Employee Spotlight

Hayden Hall has been an employee at Ledwell for almost seven years. Since starting with Ledwell, Hayden has worked in the Tank Shop, Feedbody Shop, and Break and Shear. His talents in welding landed him a place in our Special Projects Department, building some of our unique products for customers.

After graduating from high school, he joined the United States Army and completed four years of active duty service. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time in the outdoors and building knives.

If asked, a friend might describe Hayden as hard-working, honest, and friendly. The most challenging part of Hayden’s day to day is keeping up with the demand here at Ledwell. He said, “I’ve learned over the years at Ledwell that if you continue to work hard each day, you will see the benefits of your hard labor unfold.”

Hayden is married, and they have two dogs. A pitbull-lab mix and a corgi-beagle mix. One of Hayden’s lifetime goals is to attend the Sigma 3 Survival School. This is an intensive training course to teach you how to survive in the wilderness with minimal tools available.

First and foremost, thank you for your service! We appreciate your hard work and dedication, Hayden.

April’s Employee Spotlight is a motivated employee who works in our Maintenance Department and is vital to our operations. Jack Kokko has been a dedicated employee at Ledwell for five years, and we don’t know what we would do without him!

Before working at Ledwell, Jack’s most exciting job was cleaning pizza ovens all over the United States. He enjoys working at Ledwell and describes the company as loyal, personal, and dedicated. Jack appreciates having the resources available so that he can do his job well. “You don’t have that luxury everywhere you work.” Using those resources, he was able to put a new roof on the Feedbody Shop in one day. That’s why he considers it one of his favorite projects over the years.

He is married to Olivia, and they have a son, Samuel. They have two pit bull dogs that are a part of the family. He enjoys coaching sports, fishing with his family, and watching all types of races. Jack’s motto is “send it – don’t hold back!” He enjoys participating in the Dragon Boat Races every year. He is part of the three-time Ledwell champion team, The Bootleggers. Jack loves the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, and Indiana Colts.

Thank you, Jack! We appreciate everything you do around the facility.

Michael Applebaum has worked at Ledwell for almost nine years. He has been a Torch Operator in the Feed Body Shop since day one, which is unusual for most Ledwell employees.

When Michael thinks of Ledwell, family, dedicated and reliable are what come to mind. He feels as though the most challenging part of his day to day is making sure material is cut at a good pace in order to provide parts quickly to other shops. Friendly is how he would describe himself in a single word, which is probably why his favorite thing about working at Ledwell are the people. Michael says, “Everyone is easy going and they make it an enjoyable environment to work in”.

Michael is married to Faith and they have three children. Two girls and a boy. In his spare time, he enjoys watching any sporting event and spending quality time with his family and dogs. Michael stated, “If I get up in the morning and go to work at Ledwell to do my very best, I know that my family will be okay”.
Thank you, Michael for all your hard work!

For almost a decade, Mica Morse has been a part of the Ledwell Sales Team. He has covered several regions across the United States and Canada over the years and currently supports many national accounts. He delivers solutions to opportunities customers present daily. Mica says the most important lessons he’s learned from working at Ledwell are providing good customer service and working with a sense of urgency. Every call he receives is important to him, and he implements a process to get requests done quickly.

His main goal is to help customers make money. Mica has been able to achieve that time and time again. “Watching and helping several of my customers start small and grow into sizable companies has been amazing,” he said. His responsiveness and loyalty have really helped him, and his customers achieve their goals over the last nine years.

When Mica isn’t helping customers, he is teaching his family the joys of hunting, fishing and playing sports. He and his wife have three children, two girls and a boy. Thank you, Mica for your dedication and support to Ledwell!

Your office space can speak a thousand words. It’s like a home away from home for you and your employees. So, why wouldn’t you outfit it in a way that reflects modern comfort? Ledwell Office is a go to place when you need advice on furniture layout and design – specifically, you’ll want to see Lauren Layne. Lauren has been employed with Ledwell Office since its dawning in October of 2012, and has a total of 22 years in the furniture sales industry. Her job is to collaborate with clients to create the ultimate atmosphere for the given clientele, which is perfect for her because she loves to plan!

Lauren’s goal is for her customers to feel accomplished and renewed at the end of an install. Her driving force is meeting the exact goals of the client – all while staying under budget! She’s worked with many schools in the area – one of her favorite aspects of her job – including TASD, TISD, PGISD, LEISD, Redwater, Red Lick, Genoa and even TC and TAMU-T! Each project has its own personality and challenges, bringing interesting angles to Lauren daily. A lot of her time is spent at job sites, measuring spaces or in the office drawing up plans and presentations for her clients.

When Lauren isn’t at work, you might find her pitching in for the community. For the past 13 years, she has put many of her volunteering efforts towards the Kiwanis Organization, where she touches the lives of so many. Her love for her community and the people in it might be why Lauren has proven to be such a perfect fit for her career! She is always putting her best foot forward and making an effort to get the job done, and get it done right. No matter the question, Lauren will figure out the answer! Thanks, Lauren, for all of your hard work and dedication!

Not every office has a ray of sunshine, and it sure is lucky when you find one! We picked ours a little over eight years ago. Lisa McEuen came to Ledwell to assist with our help desk and is now a very valued member of our Accounting Department in Accounts Receivable. Over the years, Lisa has been a part of many departments, including reception and transportation. Her personal motto is “always go above and beyond,” and that she does. In each department Lisa has worked in she’s brought dedication, a helping hand, and smiles for everyone.

She has always been a team player. In fact, she believes the best lesson she’s learned during her time here is that sometimes it takes an entire office to get the job done – but it pays off! Through that, she’s made many friends, not only with our Ledwell team but with customers as well, which just so happens to be her favorite part of the job – getting to know the customers. While concentrating on getting all her paperwork filled out and done correctly, she manages to harbor a whimsical spirit and bring a calming presence to her environment.
 
Lisa wanted to be an elementary school teacher when she was younger, which might be why she’s so good with kids. In her spare time, she enjoys participating in children’s ministries at church, camping with her family, or spending her paycheck at Hobby Lobby! Needless to say, the office wouldn’t be the same without her. We appreciate everything she does for us and our customers. Thank you, Lisa!

Eric has been a Ledwell employee, working in the truck shop, for nearly 14 years. Before Eric came to Ledwell, he worked at a highway and transportation company as a maintenance man. That experience helped him leap right into work here at Ledwell and gave him a foundation to plug into.

Over the years, Eric has proven indispensable. He’s one of Ledwell’s go-to guys when we have questions about most any product. Eric has gained broad knowledge about Ledwell equipment, from our vacuum line to our agriculture products. As a matter of fact, he says the two things he’s gained while working at Ledwell are a lot of knowledge and a lot of hair loss! He enjoys all aspects of Ledwell, so given the chance to move somewhere else in the company, he says he’d be happy anywhere.

Eric married his wife, Brandy, thirteen years ago and has a two-year-old daughter named Shiloh. He loves being with his family, and he loves that Ledwell is on the same page in that respect. He has a personal farm that he enjoys working on in his free time, leading him to be a helpful, productive, and easy-going guy.

This September, our employee of the month is Ray Fox! He’s been with Ledwell for a little over 14 years now, having started in April of 2005. His wide range of skill-sets have allowed him to work a variety of different jobs, including working in our Machine Shop, IT Department, Electronics Department, Marketing and now, heading our Graphics Department. With each new task, Ray has been able to come up with new and innovative ways to help Ledwell reach efficiency and support our customers with the best solutions.

His favorite part of being our Graphics guru is the unpredictability of it all. At Ledwell, nearly everything is customized – and that doesn’t exclude our graphics. Updating decals, manuals, and finding out new ways to satisfy a customer’s graphic needs are just a few of the things Ray handles daily. He makes sure each area of Ledwell is taken care of, from the Marketing department to the guys in the shops.

Ray has a lot of pride in his work and in his family. His favorite thing to do, outside of working at Ledwell, is to spend time with his family, no matter the occasion. He’s been married to his wife, Melissa, for 14 years and they have 12 year old son and 7 year old daughter. He tries to harvest a healthy and happy home and loves watching it grow. He invests his time in things like his son’s baseball games and his daughter’s gymnastics and girl scouts participation.

Jay Farris has worked for us for 24 years, in departments such as Feed Body, Truck Shop, and most recently, Quality Control. At his current position in Quality Control, he inspects every piece of equipment that leaves our facility providing Ledwell standard of excellence. However, that’s not his only superpower. Jay also serves as our Fire Sales Representative. He makes sure that firefighters and communities all around can get a reliable unit to fight off fires and improve rescue services in rural areas.

Jay has been a volunteer Fireman in Hooks, TX, for 22 years now and currently serves as the Assistant Chief. He has a personal hand in ensuring that their equipment is safe and ready for action when necessary. His favorite Ledwell projects are those involving Fire Tankers. He remembers Mr. Ledwell giving him the complement of a lifetime after working on one – “Son, it’s a good-looking truck.”

Jay has been married for 31 years to Lisa and they have one daughter, 27-year-old Burgandy. Together, his family really likes to go to the lake, hang out and fish. They have a lake house where they enjoy quality family time and relaxing summer nights. Family is important to Jay – if he were stranded on a desert island he says the three things he’d bring are his daughter, wife, and a fishing pole! Maybe that’s why the fire industry is so important to Jay. It’s his way of helping families all around stay together and stay safe. Way to go Jay, and congratulations on earning employee of the month for July!

Juan Moya is a multifaceted individual with a lot of hobbies and a lot of drive. He works in our Paint Shop as a Painter – something he always wanted to be as a kid. In fact he says, “If you do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” He is very positive about life and about his career. Given any opportunity to move out of Paint Body and into another department, he would stay right where he’s at. During his 11 years here, Juan has helped Ledwell with many innovative strategies and design, which is one of Juan’s favorite things about Ledwell. He loves painting custom products and providing a top quality job.

Juan has a wife, Ana, and two daughters, Karen and Ingrid, who he enjoys spending his free time with. They like to watch movies and play games together whenever they can. Juan loves being outdoors. He also boxes, and won the Golden Glove Tourney for it.

He says throughout his career here at Ledwell, he has gained an abundance of experience and knowledge, which helps him put his best foot forward everyday. His job is a perfect fit for him, and we are so proud to call him a Ledwell employee. Way to go, Juan!