Q: How would you describe the culture at Atlas Metal?
I really believe that people work for people, not companies. It’s why we aren’t really a “corporate culture.” We aren’t beholden to stockholders, so we can do our own thing. And at Atlas, a lot of our culture goes back to being a family-owned business. We take that sense of family and we reward loyalty. That’s how we’ve always looked at things.
Q: You’ve obviously created a strong family environment. So what do you look for when bringing in new employees?
When it comes to skill—some of the skillsets we need can be incredibly hard to find—which is why we work hard to train them. And not just in their job, but in the Atlas way. I will also say, when it comes to hiring, I always prefer to advance from within the company. We’re proud to say that we have generations working with us, sisters working with sisters, sons working with fathers, cousins—I think a lot of that contributes, too, to our family environment. We have actual families working here.
Q: What do you like the most about coming to work every day?
The people. And I still say that after working here for 40 years and knowing a lot of them for most of it. I like working with these people. But not just working with them—I LIKE these people. That is the biggest thing for me. Because of COVID, I come into the office part-time and work from home part-time. Now the afternoon Cuban coffee breaks with the team have pretty much had to stop. I miss my time with them, and I look forward to the new normal. I hope it includes the coffee breaks.
Q: What are you hoping to get out of 2021?
I am hoping that we start to see an end to this pandemic. I don’t think we will go back to “normal,” but I am really excited to see what the “new normal” is. I don’t really have the answer for that right now. When I look back on 2020, though, I realize how much we learned. We were able to get work done remotely, we balanced a lot of things and I think it will make us better at what we do in the future.
