We Hire Vets!

Sugaright would like to thank all those who have served our country. Sugaright is proud to count many veterans among our team including two of our valued employees in our Covington, TN refinery.

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.

Ray Ogle, Maintenance Manager at Covington, and Doug’s team mate, tells his story:

I began my service by enlisting in the Navy in 1988. I served eight years as a Gas Turbine Systems electrician. My deployment covered serving in Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. I made the rank of Chief Petty Officer, E7.

I loved serving my country and working alongside so many who also had a passion for the betterment and protection of our country, and sacrificed so much to be there.

Serving in the Navy taught me discipline, attention to detail, the desire to do things the RIGHT way, to take on tasks – no matter how difficult – and see them through to completion. As well as how important it is to respect the chain of command, and to work as a team.

I am proud to have the opportunity to bring my skills and abilities to Sugaright, and am pleased to be able to bring the many things I learned and lived each day in the Navy to enrich my position and purpose here.

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

Our Covington refinery is consistently one of our best performing refineries in the company. This is borne out of a natural respect for its employees and the clear communication of processes and expectations. The refinery has a vigilance around adherence to those processes/expectations and then the ability to problem-solve rapidly to minimize disruption/damage.

Generally, we find that veterans have a passion for process, the discipline to follow it and the ability to detect & correct quickly and effectively. Doug and Ray’s leadership contributions extend beyond the Covington refinery, as they are seen as leaders within their function-excellent at driving process improvements and the discipline/systems to anchor it longer-term.

We are lucky to have leaders like Ray and Doug in our company as they embody a passion for process, vigilance and integrity-which happen to be core to those who have served in the military where decisions have much greater consequences.

So ‘yes’ we proudly recruit veterans whenever possible.

Thank you to all veterans. We appreciate all that you have done for our country.