Specialty Minerals Cites Housing, Schools as Obstacles to Recruitment
Specialty Minerals' Douglas Mayger, left, and Kyle Ledbetter take a question from a citizen on Wednesday night following a presentation to the Board of Selectmen.
Two critical areas in recruiting those workers is schools and affordable housing, Douglas Mayger, operations manager, told the Selectmen on Wednesday night.
"We're moving a lot of people into Adams and so I've got at least 13 new management employees," he said. "Every one of them that are coming in are asking about things like schools, affordable housing."
Mayger, who will be one of the retirees, said the company pays "pretty good" wages but it's been hard for new workers to find affordable housing prices in Adams and the surrounding area.
It's a problem he acknowledged that is shared by numerous employees in the region.
"I talked to a lot of business, and it's a difficult area around people and how to attract talent," he said. "But it's made easier with good schools."
Specialty Minerals has about 115 employees and a payroll of $11 million, making it an significant employer in the community.
But, he said, the makeup of the workforce has changed since in recent years as children are less likely to follow their parents into the same employment.
"We've been fortunate over the years to have a lot of local talent, first, second or third generations," Mayger said, later adding, "It's not that way anymore."
Now it's looking outside Adams to fill positions, with three more recent hires from Mexico and another from central Africa.
"We're bringing in a lot of talent that typically we would have had here locally, but we've had to go pretty far outside of the regions," Mayger said, noting that the worker may like the wages but their family may be less willing to move. "But it's made easier with good schools."
"What I would leave you with is this — help us to find affordable housing and help us to find and improve the schools," he said.
Specialty Minerals has been partnering with McCann Technical School in North Adams and Chair Christine Hoyt suggested Mayger reach out to Hoosac Valley High School, noting the school is implementing new career pathways, including engineering.
Specialty Minerals replaced Pfizer as the operator in 1992 but the limestone mine dates back to 1848. The quarry covers about 1,400 acres in Adams and North Adams and produces about 80,000 tons of lime a year for construction and industrial uses
Another 250,000 tons a year of ground calcium carbonate is sold for masonry, building projects, agricultural and environmental uses. Another product, precipitated calcium carbonate, is used in finishes such as automobile paint.
Kyle LedBetter, environmental health and safety manager, spoke to the safety at the plant, which has gone 294 days without an injury and 894 since an injury resulted in lost time.
"So considering we're around heavy equipment, a lot of people, a lot of moving parts, non routine work, that's a record that we're very proud of," he said. "We were recognized last year for 2022 for not having any lost time."
One environmental project that is coming to fruition is a minerals management landfill.
"It's the first step to reclaiming the quarry and restoring that original ecosystem," Ledbetter said. "So it's an area that we've already mined ... it involves a lot of hydroseeding and a lot of planting native plants and just bringing back the bird population."
Another initiative is the use of the FilterSense, an emission monitoring system, which aids workers in reducing dust emissions, a frequent complaint of neighbors.
Hoyt, who lives in the plant's neighborhood, said she had noticed less dust this year and fewer complaints directed to the board.
Operators are also using strobe lights at night as truck backup warnings rather than the "beep beep" so as not to intrude on neighbors' sleep.
The plant's also investing in sustainability, including reducing its water intake and discharge by about 17 percent and is aggressively pursuing buyers for its co-product waste.
"So a lot going on at the plant, a lot of action, and we believe we're doing it in a safe and environmentally friendly way," said Ledbetter.
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