Honoring Our Veterans

On this Veterans Day, Sugaright would like to take an opportunity to thank all those who have served our country. At Sugaright, we are fortunate to work beside many veterans and we value the skills their military service brings to our company.

Sugaright hires individuals that are of high character, flexible, collaborative, and resilient; military service experience provides an unequalled skill building opportunity in these areas. We wanted to share a few examples that represent the high character and achievements of individuals that we’re honored to work with:

Clay Rankin, Plant Manager, Harrisonburg, VA served in the US Navy for six years. A graduate of the Naval Nuclear Power program, Clay spent part of his service aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise. His extensive training made it possible for him to receive college credits from Old Dominion University where he was eventually awarded a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Clay’s words:

“My military service gave me an appreciation for the importance of training and preventive maintenance, which is of critical importance in manufacturing. I also learned management skills and concepts that I still use today. My military experience prepared me to become a leader.”

Doug Matthews, Covington HR and Safety Manager, joined the US Navy while in high school in the Panama Canal Zone. He was stationed at NAS Millington Tennessee for specialty schooling. The next station was NAS Cecil Field Florida attached to an A7E Aircraft Squadron, the VA-37 Bulls. He was an Aviation Machinist Mate (AD) and worked on TF41 Rolls Royce jet engines. Doug made a Mediterranean Cruise on board the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga CV-60 and then an Indian Ocean Cruise on board the aircraft carrier, USS John F. Kennedy CV-67. Doug has a total of ten proud years of military service to his country.

When asked how his military experience has prepared him to run a refining operation, Doug replied:

To respect authority.
The value of teamwork.
The importance of doing things right the first time.
Time management.
How to interact with people.
The life skills learned that I use each and every day.
The ability to learn and use that knowledge quickly and where needed.

Based on his positive experience with leaders such as Clay and Doug, Andrew Moschea, Sugaright Chief Operating Officer, encourages the plant managers to hire heroes:

"We are grateful to all veterans who have served our country and those who continue to serve and protect. As an organization, we reciprocate our gratitude for their service through our hiring process. We find that veterans make excellent employees, consistent with our efforts to build a culture where accountability is clear and personal. The military does an outstanding job of instilling the values of integrity and perseverance. Finally, we find the skills learned during military service are highly transferable to the capabilities that we look for in our employees."

Thank you veterans for your service to our country.

And thank you Sugaright veterans for instilling your values and using your skills in our workplace.