Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1508599
PalletCentral • September-October 2023 13 Lifetime Career Starts with Labor Larry Draughn PalletOne Vice President of Manufacturing F rom lumber laborer to now vice president of manufacturing, Larry Draughn of PalletOne has 44 years dedicated to the wooden pallet business, starting fulltime in April of 1979, during his senior year in high school. At around the age of 14, he was in search of a job to provide some spending money. Two miles from his home was a local pallet business. He knew the family that owned it, and they hired him to do odd jobs after school. "My first job was part time packing lumber for the furniture business," says Larry, "I got paid $5 for every pack." When offered a full-time position in 1979, he accepted. "is industry was a comfortable place for me. It offered challenges and a variety of work, and I enjoyed that. Ultimately, I was able to move up and progress through different jobs and roles. When I was in my early 20s, after doing multiple other jobs, physical jobs, I was offered a management role. I think that's why I never looked for any other place to work, now being in management." Draughn believes what kept him engaged with the company was the ability to learn new things and take different roles, which included, among others, entry-level lumber laborer, machine operator and forklift operator jobs, and then rising to supervisor, production manager, plant manager, then regional management and now in his current VP role. He now works in operations under Chief Operations Officer Matt Sheffield. "Our team is heavily involved in the mechanical and production operations of the company. at is just something that I've grown into from the production floor. I work with the equipment operators and oversee installations of new equipment in our 15 locations, and on daily capital expenditures on equipment. I work with a lot of departments – procurement, sales, IT, accounting, and HR departments – depending on the task at hand. I feel like we're all on the same team." On Teamwork e company has undergone changes of ownership during his tenure, which he attributes to helping him rise in responsibility. "e original company I worked for, Sheffield Lumber & Pallet, merged with PalletOne, and in 2020 UFP Industrial, LLC purchased the company. Today, we are the PalletOne brand, and the new management has grown our locations, which has provided more opportunity, which I enjoy." In his transition from laborer to management, Draughn says being respected among his peers helped as he took on more responsibility, and he focused on everyday production matters in a team environment supported by upper management. To him, titles really don't matter, it is solutions to production problems that is important. "I think the thing that moves you along in your work is having a good team environment. Having good people around you, and open communication, helps promote not only your goals, but also the team as individuals and their goals. We work with lots of good people at many locations, with everyone working together towards solutions, versus taking an 'I'm your boss' approach. On Mentoring Being mentored is an important aspect of a workplace culture, says Draughn, but he cannot list just one that made the difference in his career. "I've had too many mentors to single out just one or two. I feel like I'd leave somebody out and I feel bad about it. So many people that I've worked with helped me to move forward," he says. "I always am learning, and you can learn from the good and the bad. I just try to take the good to better myself and see the good in others and how I can work that into my interactions. My mentoring has been working around different kinds of people who bring different things to the table. "I think the thing that moves you along in your work is having a good team environment. Having good people around you, and open communication, helps promote not only your goals, but also the team as individuals and their goals." —Larry Draughn, PalletOne