Recognizing the Builders of our Legacy
Faulconer recognizes two long-tenured employees for their contributions over the past four decades.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median length of employee tenure for the construction industry is four years. With the competitive nature of the labor market, especially in construction, it gets more and more rare to find employees with tenure lengths well beyond that median.
Last week, we gathered to celebrate two of our longest tenured employees: Ruck Asher and Mac Chambers. Ruck started with Faulconer in August of 1977 and Mac started in August of 1979. That’s 43 years and 41 years, respectively!
Let’s put that into heavy civil construction context: Ruck worked at Faulconer two years before Caterpillar’s ubiquitous Caterpillar Yellow was made standard in 1979. Trimble launched their first GPS product in 1982, three years after Mac started with Faulconer. And both had been with the company for well over 20 years before 8-1-1 was established as the telephone number for underground utility location in 2005!
“Ruck joined us as an operator on a job on Route 29 in Charlottesville,” recalls company owner Jack Sanford, Jr. “He had a fiery temper but learned how to channel that into his drive to be the best operator.”
“Mac has worked on every type of crew at Faulconer, from concrete to grading and utilities. He’s probably had some role in nearly every Faulconer project in the Charlottesville area over the past 40 years” says Area Manager Pete Morris.
Ruck and Mac were presented with watches to commemorate the occasion and thank them for their years of service. “Two attributes come to mind when I think of these men,” said President Steve Bowers. “They’re both tough as nails and they bleed Faulconer Green.”
When asked to give some advice to the next generation, Ruck replied with a simple, “Hang Tough”. This short but sweet answer embodies the no-nonsense work ethic that both gentlemen embody. Ruck and Mac have consistently demonstrated their commitment to Faulconer and they embody one of Faulconer’s core values: Legacy. These two have stuck with Faulconer through thick and thin and played a major role in building the company’s legacy through their toughness, hard work, and loyalty.
