Safety and Emergency Management Director Tony Van Pelt is retiring this month after serving more than 37 years of service to Conway Corp and the Conway community.
Tony joined the company as groundman in the electric department in 1985. He started the apprentice lineman program in 1989 and was promoted to journeyman lineman in 1993.
In 1996, Tony transferred to the engineering department and began designing electric and CATV systems. By 2010, he was the CATV senior projects manager.
In 2018, Tony set his sights on safety and was named the new safety and emergency management director. Tony was responsible for the safety of more than 250 employees and helped ensure all of our employees made it home to their families each night. In his tenure, Tony reduced the number of recordable accidents at the company plus launched a Safety Stand Down event.
“Tony had the opportunity to experience several facets of Conway Corporation in his 37 years here,” Chief Financial Officer Tracy Moore said. “In the lineman program he worked diligently to learn all aspects of electrical distribution. Those skills were put to great use in engineering as he designed systems and worked closely with third-party contractors.
Most recently Tony leveraged his experiences and lessons learned to the benefit Conway Corp in his role as safety director. We were all the beneficiary of those years of learning as safety was advanced greatly.”
Tony remembers his time at Conway Corp as being a place full of caring co-workers turned family.
“More than 37 years have passed and I can remember starting my first day of work here like it was yesterday,” Tony said. “A lot of the work is hard and dangerous but there have been many fun times as well. There was always a prank in the making. The fake snakes always worked, as well as telling the new guy that the boss wants to see him.”
Despite the pranks, Tony worked daily to instill safety as a core value during his career and he said it’s time to pass the torch.
“My advice for the current and future employees is to enjoy each day, live safe and be your brother’s keeper.”
Congrats, Tony!
