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WHAT WAS YOUR WORST JOB?
SN:
I don’t think I’ve had a “worst” job
but there is a memorable job: I worked
one summer during college in a factory
that made metal fireplace parts and
equipment. Pay was good (better than
$1.91 per hour). This place was one of
those old brick factories built 100 years
ago. Inside was dark with no windows
to the outside and had large machines
that stamped metal plates or drilled
holes or welded parts or lowered metal
parts into degreasing vats. This big
room had all of that and the regular
staff that worked there had been there
a long time - 15, 20, 25 years in the
same room! Most had lost one, two or
three fingers working there. The guy
that ran the snack counter had lost an
arm.
You realized clearly why it was a good
idea you went to college.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT
BL COMPANIES?
SN:
24 years and 9 months – and not
in the same room.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE
TRAVEL EXPERIENCE?
SN:
Here’s the oldest I can remember.
There was one trip to McIndoe Falls,
Vermont when I was 3 years and
3months old in July 1960. My dad and
my uncle were on the front lawn of my
aunt’s childhood home talking about
the new road planned to go through
that town. (Future I-91 as I figured out
several years later). I guess I thought
building a road was cool stuff then- so
maybe that’s when the civil engineer-
ing seed got planted – who knows?
WHAT IS YOUR TITLE/POSITION/
ROLE AT BL COMPANIES?
SN:
There are a lot of titles and posi-
tions that I get called. I don’t know
who came up with these but some are
on business cards made up for me
such as principal, chief engineer, prin-
cipal engineer, director of QA/QC etc.
but whatever it is ,the role is like being
on a clean-up crew since I clean up or
help to clean up messes, whether its
assisting on claims matters or redlin-
ing plans and specs and other work
products (bleeding),assisting on docu-
ment retention (our storage facilities
that few have seen or want to see)
or getting involved with projects that
have higher risk and doing engineering
tasks. I also get asked design ques-
tions by staff or queried as to whether
we have a detail for –you name it- or
if we ever designed a – you name it,
or do we still have the plans for- you
name the old project. Things like that.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE
MOMENT OR PROJECT YOU WORKED
ON FOR BL COMPANIES?
SN:
The Woodridge Estates project in
Woodbridge, Connecticut. You could
make a movie about it. Hollywood
would do it because it involved voo-
doo spells, the town first selectwoman
sinking in mud, (she was rescued),
people (more than one) going insane
(really -like in the hospital insane),
and a dramatic public hearing on a
steamy July night in a non-air con-
ditioned and packed public hearing
room in an old New England town hall
with the police present and the ap-
plicant arriving late on his motorcycle
while the crowd goes silent, -and not
a word was said by the public in this
public hearing!
You’ll have to wait for the movie to
find out what happened next!
WHAT DOES EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
MEAN TO YOU?
SN:
Not a lot of difference for me since
I’ve practiced the edict that you should
always conduct yourself at your job as
if you are an owner, even if you are
not at an employee owned company.
After all, you want to keep the busi-
ness going. You want to make sure
you have a job, and you want take
pride in what you do. If you do that
and do it well, you’ll get rewarded
with satisfaction, monetary and benefit
compensation and job security. Also
for a lot of us we can point to some-
thing that we helped get built after we
retire and that will still be here after
we’re gone since those works will
survive us. That’s a type of reward
too. It still surprises me (if this is true)
that some people might still need (or
needed) ESOP to do the aforemen-
tioned. Shouldn’t we be doing these
things anyway? ESOP is one more
reward.
IF YOU WERE TO WIN THE LOTTERY
TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR
FIRST PURCHASE?
SN:
Probably a time machine - you
can make money but you can’t make
time. When they invent it, it will prob-
ably be expensive.
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