我在1970年开始了我的职业生涯，在过去的48年里，我看到了一些变化。在此期间，我曾在三家不同的公司工作过，并且经常搬家。我在匹兹堡地区长大。高中一毕业，我就开始在一家总部位于匹兹堡的百年跨国公司工作。他们在美国有几家制造厂，在英国、意大利、加拿大、墨西哥、南非和巴西有销售办事处。我以为为这样一家规模庞大、经营良好的公司工作是挖到金矿了。但当他们雇用我时，他们对我有不同的计划。他们把我送到他们相对较小的，位于俄亥俄州辛辛那提市的空气系统分部。我的第一个“新开始”把我从我的家人、朋友和一切熟悉的地方搬到了300英里之外。对于一个19岁的人来说，这是一次令人畏惧的经历。 But my first employer was very good to me. They must have seen some potential because they encouraged me to continue my education under their tuition reimbursement program. So, I enrolled at the University of Cincinnati and eventually earned a B.S. degree (that’s Bachelor of Science, not the other BS). I spent most of my time with my first employer in Cincinnati, but moved back to Pittsburgh to work a few years for them there before moving again back to the Cincinnati plant. Unfortunately, even the largest and oldest companies can fail. After 9 ½, years I was let go along with many other employees company wide. Today, even though I see their building products everywhere, the company name has become almost nonexistent and their manufacturing plants have all been sold, shut down, or demolished. Today the trade name is owned by some Pacific Rim entity and that is about all that remains of them.
1981年，我在辛辛那提的一家家族企业有了另一个“新开始”。我认为家族企业更安全，这在当时对我来说是最重要的方面。我现在有妻子和两个年幼的女儿要养活。我的第二个雇主对我也很好。他们继续支付我的大学学费，直到我毕业。如果我得A，他们会支付我100%的大学相关费用。这可能是我的毕业证书上有一个特别的金印的主要原因，上面印着优等荣誉。我的第二个雇主也是一家非常大的公司，在6个不同的州都有制造工厂。年销售额超过1亿美元，一度成为美国第三大特种钣金接触器。一切都很顺利。 I was taken out of engineering and promoted into engineering sales. I was placed under the guidance of a senior sales engineer and began making sales calls with him. As that was happening I didn’t realize I was being trained as his replacement. That gentleman retired a short time later and I was thrust into the world of engineering sales and yet another “New Beginning”. My second employer believed in moving us a lot by playing musical offices every few years. I believe they thought moving us around made us more productive. I was moved from offices on the first floor, to the basement, back to the first floor, up to the second floor, and so on. I worked for them for 29 years, so we moved around a lot. Alas, even large family owned companies have major changes. They were a third-generation company and over 100 years old. It was never destined to see a 4th generation of ownership, and the family sold the company to a publicly traded corporation. The change was not immediately apparent, but I soon came to realize I was not going to like working for a company listed on the stock exchange again. The “family feel” was gone and making money for the stock holders became the driving goal of the company. Since the family no longer owned the company, all my loyalties I felt were gone.
我最后一次“新开始”是在2010年。当时我在外面打销售电话，当我回到办公室时，接待员递给我一份电话备忘录，上面说帝国系统公司(Imperial Systems)的耶利米·王(Jeremiah Wong)让我回他的电话。我不认识有亚洲贸易公司的阿米什-东方人，所以我打电话问他想要什么。我发现"耶利米·万"不是阿米什人，也不是东方人，他想要我。他想让我为他工作。起初，我持怀疑态度。毕竟，我现在已经59岁了，正在考虑提前退休。我和第二个雇主的关系并没有朝着我想要的方向发展。我还要考虑我的两个女儿。虽然她们都是成年的年轻女子，都有工作，但她们仍然和我住在一起。 But Jeremiah assured me my age was not an issue, and my daughters encouraged me to go for it. So, I took the next step. I pulled a Dunn and Bradstreet report on Imperial Systems. I found them to be a small, family owned business with a good credit rating. They paid their bills. That was important to me. I agreed to meet with Jeremiah to discuss details. Shortly after that, we came to an agreement. I again relocated 300 miles back to Pennsylvania, not too far from my birth city of Pittsburgh, and I found a home with Imperial. We are a small but growing company. Much different from the previous two larger companies I’ve worked for. Over my short seven years with Imperial Systems, I’ve seen two plant expansions. Our newest “New Beginning” is the beautiful new fabrication complex we moved into in January 2018. We now have better manufacturing capabilities and lots of space for expansion. We needed it. We are growing fast. I just turned 66 and obviously no longer contemplating early retirement. I’m thinking about hanging around for a few more years. A family will do that to you. But if you think I’m ready for any more “New Beginnings”, well good luck with that!
