On Friday, October 22, we kicked off our monthly Coalfield Council Day celebration at West Edge Factory. The event, which was hosted partially-virtual to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, opened with a recap of our team’s personal and professional wins.
From completing community service hours, to finishing and starting new construction projects, to our wood shop’s involvement with building the City of Huntington’s time capsule, we had a lot to celebrate!
During staff announcements, Luke Huffman, Property Manager of our West Edge Factory, shared that West Edge was officially open for business as a rental event venue. Conservation Coordinator Jacob Hannah also announced openings coming up for ReUse, which has recently received funding to support expansion. Positions, he added, will open in the next sixth months and will require a team manager and a deconstruction team.
We also celebrated the recent graduation of Fairfield WRAPS crew member Ashley Cain, who received multiple rounds of applause from her Coalfield colleagues. Ashley, who has spent the last six months honing her skills under the guidance of Crew Chief Derrick Scott, will be joining Coalfield as a permanent team member.
Several crew members highlighted Ashley’s growth during her time at Coalfield, including Josiah Hannah, Personal Development Coordinator, who recalled seeing Ashley sit down with YouTube video tutorials while learning a new skill.
Adam Hudson, Director of Refresh Appalachia, also remarked on Ashley’s creativity and drive, describing one instance where she returned to work the next day with nearly a dozen hand-drawn designs to help work through a challenge their team was currently facing. Luke Huffman described Ashley as a “worker since the beginning.”
Derrick recounted the first time he met Ashley after she inquired about the open position.
“In this time we live in, focus is a big thing with technology and all the different distractions.” Derrick said. “There’s a lot that distracts people throughout the six month progress. But Ashley, she’s stood out week by week. She’s reliable and consistent, and I couldn’t score her high enough on her score cards — she was really just that good. It’s been a joy and pleasure to work with her. I will miss working with her.”
CEO Brandon Dennison described Cain as “a true leader on that crew.”
“This is six months hard work with a lot of learning and growing — it’s a very significant achievement to become a WRAPS graduate,” Brandon said. “You learned how to be a reliable, committed, productive part of the Appalachian workforce.”
Brandon commended Ashley’s dedication to improving her community through various projects and to her personal development in and outside of the workplace.
“Only you understand the depth and breadth of the challenges you’ve overcame to get here,” he added. “The millions of choices that added up to move your life forward. Today, we honor you, your gumption, your grit and your grace.”
After announcements, we took time to reflect on our own personal development journeys and answer a few prompts provided by Brandon. This Council Day, our topics focused on identifying truth, misinformation, and having the tools to discern one from the other. Afterwards, we broke into smaller groups to share excerpted ideas from our written responses and again to outline some of our individual and group goals for Coalfield in 2022.
Two speakers joined us Friday, including Natalie Robinson, of UniCare, who spoke with our team about healthcare and prevention. Stephen Haynes, of CHREST IT, followed with a discussion on computer maintenance tips for our team.
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