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Employee Spotlight: Juan Perez – Plant Manager

Juan Perez was born and raised in a small town of La Chona in Jalisco, Mexico. He came to the USA when he was 19 years old to build a better life for himself. He enjoyed studying chemistry and science in high school, but could not afford college, so he left Mexico. After arriving in Chicago, he received a call from a friend about opening at Trendler and has never looked back.

Q. Tell me a little more about your role. What does a typical day look like?

I began my career with Trendler in the summer of 1980, working in the Tubular department. I have worked my way up quickly to become an Assistant Supervisor of multiple departments Critical to Operations. I have taken advantage of every opportunity to improve my education from certificates in scheduling, shipping/receiving, and production inventory control from DePaul University in Chicago. I've also received a certificate from the University of Michigan in Lean Manufacturing and Finance.

Q. What makes you excited to come to work every day?

Juan manages six group leaders who oversee a team of 50 employees within eight departments. I love the many challenges that my job presents every day. My passion is people and serving Trendler's customers. My love of computers and IT has taught me to rely on data to make good decisions, creating custom programs to automate and sustain productivity at all levels. I'm never satisfied with the status quo; I'm always looking for bigger challenges.

Q. Outside of the office, what do you like to do?

In my free time, I enjoy playing music and singing. I've been married for over 40 years and have three lovely children, two grandchildren, all of whom I'm proud of. I wanted to thank the Trendler Team for the tremendous opportunity to fulfill my dream of being a humble young man from the small town of La Chona, Mexico, to the streets of Chicago and become an inspirational leader to all those who work with him!