Parting Shot

Erickson staff, including CEO Rich Gallagher (left) and COO Reed Graham (back row, right of center)

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve (center), Reno High teacher Karl Kuhles (right) and his students in the STEM-based Project Lead the Way program, cut the ribbon to open the High Desert Truss and Lumber plant. 

A Grand Welcome for High Desert

The day started with plant tours and ended with a ribbon-cutting. Lane Fitzmorris, general manager of Erickson Companies’ Nevada Division, took homebuilders through the brand new High Desert Truss and Lumber facility throughout the day. Erickson CEO Rich Gallagher gave a personal tour to CEO of the Nevada Builders Alliance Aaron West and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

Mayor Schieve was happy to be joined by participants of Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a program within the Reno High School system sponsored by Erickson. “PLTW is a structured STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] curriculum that provides transformative learning experiences for students and teachers across the U.S. They create an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive,” explained Erickson COO Reed Graham.

Mayor Schieve “is a graduate from Reno High School,” Graham added. “The Mayor certainly had a soft spot in her heart for the Reno HS students, so she brought them up with her to help cut the ribbon!” They also helped her read out a proclamation, naming September 5 Erickson Construction Day in the City of Reno.

Other notable attendees of the day’s festivities included representatives of the project management and building groups responsible for building the new component plant (“Great group of guys!” said Graham) and Bill Quenga, a representative of Silver State Industries (SSI), the organization that manages inmate labor programs in Nevada. Erickson plans to partner with SSI following the success they’ve had partnering with a similar program to add staffing to their wall panel production line in Arizona. Watch for the full story of that program in a future issue of SBC Magazine.