“Just the way our guys represented our company was like a Gold Medal effort in itself.”
Those were the words from Cianbro Institute Manager Brian Watson after returning home from the 2015 National Craft Championships competition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that saw Cianbro contestants winning three medals in two crafts, while also taking home an award for safety. Chad Bemis won a Gold Medal in millwrighting, and also earned Cianbro's very first Craft Safety Award at the Championships. Paul Temple took home silver in millwrighting. Tim Nelson was awarded the Bronze Medal in pipe welding. Jesse Athorp rounded out Cianbro's team in the pipefitting category, the biggest and most talented pool of pipefitting contestants that Brian Watson had ever seen at the National Craft Championships. Despite the importance of the medal rankings, Brian said Cianbro's team members displayed championship qualities over and above the scores.
“I’m really proud of the way they carried themselves,” he said, “the way they represented their company. In true Cianbro fashion, they chipped in to help competitors from other companies get back and forth from the hotel to the convention center. They made us very proud.
What does Team Cianbro's showing in the 2015 competition say about the company? Brian believes the outstanding performance of Cianbro's team members gives a perspective on the company’s commitment to high quality workforce development.
“And we, clearly, are doing something right,” said Brian, “because we’ve won more medals on a national scale than anybody else since they started the competition. We’re really proud of that. We’re competing against very impressive companies, some which are much, much bigger than we are. And our team stacks up as the best of the best in that regard. So our programs stack up like that.”
Accolades are well deserved among Cianbro's trainers as well, who spent quality time helping the company’s competitors prepare for this competition. Mark “Snake” Hayden took care of Tim in welding. Moe Gould coached Cianbro's two millwrights. Shawn Reid served as Jesse’s instructor in pipefitting. “They have a tremendous amount of pride in what they do and they care about their students,” Brian said. “They worked hard to get these guys ready for the competition, and it showed. When our guys came in, we knew just exactly what was going to happen and who was going to be doing what.”