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 todd wetherington | daily herald U.S. Senator Richard Burr, left, gets a first hand look at the brain center of Nash Brick Company as Plant Manager Jeff Wyers explains the production process. |
It was a day to give a tour to the Republican senator and other dignitaries and a chance for the company's 54 employees to hear Burr talk about several pressing national issues. (See accompanying story.)
Burr told employees he was glad to see a place “where so many people can be employed and have a livelihood. I want to thank you for what you do here. It's a plant that comes with some age on it, but one that is competitive with the newest in the industry. They are a creative company. Look at health care. They are certainly a leader in that.”
Plant Manager Jeff A. Wyers said following the tour Nash Brick was the first company in the state to have a Health Savings Account program, in which every employee who participates owns their own account. The company pays in 50 percent of the employee's contribution up to $20 a week.
The Republican lawmaker praised the company's efforts to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.
Since 1984, the company has used a sawdust firing system, Wyers noted. The sawdust system accounts for 90 percent of the plant's fuel needs. The company is currently planning on expanding the system to end the firing system's dependency on natural gas entirely.
It takes 30 tractor-trailer loads of sawdust a week to fire the kiln, Wyers said.
And when you consider, that “natural gas prices have increased five-fold,” if the company depended solely on natural gas to fire the kiln, it would not be in business, Wyers said. “Our goal is to be as close to 100 percent sawdust as we can get.”
Safety
Burr praised the company's safety record, pointing to the plant's earning of the Holmes Safety Award last year for having more than 100,000 work hours without an accident from Jan. 1, 1980, to March 31, 2003.
In addition, Wyers said the company received the Sentinels of Safety award this month from the Federal Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The award was for an outstanding safety record in the small open pit group for working 5,658 employee hours without a lost workday for injury in 2004. Only three companies in the state have received this award.
In addition to those achievements, the company in December opened its new employee building, which contains a lunch room, rest rooms, training area, offices and a lab.
Wyers said the company has also recently made equipment improvements, including a new crusher to replace one from 1954, and a new pug master to read moisture levels, as well as other equipment. The company produces 40 million bricks per year, company President Tom Fisher said.
Wyers said the company ships its products mainly east of the Mississippi River. The local market is less than 40 percent of sales, although customers can come to the company to purchase bricks for projects. “The vitality of the Interstate 95 and 40 corridor are very important to our competitiveness.”
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