At its recent annual Plant Managers Meeting, Acme Brick Co. announced winners of the company’s Plant Manager of the Year competition. Jim Krueger, manager of the company’s Elgin, Texas, ENP Plant, received the Plant Manager of the Year award, while James Morrison, plant manager of Acme’s Featherlite concrete block and burnishing plant in Round Rock, Texas, was recognized as Acme’s A-1 Award winner.

Krueger graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri, Rolla, and began his career with Acme in 1985. After stints in various supervisory and engineering positions at Garrison and Sealy, he transferred to Elgin in 1999 and helped in the construction and commissioning of Acme’s handmade brick plant. In 2001, Krueger was promoted to plant manager and was a key person in the facility’s conversion to extruded brick in 2006.

“Jim is a very technical plant manager and is noted for his strong work ethic,” said Ed Watson, vice president of Production. “His dedication through two plant start-ups was a key to achieving the success at the handmade and, ultimately, the extruded plant. This dedication enabled the ENP plant to improve in several key areas during 2008 and has positioned this plant to be one of Acme’s strongest performers.”

A-1 Award winner Morrison was originally hired as the dispatcher at the Round Rock plant in 1990. In 1992, he was transferred into a management trainee position, where he worked until being promoted to supervisor of the burnishing plant. In 1994, Morrison was again promoted, this time to assistant plant manager responsible for the concrete block and burnishing plants. He was very involved in the 1995 construction and start-up of a new block plant on the Round Rock site and was promoted to plant manager later that year.

Morrison has been a key to the success of the Round Rock plant, particularly the burnishing operation. Through his leadership and innovation, the burnishing plant has grown in capacity and capability and has become a premier architectural product line.

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