You may have heard us use the words “field employees” or “field support” before, as it is a major part of our business. If you’re wondering what we mean when we refer to the field, we are talking about the various work “sites” where we place employees. In some cases it is an actual field where our construction tradesmen are working, although often times, it isn’t. We refer to all of our contract labor employees as our field employees that make up a big part of our NCW family.
Field Support, as you can probably surmise, is the team NCW has dedicated to supporting our employees that are on worksites across the country doing jobs that require safety precautions. Our Field Support team is made up of three: Ryan Myers, Head of Field Support, Herb Anderson, and Jordan Burger. Each member of the team holds certifications in safety, training, and teaching–which gives our employees access to the latest information about safety and equipment usage.
Herb Anderson started out as one of the best field employees we’ve ever had. He was so reliable & committed to working for us that it seemed like the best fit to have him on our internal staff, supporting other people with the same skills he has. “My favorite thing is to help our field employees with any and most aspects of the construction field since I came from the field. A lot of these questions and concerns they bring to us I am able to address in a way that helps out both sides,” said Herb. He has been to over 17 different states visiting work sites, but his favorite place by far has been Las Vegas. Can you blame him?
Ryan Myers was the first intern at NCW back in 2012. He has been working here ever since and now wears many hats within our company, although his biggest duty is the Head of Field Support, some of his lesser titles include: Amateur Plumber, Amateur Electrician, Desk Phone Support, Wi-Fi Administrator, Professional Mover, and Former NCW Party Planner (he has now acquired a whole team to support him in this role). If you know Ryan, you know that it’s hard not to laugh when he laughs, and there is never a dull conversation with him — which is likely one of the reasons he is so good at what he does.
“Given the nature of work NCW does, often times Field Support is the first physical interaction with our employees. It’s rewarding to meet the men and women working across the country who make NCW great. We get to bring them company swag and sometimes we bring out lunch. It’s always fun to show them we appreciate all that they do.”
After touring half of the states in the U.S. visiting work sites, Ryan has discovered his new favorite place to travel: Utah. In fact, he fell so hard for Utah that he got married there this past year on a mountain. “I had never seen anything like it. We had worked on a resort in the mountains and it was the most scenic place I could imagine. Colorado was a close second.”
Jordan Burger brought the female power to the team at the beginning of this year. She has been a very valuable addition to our family as she is the first Spanish-speaking staff employee that we have ever hired. As you can probably guess, we employ many Hispanic workers, especially in the construction industry, and we cannot emphasize how helpful it has been to have someone who is able to interpret safety guidelines & information to those whose first language is Spanish.
Jordan loves working on the NCW Field Support team because, “not one day is boring. I have the flexibility of having an office job, but also one that allows me to travel and work outside of the office. I’ve gotten to meet so many new people and see new places because of that flexibility. Plus, I get to work on a team that not only is fun and brilliant, but really puts in an effort to support our field employees.”
Her favorite place to venture to has been the Baltimore area. “I was within 15 minutes of the Chesapeake Bay (was able to go to a lighthouse), within an hour of DC, and it was just a really pretty area with super nice, friendly people. I also got to go to Wawa (my fav place ever) since they’re only on the east coast.” Wondering what the heck Wawa is? Read this article about why East Coast residents love it so much.
Since our field support crew spends so much time on the road, we asked them to share their pro tips for LONG trips. Here’s what they gave us:
- Get plenty of rest the night before.
- For road trips, stop every two to three hours to get out and stretch.
- Always have snacks & water.
- Plan ahead of time where you want to get your meals. Jordan suggests checking Guy Fieri’s recommendations on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives to stop at the best of the best when you’re en route.
- Pack a cooler with your own food to avoid spending unnecessary money on food & drinks.
- For long flights, make sure your carry-on is stocked with headphones, a book, and a sweatshirt. Download lots of shows and movies from Netflix onto your phone to watch when you don’t have Wi-Fi. Just make sure to do it before you get on the plane! See what the top downloadable shows are here.
- You can’t go wrong with a good podcast. NCW is a fan of podcasts–mostly crime, comedy and history. Download a few podcasts or an audiobook through Audible.
- Ryan endorses investing in Sirius XM radio. He is an avid listener and particularly enjoys listening to Howard Stern.
- Herb suggests always having a backup GPS app on your phone. To compare drive times, traffic conditions, and routes, check out these top navigation apps: Waze, Google Maps, CoPilotGPS, Komoot, InRoute Route Planner.
- If you can, bring a friend.
