May 2022 Volume 4

INDUSTRY NEWS

The Women of ELLWOOD: Why They Chose ELLWOOD and Why Have They Stayed? By Kendra Gagliano

Founded in 1910 by two brothers, ELLWOOD has grown to more than twenty locations in the US, Canada and Mexico while remaining family-owned. A long-term guiding philosophy of reinvestment has enabled ELLWOOD to become a leading, vertically integrated supplier of ferrous, stainless, and aluminum in the form of forgings, rolled rings and finished products for some of the world’s most demanding industries. One pillar that has remained constant over the decades is the importance of family culture. We asked a few women of ELLWOOD about themselves and their experiences working for a family-owned company. Why did they choose ELLWOOD and why have they stayed? Judy Shaffer – President, ELLWOOD Specialty Steel Group; PA, OH, MI, Canada andMexico I have worked at ELLWOOD inmultiple positions and five divisions over the past 28 years. My career path started in 1993 in the role of

Quality Manager at ELLWOOD Crankshaft and Machine. Over the 21 years working at ECM I was able to be involved in various aspects of the business such as quality, sales, production planning and operations management. In 2014 I had an opportunity to work for a few years at the joint venture, North American Forgemasters, during the startup of their new 10,200T open die press. After that I went to work at ELLWOODCity Forge as the Director of Quality to assist in their AS9100 certification before taking on my current role within ESSG in 2019. There is something that feels more “personal” when you work for a company that is over 110 years old and remains owned and operated by the same founding family. There is a high level of commitment to the success of the organization that promotes a sense of trust and stability. The family owners are invested in the development and success of ELLWOOD employees as they have a personal interest in the performance of the company. They have demonstrated this for many years in the significant investments they have made and continue to make into the companies and communities in which we operate. ELLWOOD has had a good reputation in our area as a stable employer. I really enjoy manufacturing, so to have an opportunity to be involved in something of this scale, as well as the broad scope of markets, in the area I live in was very attractive. They took a chance on me early on in my career and I have not looked back. The ability to work across different departments and various divisions in our vertically integrated group of companies has provided me with such an amazing career path. It has afforded me so many different experiences that have taken me across North America and Europe and allowed me to develop many long-standing relationships with my fellowELLWOOD teammembers and customers over the years. Lauryn Gierchak – Metallurgical Engineer I, ELLWOODCity Forge; Ellwood City, PA I'm currently a metallurgical engineer at ECF. I've been with ELLWOOD for 7 months as part of a metallurgy rotational program; I’ve also rotated through ELLWOOD Quality Steels and its remelt division. In my experience so far the work environment has been very personal, which makes it really easy to ask other employees for help or to ask them about projects you're interested in. It's also really encouraging when people in all kinds of departments make an effort to remember you.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2022 61