Shelley Lewis

Name: Shelley Lewis

Position: Lead Captain of Assembly Department

Date of Hire: 10/3/90

Other Positions Held / Length of Each: Quality – 12 years; Production Captain – 1 year; Warehouse – 2 years; Assembly Assistant – 4 years; Material Handler – 4 years

Favorite Story / Memory during Time Working at Team 1: Shelley shared a story from when Team 1 Plastics was in the early stages of building its plant. This was during the time that the company was located in the Albion EDC’s Business Incubator. “We were getting ready to build the building. The foundation had been laid, and the steel beams were up. I remember going on a ‘field trip,’ as they liked to call it back then, to go see the place where the plant was going to be and so we could have a little visual of what it was going to look like. They didn’t have the steel framework up yet – it was just the steel beams and the concrete floor. That was it. The owners gave us a piece of paper that asked, ‘If this was your shop, how would you lay out the presses? What would you do with the building?’” Shelley said that this was an example of how, from its earliest history, the owners have always involved the Team Members.

How has Team 1 helped your Personal and/or Professional Development? “I’ve been able to invest in my financial future through the company’s 401K program. Also, I met my husband at Team 1 so that was part of my future as well.” Shelley added that the Freedom to Succeed – one of Team 1’s tenet of its Championship Dream – has greatly impacted her development. “Being able to grow at Team 1 – it’s been like a wide spread Training – being in Assembly for a while, then moving to the Warehouse, and spending many years in Production and Quality.” Shelley said that she is currently content in her position as Lead Captain of Assembly as it is relatively still new to her, but she added, “I’m learning all I can with this position” with an eye to further advancement in the future.

Favorite Aspect of Working at Team 1: “I like working for a small company – knowing everyone. I value the monthly Open Book Meetings that management provides for the Team Members along with the Freedom to Succeed … I can advance up if I want to.”

What do you want to share about your life outside of Team 1? “When I’m not at work, I enjoy camping with my family, and, of course, shopping with my daughter. We tend to go shopping a lot.” Besides her husband, Shelley’s family includes two stepchildren, Megan and Zachary, and a daughter, Kayla.

Piece of Advice and/or Encouragement for Future Team 1 Team Members: “Take advantage of the training that Team 1 provides.” Referring to Team 1’s “In-Training Program” (which allows a Team Member to train for a different position before (s)he decides to accept a job that (s)he has never done before), Shelley said, “That way you can see if you want to be a Captain or in Quality or in the Warehouse before you even have to apply. You can really get ‘hands on’ with the job and see if you like it or not before you even have to apply. It’s almost like test driving a car. You might like the looks of the Camaro, but once you get in it, you may not like the feel of it.”

Random Question: What was your favorite childhood TV show? The Facts of Life