Rodney is our lead rubber molder at our Aitkin, Minnesota plant or plant number 3. His duties include getting the presses started in the morning, by making sure all the equipment, tools, EPDM rubber and castings are set up at work stations. Plant number three has three injection presses, a bonding room and warehouse; the injection presses inject preheated rubber into the cavities and bond rubber to metal castings. American Valve & Hydrant and Waterous Company are the two customers for the gates valves that we manufacture for the water industry. During Rodney’s shift he runs an injection press, loads and unloads trucks with casting and completed gate valves, including completing the paper work for the loads shipping each day, and he gives breaks to the other operators at our third plant. If you call plant number three, Rodney is the person that usually answers the phone.
Rodney started with Stern Rubber Company in 1998 and was one of the very first employees hired for the Aitkin plant. Prior to working for Stern, Rodney worked in Chaska, Minnesota at Pies Inc., which was a foodservice company specializing in creating over 350 different frozen pies for school, restaurants and institutions. Rodney loaded trucks and filled orders all while working in sub-zero temperatures in the company’s freezer. Rodney grew up in the western suburbs of the Minneapolis, in Minnetonka; he was born and raised in Victoria, Minnesota, which is just south and west of Minnetonka.
Rodney will have been married for twenty-five years to his wife this coming June. He has one daughter; named Amanda who lives in Nebraska with her boyfriend and his son, Tony, who is now fourteen and in eighth grade attending Aitkin High School, and is an athlete in track and field.
Rodney earns extra cash by mowing lawns for people on the weekends, but he says it more of a hobby than a job. He does the usually things that people here in northern Minnesota do, like taking long walks in the woods, fishing on crystal clear lakes, taking bike rides with his family and hunting for birds and deer. He also does woodworking in his free time, but when you have so many activities in the north land, your free time is a premium.