Recruiting, training and retaining a quality workforce can be a significant challenge for many organizations. For companies in the hardwood industry that is no different. As schools prepare today’s students for post-graduation lives, careers in the global forest products industry are not always top of mind. Maybe that is changing.
Baillie Lumber is always looking to hire new qualified candidates into our manager trainee program. These individuals are deployed in one of our manufacturing facilities which are more familiarly referred to as sawmills, concentration yards, and hardwood log yards. The purpose of our manager trainee program is to introduce individuals to the basic operation of manufacturing hardwood lumber and teach them leadership skills. Each candidate spends a significant amount of time working on the front lines to better understand each aspect of the business. From receiving & grading hardwood logs and lumber to managing the drying process and shipping product to customers, manager trainees are exposed to all functions of the business with a vision of someday being equipped to take responsibility of a department or even a facility.
Recently, Baillie Lumber was fortunate to hire two manager trainees from the Penn State University BioRenewables degree program. This summer, Bridget Winch & Joe Pomponi joined the Baillie teams in our Leitchfield, Kentucky and Galion, Ohio facilities respectively.
“Our BioRenewables degree program is designed to blend the study of engineering technology, sustainable materials, and agriculture with the fundamentals of business management” says Paul Heinemann, Professor and Department Head of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Penn State University. Mr. Heinemann continues, “It makes me happy to see that our efforts to evolve the wood products program into something a bit broader has been successful and well accepted in the industry.”
“The importance of responsible resource utilization, the leveraging of technology and exposure to a full range of business functions are typically what we find new graduates are looking for when starting a career in the forest products industry,” said Ted Royal, Talent Acquisition Manager at Baillie Lumber. “Bridget and Joe were no different and we are really excited to have them on board.”
Baillie Lumber accepts applications for the manager trainee p
rogram and other positions on a rolling basis. To learn more about the positions available, including internships, visit: http://www.baillie.com/careers
For more information about this release contact Tony Cimorelli at 716-649-2850.