Jake Mahan

Growing up on a large cattle farm enabled me to develop a strong work ethic from a young age, and also kept me working in an environment that allowed me to craft skills useful in a variety of situations. Throughout middle school and high school, work was not something I was afraid of. I was responsible for tending to a herd of angus cattle, anywhere from 150-200 head depending on the year. Responsibilities that included feeding everyday, maintenance on farm equipment from hay season to grain season and all the tractors we kept in service. Basic structural carpenter work was required when building fence and fixing damage inside the barns after selling out calves in the spring. Currently I work alongside my brother to bridge the gap for me as I search for a career.

At Tri State, we specialized in deep drilled shaft foundations, particularly in the transmission powerline field. As a lead groundman, my main responsibilities were to ensure that proper procedures are being followed by all laborers on the ground. With many moving parts in the process, it's crucial that everything is done within certain specs and guidelines to ensure a quality finished product, and to maintain a safe and pleasant jobsite.

The Parks Drilling Company specialized in all types of drilled shaft foundations for bridges, large buildings in unstable ground, and ground stabilization for other structures such as roads or highways, and also transmission/distribution powerlines. My role with this company focused on the powerline field, that is where I developed the most interest and skill so that is where I stayed during my time here. My role as a groundman was to setup proper rigging for crane picks, maintain a preventative maintenance routine on all equipment and tooling such as large drilling bits varying from core barrels of sizes from 24 inches up to 8 feet in diameter, augers of similar sizes, excavating equipment and DOT regulated vehicles. As well as preform concrete work after drilling and pouring of the foundation was complete.

The Dollar General Distribution Center had an extensive conveyer system inside the plant, which was around 10 miles in total conveyer length. My role in the maintenance department was to do preventative maintenance on all functions of the systems, from electric motors to belts varying in size, to greasing bearings in rollers on a regular basis. I was also responsible for assisting the lead mechanics in any breakdown scenarios during production hours. It was also a role of mine to keep our shop and work area organized and functional, we had a parts inventory that covered everything in the distribution center down to every last nut and bolt, which required a specific system to keep organized and readily available when needed.