By: Taylor McPherson, Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Due to its location and proximity to the Memphis metropolitan area, our Plant 5 location is often found operating in high gear to promptly meet the needs of our customers. One major part of the reason Plant 5 has achieved such great success is through the teammates – namely, those who can manage the mental duty that the job requires with ease. A perfect example of this is ticket writer and plant operator Ulyssee Wilson, who’s affectionately referred to by his team as “Will.”
Since our line of work relies heavily on scheduling, our family of companies is on a never-ending pursuit of continuous improvement to ensure this process is constantly getting better. Our Plant 5 location kicked off 2020 with entirely new technology, as well as a new scale system for incoming and outgoing materials. With five asphalt mix silos and four separate sets of scales, the influx of traffic can often require servicing dozens of trucks at once. When customers enter the plant, they first stop at a speaker box. On the other side of the line, you’ll hear Will talking them through their asphalt ton orders. Amongst an array of other duties, Will is also responsible for running credit card charges for these orders.
Whether the team is ordering materials, writing tickets for orders or keeping track of the trucks that are being loaded with asphalt mix, the name of the game for this role often requires mastery of numerous moving parts and pieces. For Will, that is no problem at all. His meticulous nature and attention to detail are part of the reason the plant can sustain such high volumes of customer traffic.
“He likes to make sure everything is right,” said Henry “Scooter” Gross, Plant 5 Foreman. “If there’s a mistake, he goes back and corrects it, which is crucial for a high-volume plant.”
Starting as a groundman at Plant 10, Will has spent his years working through the ranks by operating with an eagerness to always keep learning and honing his skillsets. The full support of his team is part of the reason why Will has been so successful with his efforts. Now that Will has been with our family of companies for more than five years, ask any teammate and they’ll tell you that he has no trouble running the entire plant when the call for action comes.
“He always steps up to do anything we ask him to do,” said Howard Green, Asphalt Plant Superintendent. “Will wanted to be the first to learn. He is also very organized…which he has to be to do his job.”
John Paul Finerson, VP of Production, mirrored Howard’s sentiments, stating, “You can always find Will with a steady demeanor and humbly positive attitude. He always goes the extra mile to get the job done without complaint.”
Although his team will normally tell you that Will operates “under the radar,” his work ethic and attitude can’t help but cast a spotlight on him. “Will is unbelievably dependable for any job at the plant,” said Howard. “He has a great attitude; he just doesn’t get upset.” His supervisor Scooter also lovingly joked, “Will truly is a big help. I hate it when he takes off work.”
For our family of companies, our people are our greatest asset – those who use their skills to not only improve the lives of our community members, but also our industry as a whole. Will wakes up every day and strives for the highest level of service to achieve all of this and more. It is with great respect that we honor Ulyssee “Will” Wilson as our next WHO Behind What We DO.
