Author: Amelia Yeager

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Heritage Construction + Materials Announces Geoff Dillon as Chief Executive Officer

Posted on by Amelia Yeager
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Heritage Construction + Materials Announces Geoff Dillon as Chief Executive Officer

LEADERSHIP CHANGE FOR HC+M

INDIANAPOLIS — Feb. 1, 2022 — Heritage Construction + Materials (HC+M) announced today the appointment of Geoff Dillon as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Dillon succeeds former CEO Jim Fehsenfeld, who will transition from CEO to the vice chair of HC+M’s board of directors.

“Since the 1950s, when my father started our first asphalt plant, we have been a company focused on making an impact. For us, it’s not just about profit and loss, it’s about leaving our people, our company and the world in a better place for future generations,” said Jim Fehsenfeld. “Geoff is a leader who deeply cares about our people, our customers and our communities. He has what it takes to innovate and grow the business. I am confident Geoff and the HC+M team will continue to deliver for our customers and make a positive impact in the communities we serve as we have for generations.”

Dillon previously served as president of Asphalt Materials, a manufacturer and marketer of asphalt binders and emulsions, and more recently as the president of HC+M.

“I am honored to be the CEO of Heritage Construction + Materials. Our HC+M family is full of talented, hard-working people who are passionate about high-quality and safe road construction and materials. Further, our world-class research and development supports our success. I’m energized to grow the business, building upon our values-driven culture,” Geoff Dillon stated. “It is important to me that HC+M continues to be a company that invests in and bets on people to tackle the big problems. We want to be stalwarts of the communities where we live and operate.”

About Heritage Construction + Materials
Heritage Construction + Materials (HC+M) is part of The Heritage Group, a privately held, family-owned business headquartered in Indianapolis. As a collection of companies, Heritage Construction + Materials has core capabilities in transportation and infrastructure, providing innovative road construction and materials services. HC+M companies include Milestone Contractors, Asphalt Materials, Inc., and US Aggregates. HC+M proudly employs 3,000 people across 55 locations within 7 states throughout the Midwest.

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Growth, Good Business and Giving Back

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

As a Director of Operations at Heritage Interactive Services, Shaun Miller oversees business in the US and Canada. When he started out, he had no idea how far a career in sustainability would take him. We sat down with Shaun to talk about the evolution of his career over the last nine years.

 

Let’s get started with the beginning of your journey. How did you first hear about Heritage?

 

I went to Indiana State, and when I graduated, I had taken over as general manager of a fine dining restaurant in Terre Haute, Indiana—but I lived on the west side of Indy. That’s a heck of a commute—it’s an hour and a half each way, but 23 years old and GM of a nice restaurant was a great place to start. At the time, my brother-in-law David Cripe worked for Heritage Environmental Services (HES). He said, “I know you’re not sure what you want to do, but if you want to be closer to home, Heritage is always hiring.” I took the chance and started as a temporary employee at HES in fixation (the management and disposal of contaminated waste by immobilizing hazardous contaminants). Fast forward several months later, I became group leader, and I was still trying to figure out where I wanted to be. Every time I had an opportunity to leave this organization, they gave me a reason to stay.

 

After my promotion to group leader, I helped deploy the HES call center, worked inside sales, and in 2014 I was again at a crossroads. I had gained all this experience, and I wanted a career, so I had to decide, where do I want to go? I interviewed for a program manager position at Heritage Interactive and got the job—and as much as I enjoyed the hazardous waste side, I loved broadening my horizons and being able to move into non-hazardous waste, and trash and recyclables, and byproducts and all kinds of commodities.

 

Then I went from program manager to senior program manager to operations manager and here I am as a director today. Now, I’m at the forefront of world-class sustainability services for our customers, which is awesome. For instance, we’ve aided companies in diverting their byproduct waste, contributing to zero landfill status—and more recently, we worked with ClimeCo to help March Madness go carbon neutral.

 

I can’t wait to see where I’ll be three years from now, but it’ll be at Heritage, you know? All these synchronicities brought so much opportunity, and I worked to make the most of it. And I’m happy to be here!

 

Could you go over a bit about how Heritage has invested in you?

 

How much time you got? (laughs) I’m a big Peyton Manning fan, and he always talks about not always being the smartest in the room, not always being the toughest in the room, but outworking everybody in the room. And that’s always been my mantra—if I’m dedicated to something, I’m going to find every way I can to add value to the organization. I’ve done that over the years, and this company has been good about recognizing that. Whether that’s about collaboration opportunities, promotions or bonuses, growth as an individual, I could go on and on.

 

The biggest impact on me was back in 2018, when I was promoted from Operations Manager to Director, it happened to line directly up with the Connect, Collaborate, Innovate (CCI) initiative. It’s a training program where THG invests in the future of potential leaders from across the family of companies. It created relationships and bridges across the organization. You were able to meet people whom you wouldn’t have otherwise known—and I used that network just last week to introduce a colleague to a resource at another Heritage company! I was able to be a bridge for others, which is a great thing, and I know that there are others willing to be a bridge for me as well.

Shaun (right) with Jeff Laborsky of Heritage Environmental Services

 

Is there a point that stands out to you when you realized that this was a career as opposed to just a job?

 

When I moved from HES to HIS, I could see the runway of what we could do, both when I was there initially and what we could grow into. I was able to work as I saw fit and add value to the organization—and the fact that Heritage enables me to work in such a way—it all just kind of clicked. And that’s continued to evolve over time, because the term sustainability evolves every day, and it’s an exciting time to be in this industry. We’re talking about the course of a few years, but I would say sometime around 2015, 2016, I was like “okay—this is where I want to be.”

 

What does it mean to you to be part of a family business?

 

A lot of companies will say, “we’re a big family,” but everything I’ve seen here proves that leadership truly lives out that mantra. I met my boss now, Peter Lux, when I was going through CCI and getting exposed to THG; again, this company provided me that just because I worked for it and was vocal about where I wanted to go within The Heritage Group. Getting to know Peter and work with him, and now directly working for him, it was the same mentality. Whether I’m sitting in my office, with our team, or I’m having that exposure to a higher level, the feeling is always the same.

We’re given access to capital and resources and things that a very large organization typically has access to, but there’s always that personal feel to the interactions with our leadership—in how they empower us to manage and to make our own decisions. Not all companies will afford you that autonomy, and I think that has a lot to do with this organization having that family ownership and mentality.

–

Shaun with his family

Do you feel like that also affects the way you interact with customers or clients?

 

I think so. I think this is an empathy-minded organization, and I try to lead with that. When you have that servant leadership attitude, doors open, it shows your customers that you care, it affords you business retention and trust. The culture here definitely affects how I do business. Not only that, but this company gives me the opportunity to investigate new things.

 

My work style over time is taking every opportunity I see to invest in others. That’s been engrained in me in large part due to this organization and the way they’ve treated me. I try to pay that forward to my employees, my colleagues, my leadership, my customers, my suppliers, and it bleeds over into your personal life, too. When you see that, and you see the benefit of it, you lead with that. It’s about touching as many lives as possible and impacting others in a positive way. There’s always the chance that it could come back around—you never know. It builds relationships and trust, and it’s good business, too.

–

Where does your passion for sustainability come from?

 

I fell into sustainability. It just kind of happened, and before I knew it, I was in deep. I realized how much I liked it, and it’s such a broad term today. But to me, sustainability is not just about waste. It’s about time, equipment, people and labor. It’s about opportunity and attitude. Sustainability, to me, is so much of elongating the things in life that we will inevitably need indefinitely in so many different ways. That’s why I like where we’re at now. A couple years ago, it was all about supporting zero waste to landfill, and then simply zero waste—now it’s bringing in carbon neutrality. I have a call coming up with one of our customers to support zero water discharge, and my colleague is working on industrial hygiene for other customers and compressed air efficiencies and water balancing for another. It’s such a spiral of potential in the term sustainability. And it’s not all about hugging trees—it goes so much more beyond that. It’s a discipline.

–

Shaun with his team

What’s your advice to someone who is at the same place that you were when you graduated college, looking for an opportunity?

–

One of the scariest things in the world is to be vulnerable, but my best advice to my younger self and to anyone in that position is to stay humble and vulnerable. It’s a nice way of saying, “ask stupid questions.” And there aren’t really any out there, which I know is a cliché, but you can’t shrink into yourself. You have to find ways to get out of your comfort zone. I’m not a great public speaker—I mean I can speak to my customers, to my team, but even in a Teams call, if there’s 80 people, or in a huge venue, I get a little squirrely. So what I’ve done is found situations to intentionally put myself out there, and know that I was going to look silly, but convincing yourself that it’s okay, is probably the hardest part. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know it, and at some point, you won’t be as good at your job for not knowing. Read, research, learn. I hope that when I’m at retirement age, I’m still looking for ways to learn, and it’s only going to benefit you. It’s never a waste of time.

 

Right now, what is exciting to you in this moment of your career?

 

Over the last five years, we doubled in size. We invested heavily in people, and in training—KPIs, too. Another interesting aspect between the public and private sector is that we have the ability to integrate, measure, grade and improve, so we focused on our metrics so that we could maintain scalable, rapid growth. We also invested in our people so that we have the right folks in the right positions, and it set us up for where we are today. Our fiscal year just ended—another record year, and our growth rate is ridiculous, and we’re prepared for it now.

 

We’ve been working within sustainability since 2000, and the evolution of sustainability over the last 20+ years has been phenomenal, and volatile in another way, and opportunistic. Now we’re here, and I’m watching The Heritage Group through Techstars, Heritage Sustainability Investments, all these different elements and the ability to access all those resources— it’s all growing. It’s an exciting time to be here because I’m not exactly sure where we’re going to go, but I know it’s going to be great.

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A Place in the Honor Fleet

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

Pictured: Teresa Wade (left) and Joanne Jones at a Wreaths Across America educational event.

For Heritage Transport truck drivers, hauling loads across the country is nothing new. For the past five Decembers, select Heritage drivers have carried a special load: thousands of wreaths to be laid on veterans’ graves across the country.

A Heritage Environmental Services truck ready to haul wreaths across the United States.

Wreaths Across America began in 1992 with a mission: To remember veterans, honor those who serve and teach future generations the value of freedom. In 2016, Heritage Transport sent two trucks to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Joliet, Illinois, a meaningful site for members of the Heritage family whose loved ones are buried there.

“Most everyone has a veteran in their life, and this is our way of saying thank you for the freedom that we have today,” said Teresa Wade, Asset Management Coordinator at Heritage Environmental Services. “It touches my heart because my husband is retired military, so this is a big part of my life.” Wade comes from a family of servicepeople, including her father, nephews and twin brother. The Heritage Group is proudly home to hundreds of veterans, including Fred Fehsenfeld, Sr., former CEO and the second in The Heritage Group’s four generations of family leadership.

“The motto of Wreaths across America is to remember, honor and teach. We’re remembering the soldiers and honoring them, and teaching our children the importance of our freedom.” – Teresa Wade, Asset Management Coordinator at HES

Teresa Wade demonstrates placing a wreath at a Wreaths across America educational event.

Although the initiative is nation-wide, Heritage’s involvement hits close to home. Each year, more employees get involved, not only by donating to purchase wreaths but by volunteering to lay them in their local cemeteries. This year, seven HES locations will be laying wreaths, including those near Toledo Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Ohio and National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in western Pennsylvania, where active Heritage managers were called to serve overseas. Employees from all over the company’s 26 locations have donated, and Indianapolis locations have hosted various fundraising events throughout the years. “This is our goal: to one day have donated as many wreaths as we transport,” said Joanne Jones, HES’s Sustainability Leader.

The drive itself, spanning from Columbia Falls, Maine, to one of 2,500 national cemeteries, is an honor shared by nine Heritage drivers so far. “It’s a privilege for the drives to haul the loads. You have a lot of drivers that request it,” said Jones.

“We let our veterans volunteer first, and then we have a lot of drivers that aren’t veterans, but their family members are. They want to do their part—they’re really big supporters. So they also had the opportunity to go,” added Wade.

“We like to honor our veterans, and include them, and show them that we care.” – Joanne Jones, Sustainability Director at HES

Members of the Heritage family salute fallen veterans.

National Wreaths Across America Day—a Saturday in December when tens of thousands of volunteers lay wreaths in cemeteries across the nation—has become a Heritage family affair. This year, Jones, Wade and their families will be traveling to Arlington to volunteer, where they’ll join military parent and HES Senior Vice President Angie Martin and her husband.

“We all really care about this charity and so many people—everyone that donates, everyone that lays wreaths—has a story to tell about their family, and that’s why they continue to support it. That goes to the whole Heritage family culture that we have, and family values,” Jones said. “I’m just proud to belong to a company that is so supportive of this cause,” Wade added. “It just means so much to me.”

To donate to HES’s Wreaths Across America page by sponsoring a wreath, visit https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/social/IN0127-HeritageEnvironmentalServices?Sid=166306|14720|0|1.

To read about two of The Heritage Group’s veterans, visit https://thgrp.com/a-reunion-to-remember/.

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A Reunion to Remember

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

pictured: Kris Grandlinard (left) and Chuck Myers at US Aggregates’ Portland, Indiana location

On November 11 and every day, we want to thank our more than hundreds of veterans in the Heritage family for your service. To celebrate Veterans Day, enjoy this story of two veterans who reconnected at US Aggregates after serving together over 30 years ago.

Kris Grandlinard

Kris Grandlinard joined the armed forces in 1986, following in the footsteps of World War II veterans in his family. “I felt a duty to honor them and to serve my country,” Kris said. A recruiter’s call for special volunteers set him on a course to Arlington to join a special unit called the 3rd Infantry, also known as the Old Guard. Since 1784, the Old Guard has performed ceremonies and attended to dignitaries and diplomatic events in Washington, DC.

In preparation for joining the Old Guard in Fort Myer, VA, Kris went through more than just basic training. “My company wore period uniforms of the Revolutionary War,” he said, “and we had to polish the buttons ourselves.” The precision and attention to detail instilled in the recruits was essential to their performance not only as soldiers, but as leaders of ceremony.

The Old Guard performs in the Spirit of America pageant

While Kris would lead burials at Arlington and escort government officials, his unit also performed in the Spirit of America, the largest military pageant in the US Army. In the pageant, the Old Guard would reenact historic battles in authentic uniforms while carrying and firing real firearms.

“It helped that the lights were only on the floor and you didn’t see the crowd, but you knew they were there,” Kris said. If he could have seen into the sound booth during his first Spirit of America in 1986, he would have noticed Chuck Myers, who would become his coworker decades later.

Chuck Myers

Chuck’s career ambitions in voice work led him to the military. “In high school, I was terrified to speak in front of people, so I had to learn really fast to overcome that,” he said. After earning a degree in broadcasting, he decided to further his education by joining the armed forces. Like Kris, Chuck was recruited to join the Old Guard; after an audition, he got orders to train in preparation for serving at Arlington.

From 1984-86, Chuck worked at Arlington National Cemetery, issuing periodic announcements. His duties also led him to become “the voice of the Old Guard”—the narrator of the Spirit of America pageant.

Chuck’s last Spirit of America performance was in 1986, the same year that Kris began his tenure with the Old Guard. Both men—one on stage and one narrating from the sound booth—would end up in eastern Indiana decades later, both working for US Aggregates.

Alpha Company

After four years in the army, Kris decided to return to agriculture on his family’s farm. Having grown up across from a stone quarry, he met the owners and mentioned he was looking for a job. In 1990, he started at US Agg’s Linn Grove, Indiana location.

Chuck came back from the military and began working in construction with his brother-in-law. He transitioned to factory work, and then to his current job as a Plant Clerk at US Agg’s Portland, Indiana location. He continues to do radio, voiceover and narration work in his own time.

“I take great pride in being able to serve my people and our country. I just wanted to give back after what this great nation has given me,” Kris said, referring to the gravity of his work in the Old Guard’s Alpha Company and its impact on the families of those he helped lay to rest in Arlington.

The Old Guard at a Revolutionary War reenactment

Chuck appreciates the understanding of American history he gained as a member of the Old Guard. “It was a privilege to serve my country. I really enjoy living in this country and I understand the way that it was formed,” he said.

Fast forward to 2019. A US Agg newsletter celebrating the company’s veterans detailed both Kris’s and Chuck’s service histories. “I saw it in the BLAST, and the next time I saw Chuck, I asked him about it and we got to talking,” Kris said. “It was kind of neat that we were both there, even though it was a short period of time because Chuck had moved on in ’86 and I was just getting there.”

“What are the odds of that? Such a small area we live in, a rural area, and ending up at the same place,” Chuck added. Out of all the possible placements for a soldier in 1986, both ended up in the same premiere unit, overlapping for a single performance.

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Heritage Accelerator Alumnus Wins Innovation Showcase (Again)

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

The Heritage Group Accelerator powered by Techstars fuels innovation by giving participating startups face time with mentors from across the Heritage family of companies, access to the Heritage Research Group, and a dedicated accelerator team supporting the entrepreneurs. The latest proof of the program’s value comes from Ateios, which was selected into the inaugural accelerator program in 2019 and received additional funding from HG Ventures. Ateios placed first of 22 startups in the Venture Club of Indiana’s Innovation Showcase, which serves as a state finals event at the NCAA Hall of Champions.

Ateios CEO Rajan Kumar (left) and HG Ventures’ Jonathan Schalliol at the 2021 Innovation Showcase

Ateios aims to enable innovations through ultra-thin, flexible and conformable batteries. Compared to typical coin cell batteries, Ateios’s flexible models are more than five times thinner and deliver up to five times higher energy density. As Ateios brings their product to market, these capabilities promise to help people around the world through improved wearable medical devices.

Their innovative manufacturing process caught the eye of Jonathan Schalliol, Director at HG Ventures, when the company applied to the Accelerator in 2019. “It was clear from the first time meeting Raj [Kumar] that Ateios had great potential and was an ideal fit for our accelerator. Their novel battery technology and a team driven to do whatever what it takes to bring it to market is a winning combination.” The supportive network and partnerships that Ateios’s team built during the Accelerator made the company more competitive. Ateios has since moved from La Jolla, California to Indiana.

Kumar, CEO of Ateios, is not the first Heritage Group Accelerator founder to take home the first-place prize at the Innovation Showcase. In 2020, judges awarded first place to MITO Materials, whose specialty additives are engineered to help manufacturers create lighter and more durable products. Since the Accelerator, founders Haley Marie and Kevin Keith have been named to Forbes’ 2021 30 Under 30 list in the Manufacturing & Industry division.

There’s a good chance that one or more of this year’s Accelerator class will feature in next year’s Innovation Showcase. Until then, the founders will take advantage of the opportunities and connections provided during their 13 weeks at The Center.

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Behind Mentor Madness

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

Pictured: HG Ventures Senior Associate Nida Ansari consults with the Simplifyber team.

As The Heritage Group Accelerator powered by Techstars reaches its midpoint, its 2021 cohort of entrepreneurs have spent over 50 hours connecting with more than 70 mentors from both the Heritage family of companies and the Indianapolis business community. Known as Mentor Madness, these three weeks serve as an opportunity for participating startups to make important connections, practice their pitches and engage in valuable discussions about business strategy.

Startup founders meet at The Center.

Utilizing expertise from 30+ operating companies, mentors from The Heritage Group (THG) provide key insights into their markets and industries. Not only does the 13-week accelerator add value to the entrepreneurs, but mentors are exposed to innovative and disruptive technologies that could revolutionize existing processes.

Any businessperson understands that success does not happen alone. For the founders in the cohort, mentors are a vital resource who also benefit from their participation in the program. Linda Osborn, Director of Analytical Research at Heritage Research Group, states that as a mentor, “not only does this (program) allow me to pay it forward as my great mentors did for me, but it is invigorating to be around these entrepreneurs. The founders sometimes develop innovative ways to meet challenges that we face on a global scale.”

THG and program mentors share in the excitement and take pride in seeing the entrepreneurs adapt to challenges and overcome hurdles. Nida Ansari, Senior Associate at HG Ventures, states that “many of these entrepreneurs have had significant personal challenges before getting here, and we get to know what drives them. THG gives them access to labs, resources and minds that these folks will leverage to change their business in leaps and bounds.” The mentors, many with an entrepreneurial background themselves, share personal experiences that founders can relate to and then apply to their own strategies.

Founders attend Techstars’ Concept to Commerce event.

Basil Merriman, Director of Strategy on THG’s Strategy + Mergers & Acquisitions team, says, “My favorite part of being a Techstars mentor is being around the entrepreneurial energy of the founders.  It’s inspiring to see someone create something from nothing, and you can really feel the passion and vitality when working with the teams.” This same energy carries over into THG, as conversations and experiences with the Techstars cohort encourage critical thinking and spark innovation within the Heritage family of companies. “The mindset that comes with partnering with a company like Techstars forces us to think differently and gives us fresh perspective to further differentiate from the competition,” says Chris Ames, Senior Strategic Manager at Heritage Interactive Services.

Anthony Rogers, VP of Technology and Growth for Retriev (formerly Heritage Battery Recycling), says, “I think THG brings a wealth of commercial, business, and technical experience to the table. THG is able to make connections in ways most venture firms aren’t able to, and I think that adds a lot of value to the Techstars companies.” Participating founders utilize these resources leading up to and beyond the program’s culmination, Demo Day, where each startup pitches at The Center to local investors and THG representatives. While Demo Day is the last step of the Accelerator, it’s only one of the first steps in the mission HG Ventures shares with its Accelerator companies: building the future, together.

With every day bringing new chances for innovation, mentors take pride in working with founders to turn big challenges into even bigger opportunities.

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For HC+M, Breast Cancer Awareness is Year-Round

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

For the month of October, social media followers of Milestone Construction, US Aggregates and Asphalt Materials, Inc., will notice a difference. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, these members of the Heritage family of companies have gone pink for breast cancer. For the individuals behind the campaign, though, awareness of breast cancer’s impact isn’t confined to just one month.

Heritage Construction + Materials (HC+M) has been raising awareness about breast cancer for years. The aim of the annual campaign is to promote increased screening and early detection—the best ways to mitigate a cancer diagnosis. According to Cancer.net, an estimated 333,490 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, including members of the Heritage family. Three Heritage employees who have been affected by breast cancer share their stories:

Katrina LiMandri, Director of Marketing at Asphalt Materials, Inc.

Kat with her mom Maria, aunt Frances Burgos and daughters Emryn and Auri

“My mom is my best friend, the eldest of her sisters, and a pillar that holds up our big Italian family. When the Big C diagnosis came for my mom a few years back, it was really scary for all of us. She was told by a doctor that she wasn’t old enough to get tested, but she knew in her gut that there was something wrong. She advocated for herself and got a second opinion. Luckily, we were able to catch it before it became much worse. After the cancer was removed, we’ve been blessed so far that it hasn’t returned.

“Breast cancer has affected my family pretty heavily. Not only is my mom a survivor, but just last year my aunt found out she had breast cancer and needed a double mastectomy. Because it runs in my family now, they all make sure to go get a mammogram every year and advocate for their health.

“I’m proud to be inspired and influenced by the strong women in my family. I encourage others to get tested regularly. You don’t need to have symptoms, or have it run in your family to get breast cancer.”

Kierstin Janik, Chief Talent Officer at HC+M

Janik (left) with her mom during their travels to Mount Lemmon in Tuscon, AZ

“My mom has been fighting breast cancer for 15-16 months now.  It’s a tough battle physically and mentally – COVID concerns, social restrictions and challenges within the medical field related to COVID have made it even more difficult!

“My mom was diagnosed with cancer in June 2020 after she felt a lump bothering her while doing some work in the yard. She has completed three different chemo treatments (A, C and T chemo rounds) plus surgery and radiation since then. Unfortunately, at what was to be her last appointment in March, she was delivered some gut punching news – she needed more treatments. She’s completed 8 of 14 treatment rounds since then and is hoping to be not only done with treatments by early next year, but to be cancer free!”

“[My mom is] a tough lady and has kept a positive attitude through it all. She’s been my role model my entire life and I am amazed at how she’s handled this challenging situation.”

Kathy Rice, Compliance Specialist, HC+M

“When I found out I had cancer, the oncologist said that five years before my diagnosis, I would have had a 50/50 chance. With the progress the cure made in a matter of a few years, the survival rate was 85%. I fought like mad with a positive attitude and faith in God. The large tumor disappeared during the first 12 weeks of chemo, which was kind of a miracle, so prayers work. I still had smaller tumors and needed the surgery anyway.

Kathy Rice

“I still remember the oncologist surgeon really skipping down the hall after giving me the good news after surgery: nothing spread and I wasn’t in remission, but cancer free. God blessed the doctor with positive news as it has to be hard to deal with cancer patients who may not have the outcome I had. I was an unusual case, they said. I’m now four years cancer free. God still wants me to do more work on Earth.  I figure one reason is to bug and hug my grandsons!

“I’m thankful that Heritage is scheduling the St. Vincent mobile unit for mammograms. It’s convenient for employees—in and out quick. That’s how I found out in 2016. I would have gone anyway at the St. Vincent Breast Center but to have the mobile unit at the Wellness Center just made it so easy. Employees should take advantage when the opportunity is there!”

“I wear the US Aggregates breast cancer t-shirt to fight for the cure given to me. The cure for breast cancer has made leaps and bounds over the years.”

 

What can you do to lower your risk factors?

  • Limit your alcohol use. Try to have fewer than 3-4 drinks each week.
  • Exercise moderately for 3-4 hours each week. Moderate exercise is anything that gets your heart rate up to 50-60% higher than its resting rate.
  • Avoid hormone replacement therapy after menopause.
  • If you are pregnant and able, choose to breastfeed.
  • Regular mammograms help doctors find breast cancer early—sometimes up to three years before it can be felt.

Employees participating in a Heritage health insurance plan can access regular free mammograms, which are key to early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Keep an eye on your inbox for messages from our HR Benefits team on upcoming wellness programs.

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Innovate to Accelerate

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

How the Heritage Research Group fuels innovation for Techstars Accelerator startups.

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The Center, Electrified

Those who tuned in to virtual Demo Day, the culmination of the 2020 Heritage Group Accelerator Powered by TechStars, witnessed the final product of the development, strategy and mentoring that went into the 13-week accelerator. Each of the ten founding teams participating—some of whom hailed from as far as the Netherlands—created a five-minute recorded pitch showcasing their startup’s vision, progress and plans for the future. If you just watched the video, you might have missed the months of creative collaboration that laid the foundation for the pitches.

 

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the accelerator produced an “electric” Demo Day, according to Senior Director of HG Ventures Ginger Rothrock. “The environment in the accelerator when it’s full of founders is incredibly active and upbeat,” added Chemistry Research Manager Meghan McLeod of the 13-week process preceding Demo Day. “There’s so much energy. There’s so much excitement.”

Participating founders quickly discover a hidden gem of The Heritage Group (THG) Accelerator: the Heritage Research Group (HRG). When introducing the accelerator in a May 2021 Crowdcast, Nanci Churchill of Techstars touched on this aspect of the program: “The lab that’s on site at The Heritage Group is a world-class facility that allows startup companies to run experiments in cooperation with the HRG lab team, which is phenomenal.”

 

Staffed by a team of experienced chemists and researchers, THG’s in-house research and development laboratory solves some of the biggest business and customer problems among the Heritage family of companies. Their work is behind several innovations that THG harnesses to build a safer, more enriching and sustainable world.

A Dream Team

The process begins with McLeod, whose non-accelerator months are spent overseeing analytical chemistry research for HRG. McLeod acts as a liaison between HRG and the startups involved in the accelerator. “[When] all the companies come in, I have one-on-one meetings with them, and I identify product characterization, development, and pilot opportunities that we can work on during the program,” she described. After this initial meeting, McLeod assesses the tools at her disposal, including those on-premise at HRG facilities (all of which are accessible to accelerator startups). After identifying an expert in the area in question, McLeod assembles a team of researchers to address the startup’s unique issue.

 

The Work Begins

In the case of Mobile Fluid Recovery (MFR), a startup dedicated to the cleaning and reuse of industrial waste streams, the collaboration with HRG took about a month from start to finish. CEO Justin Edmondson described the root of the challenge in his Demo Day pitch as “unlock[ing] the liquids from the solids in the waste stream.”

 

“The waste stream he had was too high in sulfur for resale,” said McLeod, describing high-iron metal fines with resale potential. “Justin already had that in mind, and when we met, that was something he identified as a particular problem the research group could help with.”

 

To resell the metal fines, MFR had to satisfy requirements for sulfur content by removing that element from the waste stream. HRG’s chemists rose to the challenge, taking a sample of metal fines and performing elemental analysis. “We helped him both quantify and type the sulfur, and then come up with an approach to remove it [from the waste stream],” McLeod said. The process evolved to a point where Edmonson’s team could perform it in their own facilities, opening MFR’s services to valuable new customers and, potentially, a new market.

 

“Industrial waste stream management is about a $60 billion industry. We recycle only about 30% of all waste streams today,” said Rothrock, “but the EPA believes about 75% of the waste streams are recyclable. MFR is unlocking the value of waste streams that are not currently recycled… and now, thanks to our research group, [Edmondson] has a solution that adds value to the company and his customer base.”

 

This waste stream innovation also underscores an essential tenet of THG’s mission: sustainability. By reusing the de-sulfured metal fines rather than disposing of them, MFR contributes to the circular economy by eliminating waste and making the most of available resources.

From the Ground Up

Some Accelerator projects have a much longer scope. Sunthetics, a startup that aims to make the development of new molecules more sustainable, harnessed HRG’s resources and brainpower to develop their pilot product: an electron reactor that enables organic synthesis.

 

“Sunthetics was developing new hardware, and we were the first pilot users of the product. So as you can imagine, there was a lot of trial and error in the lab and collaboration with the founders to get to a functional prototype,” said Rothrock.

 

The reactor, which uses electricity to produce a small-scale chemical, is paired with machine learning software, which predicts the most efficient conditions for reactions. Configuring the reactions was just the beginning.

 

“We had a lot more optimization and work that had to go into understanding the system,” said McLeod, who brought together a large team of researchers to work with Sunthetics. “Myself and one other chemist were working with the hardware to perform the reactions, and then we had another part of the team doing the chemical analysis and method development.”

 

The outcome of the accelerator for Sunthetics was an effective, repeatable framework for testing reactions. “We can run the Sunthetics system and demonstrate improvements in efficiency over multiple tests,” said McLeod. “That was a significant outcome for the Sunthetics team.”

 

A Vision Realized

For accelerator startups, the benefits of working with HRG extend far beyond the doors of The Center. For participating startup Pretred, the accelerator served as the perfect place to brainstorm. Working to mitigate the environmental impact of tire waste, founder Eric Davis envisioned road barriers made of recycled tires. “There’s got to be something we can make out of it,” he said in a Techstars Crowdcast of the tire and plastic waste occupying a local river. “It’s high volume and potentially high value.”

 

“We have members of the HRG team who have previously worked in related industries — tire, rubber, resins, all the different components that he was using — so he found a knowledgeable resource in simply having access to those people, brainstorming ideas, [and] talking about his process,” said McLeod.

 

One such team member is Research Engineer Dennis Justice. “The wide range of product and process assignments we participate in sets us apart from other research groups,” he said. “My knowledge, matured in multiple manufacturing environments, aided Pretred directly in building prototypes and rapid production improvements.”

Dennis Justice with the Pretred team and prototype

Justice aided in identifying materials and processes needed for Davis’s idea to become a reality: six-foot-long, one-ton construction barriers made of over 95% recycled material. With his help on the first manufacturing run, Pretred went from proof of concept to a full-scale product in just two weeks. “Over a short period of time, with limited resources, the Pretred sustainable construction product has gone from an idea on paper to a one-ton reality. The company continues to build on these manufacturing learnings and uses the first set of manufactured products to capture customer interest,” said Rothrock.

 

A year out from the accelerator, Pretred is looking forward to commercial scale manufacturing and product launch as well as addressing alternative waste streams. A seed-round investment of $3 million led by HG Ventures proves Pretred’s potential within the hard tech industry.

 

Justin Edmonds, founder and CEO of MFR, will be deepening his relationship with Heritage Interactive Services. “He’s made strong connections with the business unit and is actively working with them to help solve our customer’s waste problems,” Rothrock said.

 

Currently, the founders of Sunthetics are moving forward with the reaction method pioneered in collaboration with HRG. “That’s actually one of the biggest takeaways: now they have an established method for data analysis to use with targeted customers,” said McLeod.

 

After the Accelerator

Startups leave the Heritage Group Accelerator with 13 weeks’ worth of collaboration, creativity and innovation that translate into an incredible amount of business value. In return, the impact they leave behind is a major motivator for the Heritage family. “I just love that the broader Heritage Group gets exposed to entrepreneurs and their thinking, their energy,” said Rothrock. “It’s electric. It’s awesome.”

 

As the 2021 cohort of startups travels to Indianapolis for their own turn at the accelerator, Rothrock anticipates seeing The Center once again abuzz with the same lively dynamic. McLeod agrees: “There were ten different companies that were in completely different markets, and I got to learn about all of them and be involved in that process,” she said. “Our ability to catapult both their technical and business development is incredibly valuable.”

 

To learn more about the accelerator, visit hgventures.com/hgaccelerator/.

HAHDhAHSDHAHS

Trailblazing Babione Sisters Visit Delphi Quarry

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

For sisters Blair and Brienne Babione, who inspired the Carmel City Council to enforce gender-neutral road signage, summer vacation began with a visit to US Aggregates’ Delphi quarry.

  • Blair and Brienne Babione, sisters from Carmel known for their role in a recent City Council resolution enforcing gender-neutral road signage, were invited by Heritage Construction + Materials to visit US Aggregates’ Delphi quarry.
  • The tour focused on careers in the materials sciences, a booming field where women are historically underrepresented.
  • The girls’ father, John Babione, began his own career at Heritage Environmental Services after he graduated from college.

Brienne and Blair pose in front of one of US Aggregates’ wheel loaders.

Over the course of winter 2020, Blair and Brienne Babione noticed “Men Working” signs in their Carmel, Indiana, neighborhood. The girls, who had seen women on road work crews before, questioned the wording on the sign.

“We thought it was unfair to girls because it said, ‘Men Working’, and some girls want to do construction,” said Brienne, 9.

The sisters had reason to challenge the gender-specific language they saw. According to the National Association of Women in Construction, women make up almost 10% of the construction industry. The signs, placed around the City of Carmel by a contractor, were in violation of the 1988 Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which has prohibited “Men Working” signage in favor of more specific pictograms like a flag or human figure. After questioning the signage, Brienne and her sister Blair, 11, researched the history of the sign with the help of their mother, Leslie Babione. They found out that the MUTCD phased out the use of Men Working signs decades ago. The girls then decided to write letters to the Carmel City Council advocating for the signs to be removed. Those letters spurred City Council President Sue Finkam to introduce a resolution enforcing the MUTCD regulations.

Brienne Babione selects fossils as Bill Corbett explains how they are formed.

“’Men Working’ or ‘Men At Work’ signage communicates the false and unacceptable message that women cannot or should not work in the construction trades or other related fields,” the resolution reads.

Thanks to the actions of Blair and Brienne, the resolution was passed. Soon, the story went viral as a source of inspiration during the COVID-19 pandemic, garnering national news coverage from Good Morning America, USA Today and more.

“I wanted to thank them for using their voices,” said Kierstin Janik, Chief Talent Officer of Heritage Construction + Materials.

Janik, a woman working in the construction industry and a fellow Carmel resident, heard about the girls’ story and decided to reach out.

“As a woman in a male-dominated industry, it’s important to me that I encourage young girls to be interested in what we do. They need to see that there are role models paving the way,” said Janik.

John, Brienne, Blair and Leslie examine a vessel used to heat aggregate samples.

On behalf of HC+M, Janik sent a gift basket to the Babione home with construction-themed toys and treats. She made sure to include a note inviting the girls to visit US Aggregates’ Delphi, Indiana, stone quarry over their summer break.

The sisters were on board. Both took an interest in the labeled rocks included in the gift basket, and Blair mentioned her interest in a career in geology. Brienne, a collector of rocks and shells, who had to miss her third-grade field trip to a rock quarry because of the pandemic, was thrilled to make the visit. With clear skies in the forecast, June 4 was the perfect day to visit.

The girls and their parents were met by Bill Corbett, Plant Manager at the Delphi quarry. Corbett modified his typical tour to introduce the girls to aspects of a career in the material sciences. The tour began at the on-site lab, where the Babione family learned how various products were monitored for quality. The girls got to meet Serena Cade, Quality Control Technician for US Aggregates, who was working on drying and testing samples during the tour.

Kierstin Janik and John Babione listen to Plant Manager Bill Corbett in the quarry while Brienne and Blair hunt for rocks.

“Gender has nothing to do with how successful someone may become,” Cade later said. “If you want it, go and get it. Nothing is stopping you.”

Corbett took the family through the quarry, answering questions like “Why are the rocks shiny?” and “How does the front loader run?” Surrounded by machinery, piles of fossils and a shockingly clear blue lake, the Babione sisters learned all about careers in the construction industry.

Exposing more young girls to construction and the materials sciences can help drive female participation in those industries. As of 2018, 971,000 women were employed in the construction sector. Contrasted with the number of men in the industry (which is 10 times higher), it’s clear that there’s still a “concrete ceiling” to be shattered. So how can the construction industry address it?

According to Corbett, it’s investing in young talent like Blair and Brienne.

“When kids come to the quarry, we really focus on encouraging them. Kids have a natural curiosity about this stuff that can turn into careers for them when they grow up.”

Blair and Brienne scale a wheel loader.

US Aggregates has partnered with various local organizations to promote awareness of construction careers and passion for material sciences. Groups of students from local schools regularly visit US Aggregates quarries for tours focusing on technical career skills and operations (students from Area 30 recently visited the Cloverdale location). Building a safer, more enriching and sustainable world means having women in the industries that make our world work — and the Babione sisters agree.

“If people don’t speak up, then it won’t change,” Blair said.

Organizations like NAWIC and Women of Asphalt aim to empower women in the construction industry and recruit the next generation of female construction professionals. Members of the Heritage family seek to do the same through educational initiatives like Kids Science Camp, which took place virtually in July 2021.

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Janik and Corbett show off one of US Aggregates’ material handlers.

“Our community outreach and youth engagement are really important for showing young girls (and any young person) that our construction and materials industry not only exists, but it’s interesting and could be a viable career for them,” said Janik. “We, as a company and industry, have to embrace the change in talent pool demographics and be diligent about the signals we are sending about inclusion.”

Blair and Brienne’s father, John Babione, is one of the many professionals who began their career as members of the Heritage family; when he graduated from college, Babione started working at Heritage Environmental Services in Indianapolis. His daughters’ interest in the materials sciences reminded him of the beginnings of his own career.

“I was inspired by all the very bright people working at HES and the innovative solutions they were working on to help customers responsibly manage industrial waste,” he said. “Working there made me want to obtain an advanced degree, which led me to attend law school.”

John, Leslie, Blair and Brienne Babione pose in front of the lake at the Delphi quarry.

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Babione looks back fondly on his time with the Heritage Family from his career in law.

“I was amazed at becoming reconnected to the Heritage Group all these years later through my children,” Babione added. “It shows me that the great company I worked for years ago continues to be a leader in the community.”

What’s next for the Babione sisters? A career in geology could be in store for Blair, whose favorite part of the quarry tour was exploring the machinery used to load and transport aggregates. Her younger sister Brienne aspires to be a veterinarian. But first, the girls look forward to a summer vacation full of dance lessons, 4-H projects and library books on one of their favorite subjects: women’s history and the suffrage movement.

HAHDhAHSDHAHS

Trucking that Delivers

Posted on by Amelia Yeager

Heritage Transport truck driver Beth Manns on what drives her. 

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Beth Manns started her workday at 3:30 a.m., but at the end of her 14-hour shift, she still walks into the breakroom with a smile on her face.

From being a rail driver to hauling oil, Manns has 28 years of trucking experience. No job ranks as high on her list as her current role: Truck driver for Heritage Transport. We caught up with Manns after a shift to get a glimpse of life behind the windshield.

“This is absolutely my favorite job ever — not because everything’s perfect, but because we’re trying to make everything perfect, and that’s what I like.”

What does the average day as a truck driver look like?

We’re allowed to run 14 hours in a day, and that’s all your time included from driving 11 hours and then three hours of fluff time. Mine’s usually pretty much on that — a lot of it is windshield time. Some of it is loading, which can be very physical because we load hoses and load product through the hose.

 

What gets you out of bed every morning?

My kids. I love to provide for them and make sure they have everything that I can give them, but I also like to set an example for being someone who shows up for work and is dependable. I want to pass that on to them. I want the next generation to know that matters.

 

How does your job connect to the rest of THG?

I’m part of a team. I’m not the biggest part, but I’m an important part. Everyone has a role to play here. I need dispatch, and I need management to help the dispatch flow easily; they need me to get out there and do my job so that they’re covered too. And my customers — they really depend on me being there, so we all try to work together to make it happen.

Beth’s lingo

  • CDL: commercial driver’s license, for operating large, heavy or hazardous material vehicles
  • Dispatch: behind-the-scenes support, helping truckers
  • Doubles: certification for pulling two trailers
  • Fluff time: time not driving the truck
  • Tanker: used for transporting liquids or gasses
  • Triples: certification for pulling three trailers
  • Windshield time: time driving the truck

What makes you most proud to work for Heritage?

I’m helping clean the environment. We take care of stuff that others want to get rid of. And we’re trying to return to the earth something valuable rather than destroy it. That’s why I love working here. As far as Heritage is concerned, because of where we are in the lineup of products, we’re at the end. We’re last, but we’re first at the same time because we finish well. We do the job right.

 

What is a truck driver stereotype you’d like to challenge?

For one, I shower every day at least twice (laughs), and another is that some of us are educated. I think that a lot of people get the impression that you become a truck driver because you didn’t have anything else to do. I went to college, and lot of us do have some education. We’re not all just steering wheel holders. We do a hard job out here, and there’s a lot of high stress. People don’t realize that the equipment we are pulling does not just stop on a dime.

What it takes to get behind the wheel:

  • CDL with vehicle inspection and driving test renewed every 4 years
  • Class A Hazmat endorsement renewed every 4 years
  • Roughly 20-30 safety training hours per year

What’s one value you always embrace inside and outside of your job?

Honesty. I like to be an honest person, and sometimes that means saying ‘no’ to things that I’m not capable of doing. That’s hard for me because I’m really a go-getter. At the end of the day, what we leave behind are footprints that someone else is going to follow, and if we’re way off somewhere, they’re going to be off, too.

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How does safety play a role in your career?

In this job it’s particularly important. We’ve had a lot of training, so it really sticks in your mind that it’s not just to do a good job for the company, but it’s to make sure I can come back tomorrow and take care of my health and my family. If I want to go home, I need to be very prepared—go above and beyond.

 

What would you tell anyone who is considering becoming a truck driver?

Get your training and get every endorsement possible because you never know how it’s going to work for you. I have a school bus license, passenger, triples, doubles, tanker, hazmat, everything. And any training that you can take that will advance you, take it. Don’t just test the water; get in and cover yourself in it.

Could a career like Beth’s be in your future? Check out job openings at Heritage Environmental Services and apply today!