November 2010

ASLRRA Tours A&K's Kansas City Manufacturing Plant

The first week of October Kansas City not only hosted the American Royal Barbecue contest but the American Shortline and Regional Railroad Associations Central/Pacific regional meeting. The ASLRRA is the association that represents one of our largest groups of customers, the class 2 and 3 railroads of North America. They are based in Washington, D.C. and help with regulatory, funding, marketing and represent the interests of this segment of the railroad industry to Congress. A&K has always been a very large supporter of the organization, so it was only natural for A&K to offer our services when the association started looking for locations for the Tuesday afternoon tours.

The Kansas City sales office planned the event and along with the Kansas City Operations group we were able to host quite an event with all the trimmings and Kansas hospitality. The customers were treated to a barbeque lunch served with the help of many of the office staff from the Kansas City Operations group and IHL, as an added bonus each person was given an A&K cowboy hat as they arrived.

The tour that was put together by our illustrious operations group consisted of stops in all the departments highlighting our capabilities in reconditioning, and manufacture of new trackwork components. The fastener division had the new bonded insulated rail joint line running during the tour showing the process and how much attention to detail each step takes ensuring a quality A&K product. Along with the showing of all operating functions, the groups had rows and rows of completed products for customers to view. Each tour was guided by different sales reps from around the central and western region including, Beth Wyatt, Jeff Long, Kurt Maidl, Bob Radinsky, and Jim Huenefeldt. Dan Britten, Karl Renner, Jim Sharp, Greg Cornett, Jose Ortiz, and Pat Reeves from the Operations group were on the tour at different stations to answer technical questions and describe the processes our customers were viewing.

It was a great day for A&K and customers alike. We would like to extend a big thanks to all that made this possible and each and every customer that was able to attend. When you put our great team and our great customers together you are bound to have an event to remember.

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ASLRRA Tours A&K's Kansas City Manufacturing Plant
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Safe Work Reaps Rewards!

RafflesMany of you may have heard the term "Raffles" but may not be certain what it means. Raffles Insurance, Ltd is an insurance group with a basic philosophy: "The mystique and mystery of the insurance industry should be unveiled and the shareholders should not be dictated to by the industry. But conversely, the shareholders should control their insurance destiny."

Raffles was formed in 1985 by nine companies who wanted adequate insurance coverage at affordable rates, which the commercial insurance industry was not providing. Today, there are 287 member companies, but membership does not come easy. A company must be nominated by a current member and prove, among other things, they are financially strong, have a commitment by the management team to safety, and have fewer accidents than the average company in their industry. Morris Kulmer learned of this group through his work within Young Presidents Organization and was a leader in getting A&K nominated and selected as a member in 2002.

A&K has been a model member of this group. In September, Ray Yamasaki attended the Raffles Board of Directors meeting in Banff, Alberta, and accepted a refund check from the group in the amount of $186,000! You see, one of the rewards of membership is that as long as your losses are less than your premiums, you are eligible for a refund of some of the premiums. In addition, nearly all of this refund goes back into A&K's safety program through the annual safety drawing, safety bingo awards, gloves, safety glasses and other PPE.

Thank you for your safe work habits, and let's keep safety as our first thought in everything we do.

Hoberek and Crew Move Cross Country

Just after Labor Day, Harry Hoberek and his crew pulled up their stakes in upper New York and moved to Southern California. Since that time, they've cut brush, pulled spikes, removed bolts, and removed, hauled away and stacked rail over 32 miles. In addition, they've provided oversight on the removal and replacement of over 20 paved road crossings – all while working closely with local government entities to expedite the project.

Most importantly, there have been zero accidents on this project. Thanks to Harry and the crew for their great and safe work!

A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.
Top Performers of September 2011

Scholarship Award

Sara GasserCongratulations to Sara Gasser, this year's A&K Scholarship Award Recipient. Sara is the daughter of Rick Gasser of the Operations group in Kansas City and his wife Rhonda. She graduated this year from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School with a 4.51 (weighted) G.P.A. and had an A.C.T. score of 32. Just a few of the many awards and recognitions she received during high school include: ranked #27 out of 391 students in her graduating class, 4.0 Honor Roll 2006-2010, and 2 year member of National Honor Society.

Part of the scholarship application requests the applicant briefly describe their desire and need for the scholarship fund. What Sara wrote was such a tribute to her father, we wanted to share it:

"Having never gone to college, my father has always emphasized the importance of a college education. Despite his lack of a higher education, he found a career for himself at A&K, and through his hard work is able to support our family. Growing up, my dad has been my role model. With all of the traveling that comes with his job, I have celebrated many birthdays, had many school functions, and accepted many awards, without my dad there. This has never hurt my feelings because every day he sacrifices his time at home by being away, he is working to support our family. He works so hard for me to give me all of the things he never had growing up; one of those things being a college education.

Throughout school, I have worked hard in the hopes of being awarded scholarships to ease the financial burden of a college education. Now having two daughters in college this year, my family is faced with the expenses of two college tuitions. What I want more than anything is to be awarded this scholarship to make my own contribution towards my education, and to thank my father for all the sacrifices he has made to give me the great life I have. Thank you for your consideration."

Sara is now attending Kansas State University. We wish her well in her continued education and in all her future endeavors.

Employee News

When the A&K Health Challenge was announced, Karen Burke (Corporate Headquarters) set a personal goal of walking the full 1900 miles completely by herself. She had already begun a new exercise program in January of this year but because of the health challenge, she doubled her workout time. When the challenge officially wrapped up in September, Karen kept working toward her goal. She continued tracking her activity and reached the 1900 mile mark on Wednesday October 27th. But that is not the end; she continues to do her workout program. She says she feels great and since January has lost 65 pounds! Congratulations Karen!

Snapshot

Halloween CustomJust another day in the Salt Lake Yard office? Well, maybe if it involves Marshane trying to teach Bryan AX they might turn out looking a bit like this. But actually Marshane loves Halloween so Bryan and Robert let her turn them into zombies for the day.

New Faces

Abraham ZwygartWelcome Abraham Zwygart to A&K. He is working at Corporate Headquarters as a Programmer/Analyst. Abraham worked for almost 15 years at SAPA Profiles Inc., in Portland Oregon as a Senior Programmer/ Analyst. The last 5 years were spent working on implementing and enhancing AX.

Abraham and his wife Andrea have been married 27 years and have three boys. Nathan – 25, Jedediah – 22, and Ziggy – 18. Until recently he lived in Washougal Washington – you know the state where everything is green because it rains most of the time. He is happy to be working here at A&K and has moved to Grantsville Utah. He is adjusting to the weather and is anticipating lots of skiing this winter.

Always Moving Forward
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Appreciation

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?" The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.

Sunset

"Joy and gratitude go hand in hand. We are not grateful because
we're happy, rather we're happy because we're grateful."
- Betty Mahalik

A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.
Always Moving Forward

Copyright 2011 A&K Railroad Materials, Inc.