earned an Associates in Industrial Systems Technology from Augusta Technical College.

Barry Williamson: Trainer Extraordinaire

Barry-Williamson

As part of our group in West Virginia, Barry Williamson originally joined GreenWood as Construction Manager and now serves as our Mechanical/Civil Q&A Manager for construction services.  Most of our project teams know Barry as our expert trainer. Leveraging his expertise in managing piping packages, welding, hydro, painting and field installations, Barry has been instrumental in starting and maintaining a new training program for our pipefitters utilizing the NCCER programs.

As Construction Management & NCCER Training Coordinator/Instructor, Barry provides training for GreenWood employees at multiple project locations in West Virginia.  He has helped develop training plans, daily lesson plans and spent countless hours working with GreenWood employees to help them grasp complex math equations, understand the principles of effective test taking, and to provide them with hands on training opportunities. His techniques prepare participants to not only pass their respective tests, but to effectively apply their knowledge at the project site and increase their value in the field.

Barry has also worked with other GreenWood leaders to help train them on becoming effective instructors to support the training efforts of their operations. A person like Barry Williamson comes along once in a lifetime and we’re glad to have him as part of Team GreenWood.

GW-NCCER-Graduates

At our project operations in West Virginia, the NCCER Craft Training Program is led by GreenWood’s Barry Williamson and Shaun Faulhammer. To date, we have trained and certified over 100 employees as NCCER Pipefitters and Maintenance Mechanics.

We also support programs and provide instructors in partnership with BridgeValley Community and Technical College in West Virginia. Through this relationship, those seeking piping careers have an opportunity to participate in an internship program that provides classroom instruction at BridgeValley and hands-on training at a GreenWood project site in a real-world scenario. Qualified candidates are considered for employment opportunities that combine on-the-job training with continued classroom studies with the ultimate goal of earning the NCCER Certified Pipefitter designation.

Affinity Risk Control Workshop

Affinity-Risk-Control-Safety-Workshop

Representatives from GreenWood attended the recently held Affinity Insurance Risk management workshop to hone their safety skills and increase their knowledge base. Affinity Insurance, Ltd. emphasizes management of losses, claims, risk control events, and safety to ensure safe work environments. Through these type of learning events, GreenWood is able to apply this knowledge to complement our “Always Aware” safety recognition program. As a result, our project sites result in fewer incidents, lower operating costs, and better risk management. Safety always starts with you and employees that think safe…are safe!

GreenWood, Inc. is a Women-Owned business. WBENC Logo