Colten Swanson, Portland Fine Grind Operator, has been with US Aggregates® for a year and a half. His first role consisted of loading rail cars at the fine grind.
He has had a unique journey into the aggregates industry. Colten began his career in Tennessee in the manufacturing industry. He started as a die-cast technician at Fort Recovery Industries. He then worked as a lead extrusion technician at Viam Manufacturing, an automotive floor mat manufacturer, for over five years. Colten’s technical manufacturing experience has enabled him to be well-versed in understanding the importance of product testing and maintaining equipment efficiency.
Portland Plant Manager Corey Price is extremely grateful for Colten’s dependable nature, leadership skills and ability to always go the extra mile. “He takes on all challenges, completed Lean Six Sigma course training and has mastered all roles at the fine grind,” highlighted Corey.
His daily responsibilities are ensuring that the fine grind plant is running efficiently. He can be found tracking bin inventory levels, so material is available when customers need it or even loading customer trucks with products. Colten also samples products and records plant settings and supports preventative maintenance like greasing bearings and changing drive belts.
This year, Colten has had a huge impact by updating standard operating procedures, incorporating 5S cleaning into work areas and defining run parameters to ensure optimized efficiency and product quality. He also serves as the inaugural sustainability champion for Portland. “I learned the importance of being eco-friendly and helped with projects such as recycling, converting lighting to LEDs and trialing outdoor solar lighting,” shared Colten.
In his leisure time, Colten enjoys traveling with his family. Recently, they visited Gatlinburg, Gulf Shores and Chicago. Colten is thankful for his Portland coworkers and their camaraderie. No matter what obstacles the team faces, big or small, he knows they can conquer them. He encourages new miners to be open to trying ideas, not be afraid to get dirty and to be a communicative team player.
US Aggregates is exceptionally proud of all the growth Colten has helped foster at Portland and is thankful for his commitment to leading and being a great example for all miners.
Colten Swanson, Corey Price and Anthony Treadaway contributed to this article
