Ken Edgeworth, a Columbus native, went to work at Weyerhaeuser in Bruce as a chop saw operator in 1992 shortly after graduating from Mississippi State University.
“A chop saw operator is responsible for processing rejected pieces of rough dry lumber by cutting them into four foot pieces that are stacked, strapped, and labeled into a salable product in efforts to both minimize lumber waste and maximize sales potential,” Edgeworth said.
A few years prior to him getting hired, he married Christy Russell, who was raised in Big Creek. Together they now have two children, Wes Edgeworth, who is an upcoming senior at Mississippi State University where he is majoring in landscape architecture, and Anna Kathryn Edgeworth, who is also an upcoming senior but at Calhoun City High School.
Edgeworth would be promoted to six different positions over the coming years to his current post of financial manager. Those various jobs along the way included lumber grader, quality control technician, supervisor trainee, safety manager, and quality value manager.
When describing his job Edgeworth stated, “On an average week, we consume approximately 20,000 tons of raw materials. These log receipts are processed through an internal system each week which allows us to verify our raw material inventory and log cost which is measured in dollars per ton.”
As a financial manager, Edgeworth works on monthly budgets. Weyerhaeuser has many production volume commitments that are a factor in how well they achieve their monthly budget.
“Production rates per hour and utilization rates must be on plan to deliver what we promised,” Edgeworth said. “These are only met when both operations and maintenance are clicking on all cylinders.”
One of the reasons he believes Weyerhaeuser is so successful is the safety slogan they have adopted – Making Safety A Way Of Life.
“This is strongly encouraged to become a habitual thought process both on and off the job site,” he said.
Making that motto a way of life around the job site has led them to receiving numerous safety awards and recognition. Edgeworth strongly believes that “those would not have been achieved without our number one asset – people. Without their consistent loyalty, focused engagement, genuine commitment, and personal ownership, our company would just be occupied by raw materials, machinery, mobile equipment, buildings, and generated products.”
Over the two plus decades that Edgeworth has worked there, he believes that the “family-like atmosphere has aided in the success and growth” Weyerhaeuser enjoys today.
“It truly is a blessing to work in an environment that makes you feel like family,” Edgeworth said.