F&V Operations and Resource Management, Inc. (FVOP) of Grand Rapids announced today the hiring of 16 new employees, including two project managers for its expanding southeast Michigan operations.
Most of the additions were needed to keep up with staffing of new projects and a growing client demand in southeast Michigan, according to Craig Shumaker, PE, Vice President of FVOP. In the past year, FVOP staffing has expanded to 65 employees.
FVOP provides operations assistance, management and training throughout Michigan and Indiana for municipal, industrial and environmental systems.
“Water and wastewater operations is a growing field and there’s a shortage of highly skilled, trained operators,” Shumaker said. “We’ve been fortunate to still find great people that are real go-getters. We’ve grown about 30 percent in the last year and we’re still growing.”
Project managers joining FVOP include Heather Sherwood and Ruben John.
Fourteen operations specialists also joined FVOP. They include Corey Thomas, Greg Banister, Ryan Belcher, Jason Ingram, Ray Woods, Aaron McDowell, John Stack, Deb LaJoice, Corina Privett, Adam Zielke, Dareck Cherwinski, Melinda Morgan, Jeff Denney, and Allison Woods.
Sherwood has a half dozen years of combined water and wastewater experience and was recently honored as Operations Specialist of the Year by the Michigan Water Environment Association (MWEA).
John has more than a decade of extensive experience in water and wastewater operations as a senior operator and operator in charge. Sherwood and John will assist in southeast Michigan operations.
Thomas, Banister, Belcher, Ingram, McDowell and Stack will also work in southeast Michigan operations.
Thomas has six years’ experience in wastewater plant operations and maintenance. Banister, a former Department of Public Works foreman, is a mechanical specialist.
Belcher is a former demolition company owner and heavy equipment operator. Ingram has five years of experience on construction sites and demolition and mechanical experience with environmental and bumper testing on new model cars.
Woods has six years of experience in the environmental sciences field in southeast Michigan and will assist operations as an environmental technician. McDowell is an entry level operations specialist working on his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University.
Stack holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and has wastewater operator experience at the treatment plant on Mackinac Island in addition to five years of experience as a mechanic assistant at Hope College.
LaJoice, a Fleis & VandenBrink (F&V) administrative assistant for the past decade, joined the southeast Michigan operations team as an administrative assistant/billing clerk.
Privett is an entry level operations specialist in East Michigan. She has a degree in biology and has some laboratory experience.
Zielke is a U.S. Army National Guardsman with a Western Michigan bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and biology. He will be assisting southwest Michigan operations.
Cherwinski has 30 years of experience in the oil field and is an experienced heavy equipment operator and supervisor. Morgan has extensive experience in customer service. Cherwinski and Morgan will be working operations in northeast Michigan.
Denney has 34 years of experience as an automotive technician. Woods has 15 years’ experience as a contractor for an electric company in Indiana. Both Denney and Woods will be working in northern Indiana operations.
The goal of FVOP, which started in 2011, is to provide a partnership with their clients in operating their facilities safely and efficiently. FVOP supports its staff through training and on-going certifications to enhance their professional development
