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In 2004, Brent Powell was in his early 20s leading a crew on a traveling construction team. Prince Metal Stampings had just opened its doors with a handful of employees, but the prospect of joining this new enterprise was enticing to Brent. Unfamiliar with metal stamping and new to manufacturing, Brent joined Prince as a general associate. His first responsibility was packing parts as they came off the line.
Brent thrived in this new environment. He was soon trained as a press operator. Later he became an area manager and then a senior area manager. In 2016, he was promoted to plant superintendent with the responsibility of ensuring everyone in the plant stays safe, on schedule and keeps quality top of mind.
Brent credits his longevity with Prince to the relationships he’s built.
“We all have to think about money, so being able to advance inside Prince has certainly played a part,” said Brent. “But sometimes you find a job that feels like home, and that’s where you want to stay.”
A Monday through Friday work week has certainly been a plus for Brent as well. Those of us that work alongside Brent know him as a trusted co-worker. But on weekends, Brent is more of a speedster – traveling the Southeast racking up trophies as a successful go cart driver.
Brent and his wife Melinda live in Ohatchee. They have two children, Alexis (26) and Justin (17), and are expecting their first grandchild in 2022.
Alyssa Williams
Our employee spotlight for the 1st quarter of 2024 at Plants 1&2 is Alyssa Williams. Alyssa began working with Prince Metal Stampings in October of 2022 and has served Plants 1&2 very well in the HR Clerk role.
Alyssa is a graduate of Weaver High School and still resides in that area. She has been married since 2019 and she and her husband have three children – Karter (7), Kreed (3), and Kamryn (1), along with one golden doodle named Millie. Alyssa attended JSU on a leadership scholarship where she gained her basic studies and when it became time to declare a major Alyssa was encouraged to pursue HR by a previous employer. She has now re-enrolled in JSU and will complete her degree in less than 2 years. She genuinely enjoys making real connections at work with her coworkers/employees and enjoying helping them in any way, even if it is just a listening ear or answering a question. One of the projects that Alyssa works on every year is our fundraising at Plants 1&2. Last year she was able to raise over $2k for contributions for Christmas fundraisers for the company!
The focus that Alyssa has is her dedication to her employees who she encourages to always ask if they are unsure of something, that there is no such thing as a silly question, and she is most proud to see the success stories of previous coworkers/employees. Alyssa knows that HR is so much more than paperwork and sitting at a desk. She is there for her employees that are struggling with things at work/home and it’s important that employees trust her enough to share. HR is constantly trying to come up with new ways or ideas to support them and at the end of the day she wants her coworkers/employees to know that she genuinely cares about them and what is going on in their lives.
Alyssa stays busy with her children and when she has free time she enjoys reading and watching movies/tv. She also loves the beach! Her goal is to finish her college courses and obtain her bachelor’s degree in human resource management. Her work philosophy is “to treat everyone how I want to be treated and to always remember that you never know what someone is dealing with. Every day my personal goal is to make at least one person smile. It may sound silly to some, but I always want to be a positive difference in someone’s life, not a negative.”
Beth Barron
Our employee spotlight for the 1st quarter of 2024 at Plant 3 is Beth Barron. Beth began working with Prince Metal Stampings in June of 2022 as a Production Associate, then a Material Handler, and is now in the Area Manager role!
Beth grew up in Ardmore, AL and moved to Gadsden, AL in 2019. She began working at Prince Metal Stampings in 2020, shortly after moving to the Gadsden area. Beth has one son, whom she loves dearly, and three beautiful grandchildren that she loves spending time with when she is not at work. She also enjoys CrossFit, shopping, and spending time with her newest granddaughter Paisley Morgan. While at work Beth gives full attention to the job at hand to ensure that she always does her job to the best of her ability.
She believes there is no substitute for a good work ethic and models this to her team here at Prince Metal Stampings expecting them to follow her lead. Beth knows firsthand how Prince Metal Stampings offers excellent promotional opportunities to those who put forth their best efforts. Beth is most proud of her accomplishment of becoming an Area Manager. She has also received employee of the month twice, many certifications from her work with the company, and now has been selected as our Plant 3 Employee Spotlight award winner. She strives to always be a better manager and continuously learn and grow in her career.
When you speak with Beth about her job you can see how proud that she is of her accomplishments and of Prince Metal Stampings for giving her the opportunity and for supporting her. Her favorite part about working for Prince Metal Stampings is the opportunity that anyone has for advancement and to grow in their career. Beth’s advice to any new employee is “Don’t be afraid of change, work hard, show that you are willing to learn, and you will move up.”
Plants 1 & 2
April Nixon
Our employee spotlight for the 2nd quarter of 2024 at Plants 1&2 is April Nixon. April began working with Prince Metal Stampings in December of 2019 and serves all three of Prince Metal Stampings plants in the MIS – Network Administrator role exceptionally!
April is a graduate of Boaz High School and still resides in that area. She has been married since 2021 to her high school sweetheart and they have an 8-year-old goldendoodle named Sadie. In her spare time she enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband, hanging out with their dog, and being with family. She loves the beach and would be there all the time if she could!
April attended Snead State Community College with an associates degree in Computer Science, with 2 specialty tracks: Hardware/Software and Graphic Design. She had the opportunity to attend college while in high school and had almost completed her degree when she graduated. She was able to participate in an internship for Graphic Design that helped her to decide that she couldn’t see having that as a career and decided instead to also gain the hardware/software specialty track that she is thankful for.
April has always been drawn to IT work, since it is something different every day, and says that working at Prince has been great! She is in charge of over 120 printers, 150 computers, and a lot of user issues throughout each day that can be hectic, but she reminds herself that she can only do one thing at a time and gets it all done!The goal that April has working in IT is to make sure that users are not ashamed, or reluctant to contact her for assistance. April states; “That’s what I am here for! I understand users are usually contacting me because they are frustrated and I try to help anyway that I can. I enjoy helping users, and solving problems that arise.” In the future April would like to go back to school, and learn more about coding, and all the different programming languages. She would like to be more involved in the M3/Mocha/Shipping side of Prince so that she can be more efficient at giving plant level support to those areas. What April would like for all users to know is that “…there are some things that are out of my control related to IT, and some things are done at a corporate level, that I am waiting for answers, just as some users are.”
Plant 3
Kevin Goodnight
Our employee spotlight for the 2nd quarter of 2024 at Plant 3 is Kevin Goodnight. Kevin began working with Prince Metal Stampings in February of 2010 as a Production Operator, then to Forklift Operator, Shipping Supervisor, and is now our Yard Supervisor.
Kevin loves his children; three boys and one girl and being able to coach them in baseball is what he does in his spare time.
When Kevin started working at Prince he worked in production on a nut welder where he moved to different weld cells and areas to learn as much as he could. He then became a forklift operator and moved to other shifts as he was needed. He was then promoted to shipping supervisor where he has been able to teach new employees about Prince. What he likes most about Prince is the people he works with and that he can help people learn how to do their job the best they can.
Kevin’s goals are to learn as much as possible and to continue to move up in the company. What he would like everyone to know is that his job is not as easy as they think.
