Meet our April Employee Spotlight, Patrick Strimple! Patrick has been a part of our employee-owned family for almost 11 years and has helped shape the culture of Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. Let us get to know him better:

What is your role? Briefly describe what you do.

“I am the Human Resource Manager at Employee Owned Holdings in Houston, Texas. The HR Department is responsible for payroll, benefits administration, onboarding and exiting employee processes.

Who/what inspires you?

“Many things can inspire me. Some days it can be a sunrise. Some days it can be a song, a speech or a good book.”

If you had to pick one strength you bring the to team, what would it be?

“I like to think I have a rational thinking process. For every action there is a reaction.”

What do you like to do in your free time?

“Spending time with the family and attending my kids sporting events are a few things I enjoy doing. I also like to seek out new recipes to try.”

If I could learn how to do one thing, what would it be?

“If I could learn 6^th grade math so I could help my son with his homework that would be great!”

Where were you born?

Houston, Texas

What’s the best thing about your job?

“I really enjoy being able to help people with anything that they might need.”

What’s been one of your proudest moments at EOHI?

“I’ve had many proud moments at EOHI, but helping the hiring team present an employment offer to a candidate is always rewarding.”

How do you define success?

“My definition of success is always doing your best. It’s not one moment or one thing but always doing what is right.” 

Where is your favorite place that you have traveled?

“I love the Texas Hill Country. It’s not fancy but has plenty of charm.”

Meet our February Employee Spotlight, Adam Rowe! Adam is our Lead Assembly Mechanic for GCC at our Tampa facility. He has been with our EOHI family for over 20 years and plays a huge role in our value-added Hydraulic Shop. Let us get to know him better:

What is your role? Briefly describe what you do.  

“As the Lead Assembly Mechanic, I am responsible for assembling manifolds that come through our Hydraulic Shop.”

Who/what inspires you? 

“My parents have always been my inspiration throughout my life.”

If you had to pick one strength you bring the to team, what would it be?

“My biggest strength is my willingness to do whatever is necessary in order to get the job done successfully.”

What do you like to do in your free time?

“Getting out on the water and going boating is one of my favorite things to do.”

If I could learn how to do one thing, what would it be? 

“I’ve always thought it would be cool to learn how to fly a plane.”

Where were you born? 

“I was born in Tampa, FL.”

What is the best thing about your job? 

“The people I work with make my job so great.”

What has been one of your proudest moments at EOHI?

“Completing a power unit for Universal Studios was a very rewarding accomplishment that I got to see through.”

How do you define success? 

“When it comes to success, I have always thought about my family.”

Where is your favorite place that you have traveled?

“I’ve had the opportunity to travel to various places, but my favorite spots have been Cuba and Aruba.”

Houston, TX – On February 4, 2021, Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. (EOHI) announced the advancement of Jennifer Werth Munro, as its Vice-President of Marketing and Talent Development. Jennifer will continue to oversee the marketing department companywide, to enhance relationships with the customers and manufacturers of EOHI’s subsidiaries:  Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., Elite Controls, Inc. and GCC, while securing further responsibilities in directing the company’s recruiting, training, and other specific HR efforts.

Jennifer joined EOHI in 2013 and served as its Director of Marketing until January 2017 when she took a year off to be closer to her family in Alaska, working and living in Seattle, Washington.  She returned to EOHI in 2018 having gained further development and marketing expertise from the experience. Jennifer transitioned from only marketing to also addressing HR responsibilities for the company in June 2019 with advancement to be the company’s Senior Director of Marketing and Talent Development. Her new position will require her to provide further oversight over many aspects of company personnel management including company culture, talent acquisition, training programs and other employee development as she works closely with the company’s CFO, Matt Weisser, and the HR team, Patrick Strimple, Rosa Moya and Jessica Reyna.

 “Jen is a perfect fit and represents our company with diligence and professionalism,” says Richard Neels, President and CEO of EOHI.  “There is no doubt that she will further advance our business through her innovative ideas, industry expertise and can-do attitude.”

Jennifer adds, “I love the employee-ownership culture, and interacting with the very talented teams across all the companies. I look forward to analyzing and developing new and better ways to enhance our performance through our most important asset – our people.”

EOHI is a 100% employee owned company based in Houston, Texas and serves as the parent of Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., GCC and Elite Controls, Inc., companies specializing in the fluid power equipment industry.

Supreme Integrated Technology focuses on complete system integration with turn-key products that include control & feedback loops, fluid power generation & distribution equipment, and structural devices or components & their actuators. Their highly skilled engineers dedicate their time and passion to complete all projects with excellence. Mechanical Engineer, Derek Sherwood, has been with SIT for six years now, where he began his engineering journey as an intern.

While Sherwood was a student at Louisiana State University, he was actively seeking a position where his skills and knowledge could continue to grow. He reached out to SIT for a summer internship and was offered a position on the mechanical engineering team. During his internship, he gained hands-on experience by getting to go out in the field and work on liftboats, as well as coast guard ships. He worked on the calculations and technical work for each of these projects. Sherwood did not have much knowledge of hydraulics prior to his internship but was able to really excel in this area of expertise by visiting project sites verses just sitting at a desk all day.

Upon graduation, Sherwood was offered a full-time mechanical engineering position with SIT where he continued to work on liftboats and coast guard projects. As the company grew, more military orders increased. This led Sherwood to transition into a wider range of projects where he currently works on the design, fabrication and delivery of multiple industry projects.

“Working at SIT has been one of the best things because I’m able to learn something new every day. We get projects that have never been done before and get to see it through the whole way – from the design to the assembly to the delivery. Not one day is ever the same.” – Derek Sherwood

This year has been filled with a lot of uncertainties, but one thing that has remained true is our employees’ dedication to the community. This holiday season we came together as a family with the other EOHI companies and launched our EOHI Elf campaign. This campaign allowed our employees to nominate children of families and friends struggling to provide gifts to their kids this year. We are proud to announce that each of the nine children nominated will be receiving all items on their wish lists! Our employees donated over 30 gifts to these children to ensure they would find some joy throughout these difficult times. This would not have been possible without the generosity and support of our employee owners.

In addition to our EOHI Elf campaign, each of the 13 locations participating also ran their own local toy drive. We partnered with Toys for Tots to continue the gift of giving throughout our communities. Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps. Their mission is to collect new toys and distribute these to less fortunate children during the holidays to ensure that those children have a gift to open on Christmas and bring these children joy. We are proud to have community involvement leaders at each of the locations to help facilitate with these local toy drives. Even during tough times, our employees are willing to put aside their own hardships to help extend hope and happiness throughout our communities.

As employee owners, we take great pride in pleasing our customers on every level, but we also like to bring that same passion and drive to help the communities we work in. Our EOHI families value coming together to impact our communities and those around us.

From our family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday season! Check out our Toy Drive Holiday Video for more highlights.

Meet our November employee spotlight, Lauren Cooper! Lauren has dedicated herself to our EOHI family for over 10 years. We are beyond grateful for her hard work and innovative ideas she has brought to the team. Lets get to know her better:

What is your role?

I am the Marketing Manager for EOHI. I primarily handle our online advertising & lead generation, ecommerce, company & customer events, and all company tradeshows. I also oversee graphic design and branding for each company.

If you had to pick one strength you bring the to team, what would it be?

I would say one of my biggest strengths is my creativity and ability to think outside of the box. I love coming up with new ideas and ways to be more efficient and seeing them through.

What’s the best thing about your job?

My favorite thing about my job is the people I work with daily. I truly have the best team; they are all so talented and make working fun and exciting even when it’s not! #DreamTeam

What’s been one of your proudest moments at EOHI?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of the EOHI family since I graduated college in 2007. As the company has grown over the years, I have grown with it both professionally and personally. It’s been awesome to be a part of that growth.

Where were you born?

I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA.

What is your fondest memory of High School/College?

While in college, I had the privilege to play for the LSU Softball team and I have so many great memories during those years. However, my fondest memory is playing in the Women’s College World Series – It was truly a dream come true and an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.  GEAUX TIGERS

Who/what inspires you?

My dad has been my biggest inspiration my entire life. He is one of the hardest working people I have ever known and if you know my husband, that’s saying a lot. ? My dad has always taught me to give 100% effort in everything I do and to always be honest and kind to others – all qualities I hope to instill in my children.    

If I could learn how to do one thing, what would it be?

I have always wanted to learn to speak Italian.

What do you like to do in your free time?

My first job is being a wife and a mom of two little ones, so I don’t have a lot of free time outside of work.  However, when we are not at the ballpark or dance with our kids, my husband and I love to travel.

Where is your favorite place that you’ve traveled?

St. Lucia was one of my favorite places I have traveled to. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and always talk about going back. To this day, it was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.

Tells us one thing about yourself that not all people may not know about you.

I met my husband while working for EOHI and he also works for one of our EOHI companies.  

As employee owners, our employees have a special appreciation for the month of October as it is a time to celebrate and recognize being an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company. An ESOP is a tax-qualified retirement plan authorized and supported by federal tax and pension laws. The company creates a trust that purchases shares of the company’s stock and holds these shares in retirement accounts for the employees. Unlike 401(k)s, ESOP requires no out of pocket contribution from employees for the retirement accounts to increase.

An ESOP is more than just a retirement plan. It provides many other benefits internally – Because we, the employees,  take ownership in the company, our employees strive to go above and beyond to contribute to the success of our companies. With this mindset, ESOPs motivate employees, increase productivity, enhance retention, while at excelling in providing employee training which contributes to business health and longevity.

At our EOHI families, we strive to live by our Five Company Values – Acts with Integrity, Laser Customer Focus, Work Smart, Always Seeking Improvement, and Produce Results. Our employees nominated their fellow colleagues demonstrating dedication to these values. We’d like to recognize and congratulate all the award recipients for 2020 noted below for their hard work!

Tampa, FL – October 13, 2020: Today, GCC announced the promotion of Jordan Pritt as its Vice President of Sales, with responsibility for sales throughout North America.  Over the past six years at the company, Jordan has made significant contributions to the growth of GCC, starting with his role as a territory manager before later moving into sales leadership with rapidly growing responsibilities.

Jordan began his tenure at GCC with hydraulic experience from his background in the power generation industry where he served as a project manager for gas turbine installations. GCC introduced Jordan to a sales role, where his professionalism, technical capability, project management and competitive spirit led him to quick success as a territory manager. Jordan saw significant growth in his key accounts and with acquisition of new business for the company.

In 2016, Jordan was promoted to a district manager position and his first leadership role with the company, where he quickly demonstrated his ability to lead and motivate sales teams. In April 2018, Jordan transitioned to becoming the sales manager for the company, with responsibility for all Florida sales. Over the next two years, Jordan developed his sales team, focused on finding new accounts, successfully executed large customer projects and grew the existing business within GCC’s large OEM accounts.  Jordan also provided a critical role in helping foster the new sales talent for GCC through his mentorship of interns, sales development reps and new territory managers.

With this new role as Vice President of Sales, Jordan’s responsibility is expanding to include the Company’s sales in Washington and Oregon. In late 2018, GCC acquired the assets of Valin Fluid Power in the Pacific North West. Since then, the company has been working to expand its presence and serve more customers.  Working alongside the general manager for the region, Branko Horvat, Jordan will work with the sales team in the Pacific North West to help find new opportunities and create value for current clients.

 “I am so proud to have Jordan as a key, first-class member of our team at GCC,” says Rod Longnecker, President of GCC. “The leadership, technical ability and positive attitude he brings, both to the company and to our customers, is second to none. The impact that he’s had on our business during his time with the company has been outstanding.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Jordan over his six years with GCC,” says Richard Neels, CEO & President of Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. “I am continually impressed by his professionalism, knowledge of the business and commitment to our customers. We are sincerely thankful to have him working at our employee-owned company.”

Said Jordan Pritt of this opportunity: “This is a wonderful circumstance, but I am mostly looking forward to seeing how I can best help this company to succeed.”

GCC has the knowledge in hydraulics, pneumatics, fluid conveyance and automation to provide world class products and complete fluid power systems to its customers. GCC is part of EOHI, a 100% employee owned company based in Houston, Texas, who is also the parent of Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., and Elite Controls, Inc.

This summer, we had the pleasure of hosting Oscar Gonzalez as our intern at our GCC Service & Repair facility in Miami, FL. Oscar is studying Mechanical Engineering at Florida International University. Throughout his internship, he has experienced what it is like to work at our employee owned company and has looked up to our General Manager, Jimmy Mourey. Jimmy has been readily available to guide and help Oscar explore all things hydraulics. Oscar sat down with Jimmy to get to know him better and understand how he got to where his is now in his career.

What is your role? Explain what you do on a day-to-day basis.

“I am the General Manager at our Service and Repair department in Miami. Managing the service and repair department comes with many tasks. My day-to-day activities consist of the following:

• Running the repair shop
• Quoting new and rebuilt service
• Ensuring quality of every rebuilt cylinder and pump
• Customer service calls onsite to help with technical aspect
• Working with all employees to have an efficient and clean shop

When did you start at the company?

“I have only been with the company for two years so taking over the GCC repair shop in Miami has been a great task.”

How have you grown within the company?

“As a man of many trades and with my prior managing experience in the field, I have been able to move GCC in the right direction. Implementing a hardworking culture has been key for me. My professional goals are to enhance hydraulic knowledge in my sales staff, grow the Miami division and expand my customers.”

What has been the most challenging thing about your job?

“Managing a repair shop comes with many challenges. One of those challenges is keeping everyone as motivated as I am in the repair shop.”

Why did you go into this field?

“Over the years I have gained a lot of experience with many mechanical systems. I have always been hands on and love the feeling of helping others out.”

“Jimmy has opened a lot of doors relating to hydraulics and other mechanical systems throughout my internship. He has given me plenty of advice to prepare me to be a mechanical engineer in the real world. Jimmy has a strong work ethic and pushed me to become better and what I love doing.” – Oscar Gonzalez