ISSUE 1, 2021
Ozinga Celebrates PAGE 3
Denise Barber ONGRATS Makes NRMCA
se Barber, History er up for NRMCA’s 1 Driver of the Year! PAGE 5
Ozinga + RiethRiley PAGE 10
A MESSAGE FROM HERB After experiencing an unusually trying year, we can reflect on the year ahead and be grateful for what truly matters: our friends, our families and our coworkers. As we forge ahead, we remain true to our purpose and continue to make One Ozinga a focal point in every area of business we operate. And with our continued growth, we want our continued emphasis to be on safety and all coworker engagement. To make a positive impact on individuals, their families and the community for generations to come remains our purpose. This year is a very exciting time for the cement group. After a great first year of operation at the Joppa, IL power station, we are starting 2021 off by working at four power plants. We presently have coworkers in the following IL cities: Joppa, Newton, Springfield and Bartonville. The Montgomery, IL rail unloading system has also proven successful. Our coworkers unloaded more than 44,000 tons of cement in 2020 from railcar to truck during the Illinois River closure. And I’m happy to report that by the end of this year’s first quarter, the Ozinga rail fleet for handling powder products will be operating more than 200 railcars—with more railcar-to-truck distribution sites planned this year. That’s not all. Our coworkers effectively navigated through unchartered territory and unloaded our first import ships of cement arriving through the Great Lakes at the South Chicago terminal. This opens up more import-product distribution options vs. the river system through New Orleans. The 2020 year brought us many challenges, but it was a successful learning year for cement. I hope you take the time to reflect on the challenges that 2020 has brought for you and that you are taking those opportunities to grow and learn from them.
This month we are celebrating Black History Month with you by spotlighting some of our coworkers and their family recipes on our TVs, Ozzie and driver bulletins. Keep an eye out, and you just might learn something new about them.
ORGANIZATION ANNOUNCEMENT Effective immediately, Justin Ozinga will be expanding his responsibilities beyond ready mix to be president of the One Ozinga core business—now overseeing cement and aggregates as well as ready mix. With this change, Marty Ozinga IV will be moving into the role of CEO, putting him in a better position to serve the core business, Ozinga Ventures and the family office overall. If you have any questions regarding this change, please email internalcomms@ozinga.com.
Here’s to 2021 and all the good it will bring.
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Retiree Roundup: Meet Alvin Bosma Alvin Bosma, who spent the last six years of his career at Ozinga, reached out to Sharon Simons after seeing the article on the Ozinga Alumni group. Al first became acquainted with Ozinga as a concrete finisher back in the 1950s. He knew our drivers well and always ordered Ozinga material for his jobs. After changing careers to drive a milk truck for Jewel, Al decided to finish out his career at Ozinga, working in our Alsip and Mokena warehouses. Al is currently 89 years young and going strong. He would like to shout a “Thank You” to Ozinga for the best job ever! Ozinga wishes Al many more years in retirement.
Congratulations New Retirees! We’d like to congratulate William “Bill” Kirby and Sherman Holland from our South Florida region for entering retirement. Good luck, fellas!
Are you a retiree who would like to join our Ozinga alumni group? Reach out to sharonsimons@ozinga.com to stay connected. 4
Denise Barber Makes NRMCA History Our very own Denise Barber, ready mix driver in Wheatfield, IN, made National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA) history last month when she was named a runner-up in the 2021 Ready Mixed Concrete Delivery Professional Driver of the Year category—marking the first woman in the program’s 25-year history to receive this honor. The judges were impressed by Denise’s safety record and by a letter submitted by Jason Deyoung, a 28-year business owner and contractor with Dream Homes. “I’ve seen a lot of drivers come and go and within a couple of minutes of them being on the job you can tell how much knowledge they have of the truck, the concrete and of the job situation, and Denise is great with all three,” said Jason. “It’s nice to see a nice, bright, shiny truck headed your way as someone calls out, ‘Alright, we got Denise!’” Laura Niehoff, HR and safety administrator, was the one who first suggested Denise be entered into the competition to her male counterparts, a move that according to Mike Conquest, director of safety and environmental compliance, was a solid choice and a representation of women helping women. Denise’s supervisor, Don Binkley, Wheatfield plant operator, told the NRMCA, “Denise is not only a professional driver, she punches in early, takes late loads, drives the loader, batches, helps the mechanic, helps maintenance, gets out of her truck to help short-handed contractors and helps fellow drivers by showing them a better way to get things done.”
CONGRATS
Denise Barber, runner up for NRMCA’s 2021 Driver of the Year!
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ACQUISITION: Hiring Notes Do you know someone that has a current Class A CDL or Class B CDL with airbrake endorsement and a safe driving record? Driver hiring season has started and some of our best coworkers have come from referrals from you! Our drivers are first class professionals that are the face of Ozinga and make a positive impact on the customers and the communities we serve every day. If you know a driver who would be a great addition to our team and would be proud to drive our iconic trucks, please direct them to ozinga.com/careers. *If you know someone that is interested in joining any of our other teams, please ask them to create a profile through our Career Site for future consideration or apply to any of the posted positions. If you have access to the intranet, please do not share internal links posted on Ozzie, as they are intended for current Ozinga coworkers only. Outside candidates will not be considered until posted to the public. Thank you for your help as we continue to welcome new talent to Ozinga!
DEVELOPMENT: Required Management Training If you’re a manager at Ozinga with direct reports, you’ll be part of our Management Training taking place January – April 2021. Managers have been carefully selected to be part of a unique cohort averaging a size of 8 people, intentionally blending coworkers across regions, departments and encouraging diversity of thought. Each cohort is part of a designated learning track. The chart below indicates the courses affiliated with each track. Track 1: Cohorts 1-11 & Track 2: Cohorts 12-21. Both tracks consist of two courses (up to 8 hours of training). In 2022, the cohorts will simply switch to the opposite track – each person staying with their respective cohort over the course of two years. Cohort designations have been sent out along with dates; courses are now underway!
Continued from previous page Course 2: Effective Questioning & Listening (3-hour virtual, instructor-led course) Track 02: Cohorts 12-21 Course 1: Finding Your WHY / Purpose (4-hour virtual, instructor-led course) Course 2: Introduction to Crucial Conversations (4-hour virtual, instructor-led course)
Any questions regarding training can be directed to development@ozinga.com or Jennifer Cáceres at 708-326-4296.
TAKE A SECOND FOR SAFETY DURING THE WINTER MONTHS Walk slowly on snow and ice. Remember that packed snow can be as slick as ice, and loose snow can cover hidden ice. Use three points of contact when climbing ladders and getting in and out of your vehicle. Drive slower and leave more space behind other traffic when it’s snowing and when the pavement is wet. Black ice can look just like wet pavement. Accidents and injuries usually happen when you least expect it, so please Take a Second for Safety!
Management Training - Spring 2021 Track 01: Cohorts 1-11 Course 1: Introduction to Clifton Strengths (3-hour virtual, instructor-led course + 1-hour coaching session and assessment) 6
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Email internalcomms@ozinga.com or call 708.326.3154 with your story, news, idea, etc. and look for it in the next issue of the newsletter.
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ERP – It’s Just Like Surgery Tips & Tricks: Microsoft Teams Meetings If you’re the one hosting the meeting, you may want to adjust some settings. Turning off that annoying sound when someone joins or drops a call might be a good one!
By: Keith Onchuck
I heard an interesting joke some time ago. A motorcycle mechanic and a surgeon were at a bar. The mechanic says, “I don’t get it, I completely rebuild motorcycles, sometimes making them better than new, yet I earn a fraction of what you earn. I don’t understand.” The surgeon leans over to the mechanic and whispers in his ear, “Try rebuilding the motorcycle while the rider is on it, going 70 mph down the highway.” Implementation of an ERP project is much like surgery. You are rebuilding the central nervous system of Ozinga while we continue to operate. This is a remarkable feat! As we approach the ‘Go Live’ date, there are a few things to be aware of: •
You will encounter errors
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If everything works perfect, be afraid, be very afraid
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There will be a learning curve with D365
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Things will look different
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Patience will prevail
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There will be a team present to assist with issues
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This is the beginning of D365, not the end
We are still tracking to go live on 3/1/2021; remember, this is only the beginning. We need your feedback and ideas to keep the momentum going. Some of you will be directly impacted with D365, while others will be indirectly impacted. As you encounter bumps in the road, do not despair. We ask that you document what you were doing and share it with the team. This will help us isolate the issues and address them. We are trying to design the system to make it easier on you. The goal is to have data entered once; then the system will take it from there. Some of you may be entering things you never did before, this is because we are trying to capture data as it happens. Think about the joke at the beginning; the more you share with your doctor the faster they can help you on the road to recovery. This project is very similar in that we need to work as
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Our first townhall of 2021 is taking place March 2 from Golden Glades, FL and will be livestreamed to all of you at 1 p.m. EST (12 p.m. CST). Watch it live or postevent by visiting ozinga.com/townhall.
One Ozinga, with open communication and patience for our coworkers with the end goal of making a positive impact on all of us, our customers and vendors. 9
Ozinga + Rieth-Riley
Building a Better Tomorrow
Upcoming Food/Clothing Drives In 2015, the University of Notre Dame renewed a commitment to reduce their carbon emissions in an effort to become better stewards of the earth. Their plan is to cut their carbon footprint in half by 2030. The St. Joseph River dam in downtown South Bend will be one of the major contributors to this initiative by capturing the energy of falling water to generate electricity and power the campus. In order to fully utilize the river, Rieth-Riley Construction Company, along with a network of architects, engineers and excavators, were tasked with building an underground 2.5-megawatt hydroelectric facility that will offset nearly 9,700 tons of carbon dioxide
To continue to make a positive impact in our communities this quarter, we are partnering up once again with some charitable organizations to make giving easier throughout our regions. Our focus for Q1 is on families, so with that in mind, we are collecting peanut butter or clothing items. If you are able to, please place your donation in a bin at your yard or office. ILS Together We Cope (Peanut Butter) 2/8 - 2/26
annually.
ILN Spartan Food Pantry (Peanut Butter) 2/1 - 2/26
Requiring years of intricate planning, one of the most intimidating challenges Rieth-Riley
CHI Greater Chicago Food Depository (Peanut Butter) 2/22 - 3/12
faced was finding a concrete mix-design that would not only advance the University of Notre Dame’s sustainability efforts, but also be durable enough to withstand the power of the river. In the construction industry, there tends to be a misconception that sustainable mixes require more money, more time and are less durable. This project required a neverbeen-done before mix that would prove that misconception wrong. Rieth-Riley and Ozinga partnered up for the challenge. This sophisticated mix would require a very low water-tocement ratio, a viscosity modifier to ensure cohesiveness and a large slump that would be workable and pumpable in combination with the steel rebar, without exceeding budget. Over the course of three years in quality control, research and development, Ozinga tested and designed a mix meeting all strict temperature, strength, durability and cost requirements. Containing 8,000 PSI concrete with 80% cement replacement, this mix possessed the exact right workability to be pumped 50 feet underground while never exceeding 160 degrees. Together, there’s nothing we can’t handle. 10
INE Hope Ministries (Clothing) 2/22 - 3/12 INW Housing Opportunity (Clothing) 2/15 - 3/15 WIS Hunger Task Force (Peanut Butter) 2/15 - 3/15 FL Feeding South Florida (Peanut Butter) 2/22 - 3/12
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19001 Old Lagrange Rd Mokena, IL 60448