Purl's Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Blog: Posts Tagged ‘employee spotlight’

Employee Spotlight Sheryl Berry

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

Sheryl BerryIMG_0097_1 began working at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning in August of 2006. She works part time in the office in accounting. She keeps the Purl’s team active in the community and organizes the annual 4-H/FFA dinner we provide for the kids and families at the Madera District Fair. She is the person we all ask for suggestions, recipes, and advice. She is truly everyone’s friend.

Sheryl brought a wealth of knowledge with her from her years working at Teco, the family owned business in Madera. Sheryl said she worked every possible job during her time at Teco, but specialized in management and accounting. She has always loved working with numbers and making things balance.   She retired from Teco in 2005 and could not stand to be retired! Retirement was not a good fit for Sheryl Berry! She likes working and keeping an active schedule. She said working helps her get more done in a day!

Sheryl said the move to the new office location in 2010 was an exciting event that affected everyone at Purl’s Sheet Metal. She feels the change that affected her job the most was the conversion and upgrade to our new computer system several years back. The accounting capabilities were such a giant step into the future. It was fun and challenging for our team to figure out how to make everything work.

Sheryl was born and raised in Madera. She can trace her family roots in Madera back to 1893. She and her husband Randy raised their family of boys here. Sheryl and Randy have 12 grandchildren that range in ageIMG_4986_1 from 2-21. When she talks about her grandkids she is all smiles! She spends as much time as possible with her grandkids. She loves to teach them the art of canning, baking, sewing and gardening, all the while teaching them to have a good work ethic.

Sheryl Berry is very well known in our community. She has more energy than most and seems to require little sleep. She spends her spring and early summers canning her famous pickles, pickle relish, jam & jellies. She donates large baskets with her canned and baked goods to local fund raisers and auctions. *Did we mention that her cookies are legendary too!* The people in our community have been known to buy her items for big dollars! One of Sheryl’s most favorite things to do is to “play in the dirt” in her beautiful yard and garden. (Her back yard was featured on the 2014 Garden Tour in Madera). It is a labor of love and every corner of her yard shows something special and unique. She also spends a lot of time sewing and quilting!

Sheryl is deeply rooted and involved in our community. She has been part of Alegria Guild Children’s Hospital Central CA for almost 45 years. In 2014 she and her good friend Mickie Purl created a special quilt to be auctioned off for Alegria Guild Children’s Hospital. The quilt brought in nice donation for the Hospital. She is the President of the Madera County Historical Society since 1999 and has been involved in the organization since 1990. She is also serves on the Board of Directors for the Heritage Society. She has been involved with 4-H, FFA, Camp Fire and numerous other organizations.

IMG_1481Sheryl said she has so many great memories and loves the people she works with at Purl’s Sheet Metal. She said we have been through a lot together, and it is never dull! She especially remembers the April Fools joke played on her a few years back. She returned a phone call to the local Chafee Zoo, only to ask to speak to Mr. Lion….and it went downhill from there. Sheryl thinks we definitely have a lot of fun at Purl’s Sheet Metal and looks forward to a bright future.

Continue Reading

Employee Spotlight: David Barnes

Friday, April 10th, 2015

David Barnes joined Purl’s Sheet Metal in October of 2005. He works as a service technician in our service department. David enjoys his work and being part of a great team. He looks at every opportunity as a learning experience.
His favorite part of his job is developing IMG_9992_1relationships with his customers and being able to provide the best service possible. David’s customers truly trust and respect him.

There have been many changes since David began at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning. He feels a big improvement was the move to the new location in 2010. Moving to the new location has helped tremendously with the growth of the company. David also credits the addition of computer tablets in the field as a leap in technology. David feels the tablets have allowed the technicians to provide faster and better service to our customers. All of the information needed is available while they are at the customer’s home.

He also feels the efforts of Purl’s Sheet Metal management have helped create a united team. The weekly meetings and continuous training help increase the knowledge of products and services. David feels that if you miss a meeting, you miss a lot! David thinks the increased efforts in our branding and website have helped us reach new customers. He also really enjoys participating in all of the community activities with Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning. It is a great way to bring his own family in and share in the festivities and community involvement.IMG_9987_2

Outside of work David enjoys spending time with wife and two young children. He and his family are very active in their church. David sings in the choir, teaches Sunday school and helps drive the bus to pick up children for church. He loves vacationing with his family and Disneyland is a favorite location!

Overall, David credits great leadership for helping grow the business through his years at Purl’s Sheet Metal. He said it started with Mr. Purl and has continued with Kurt and Brian. He appreciates the lengths management will go to make our customers happy. “Having someone on call nights and weekends, speaks volumes about customer commitment.” David thinks we have a great team, that truly care about each other and it feels more like a family.

Continue Reading

Employee Spotlight Bob Martin

Wednesday, December 24th, 2014


Bob Martin
joined Purl’s Sheet Metal in December of 2003. Bob is in our Service Department and leads our dispatch team. Bob enjoys coming to work every day and the fact that you never know what the day may bring! He said he really likes the relationships he has developed with our customers over the years. When you listen to Bob work with our customers, it is easy to see why he is so good at his job.

Bob has seen many changes at Purl’s Sheet Metal. One of the biggest changes he mentioned was the move to our newest location in 2010. We went from very tight quarters to having enough room for everyone and some room to grow. In terms of technology he feels the best change has been the addition of computer tablets in the field. This allows our service technicians to take payments on site and communicate to Bob and the office directly through the tablet. Bob said he is proud of the fact it has made a big difference in the overall efficiency of our service team and increased our ability to get to customers faster for break downs.

Bob is the proud father of 6 children, and 15 grandchildren. The oldest granddaughter is 2nd year at UCLA and the oldest grandson just finished basic training for the Air Force. Just talking with him about all of his children or grandchildren you know instantly how proud he is of each and every one! He has been a very active volunteer for Special Olympics for over 12 years. He loves working with the kids and getting involved with the program. Bob enjoys spending time with his wife and the whole family. He loves to camp and spend time at Lake Tahoe.

Anyone IMG_5944who knows Bob also knows he is an avid sports fan and a huge baseball fan. When asked how he became a Giant’s fan, he said “I was born into it!” His mother used to listen to baseball games on the radio when he was young and he has fond memories of her shouting at the radio about Willie Mays… “Hit that ball Willie”. He has shared his love of sports with his children and grandchildren.

Bob said that leadership and teamwork are key at Purl’s Sheet Metal. He remembers the summer of 2009 when there were over 30 consecutive days of record heat above 100 degrees. Calls were flooding the office. Right in the middle of this heat wave, the computers went down for a couple of days. Bob, Melissa and our whole office were taking calls and hand writing tags as fast as possible. Our service technicians were working into the nighttime to try to get to every call. Bob said he was so proud of our whole team and the fact that we were able to take care of all of our customers in this crisis. He said he learned from this the importance of the entire team. He said he enjoys his job and appreciates the team environment and the big community involvement. He said Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning just feels like one big family.

Continue Reading

Employee Spotlight – Jacob Davidson  

Monday, May 19th, 2014
IMG_1002

Jacob enjoys drinking “Rockstar” each morning.

Our first employee spotlight will be about Jacob Davidson. Jacob officially started work at Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning in 2009. We say “officially” because Jacob has been part of the Purl’s family since the day he was born and spent many hours at the shop with his father Kurt Davidson.

IMG_1064

Jacob with his parents,   Kurt and Lisa Davidson.

Jacob enjoys many other outside activities. He spends two nights a week working with the youth group at his church. He and his family own a desert off road racing team and enjoy weekends racing. He has volunteered at Algeria Guild Day in the Country since 2007 to raise money for Children’s Hospital Central California. In his free time, he enjoys air soft sports with friends.

IMG_1009

Jacob is proud to be a part of Purl’s family.

Jacob says his favorite thing about his time at Purl’s Sheet Metal is the family aspect of the business. He said he loves the teamwork and family . Over the years Jacob has worked in many capacities at the shop. He started out tearing down old units, washing and refueling trucks. He learned to fabricate flashing and custom pieces and became a lead in our computerized plasma cutting technology. He learned how to service units and change out equipment. He also currently handles onsite company IT and security.

IMG_1006

Jacob at work.

One of the most important things he feels he has learned at Purl’s Sheet Metal is how to work with people and communicate effectively. He has learned many life lessons during his time at Purl’s Sheet Metal. He learned the importance of honesty and fairness from his father Kurt. He also has learned the valuable art of negotiation from his Dad. Brian Driggs taught him how to research everything so you make smart, informed choices.

 

 

Continue Reading