About Us

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Russ began his career in mining at the age of 19, working as a summer intern in the engineering department of a salt mine.  After graduating with a BS in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech he returned to that mine, kicking off a long career in the salt industry.  Russ moved through the organization and between mines as a Mine Foreman, Senior Engineer, Production Superintendent, Mine Manager, Operations Manager and finally Technology Director for the business.  Over that time, he gathered exposure to: TQM, Large Project Management, leading large scale change, became a Green Belt in Six Sigma,and helped lead an organization through a successful SAP role-out.  Russ led teams or worked on multiple technical projects to build and install 2000' long single point anchored shaft power cables, repair winding and Koepe mine hoists, timber shaft maintenance, and extensive projects to slow or stop water infiltration.

Russ's early career exposed him to the impact injuries have on people and organizations.  After seeing multiple bad injuries take great employees out of the workforce it really drove home the need to improve injury management.  Just a couple months into his new role as a Mine Manager, his facility experienced a fatal injury to an employee caused by a structural collapse.  It was from that point that he and the team at that mine put a stop to further disabling injuries.  The site went nearly ten years without a lost time accident, while increasing near miss reporting, addressing SIF potential incidents, improving training, hazard recognition and rewarding safe behaviors and injury avoidance.   It can be done.