Construction Junction - Building Material Reuse

Staff

About our staff

Here's the inside scoop on the staff of Construction Junction.  We're asking the same nine questions across the board and will post staff answers as they're gathered. 

1. What was your very first job?

2. Where did you work right before CJ?

3. How long have you been at CJ?

4. What do you want to be when you grow up?

5. Why do you like working at CJ?

6. What's your function at the Junction?

7. Have you always been concerned about the environment?

8. What do you envision for CJ in five years?

9. If you were one of the characters in the Wizrd of Oz... which would it be?

 

Benjamin (mystery man)

1. Mowing lawns.

2. I try to repress all old memories of working in retail.

3. Since 2008.

4. A fire truck.

5. I work at CJ?

6. Driver and donation picker upper'er.

7. Sure!  It feeds my belly.

8. World domination or an organized dock.

9. The yellow brick road or maybe one of those little flying monkey fellows.

 

Bill Sutliff

1. Digging trenches for gas/electric lines during summers between school.

2. Renovating houses and related work in Oil City and Clarion PA.

3. Since 2005.

4. Retired and spending all of my time (and money) at auctions and estate sales.

5. I like the people and I really enjoy my job.

6. Deconstruction -- salvaging usable building materials from buildings before they are demolished.

7. Not always.  I had to understand more about the problems that exist and that really was my eye opener.

8. It will be bigger and better, both in physical size and organizationally.

9. The tin man.  I could scrap some parts of myself if i became short on cash.

 

Bonnie Rolison

1. I don't even remember.

2. First aid room at Sandcastle, Center for Emergency Medicine.

3. Since 2001.

4. Not reliant on the power components.  Environmentally independent and off the grid.

5. Giving people the ability to have something for their home that they never thought they could have afforded.

6. Donation procurement.  Advanced cheerleader.

7. No, but now I can't even imagine that not everyone is.

8. Over loaded with materials in a pleasantly warm and green building.

9. Dorothy... she is determined, resourceful and loyal.

 

Brian Swearingen

1. Worked on a golf course when I was fifteen.

2. Been in construction for the last twenty-five years.

3. Since 2002.

4. I just want to die with my boots on.

5. Everybody is so nice... except for me of course.

6. Workhorse.

7. Sure.

8. I will have a personal helipad.

9. I'd be the horse of another color.

 

Bruce Brinker

1. Gourley Meat Packing in Clarion County.

2. Apprenticeship program at Whitefish Pottery in Whitefish Montana.

3. Since 2006.

4. An astronaut.  This is the same answer I've had to this question since second grade.

5. Because I can grow a beard.

6. Warehouse operations.

7. No, I haven't always been concerned about the environment.

8. We're off the energy grid.

9. I'd be Dorothy... after all she's the one having the experience.

 

Bruce Sutton

1. Carrying bricks, blocks and mortar.

2. Mr. Maid Cleaning Service.  As a Mr. you never get credit for what you do!

3. Since the 1960's.  I figured if I waited long enough, an industry would form around me.

4. Above this sort of thing.

5. I have the respect of co-workers and customers, because I install the rolls.  But when they run out there's a down side to every job.

6. I pan for gold.  It works to... I just swish the toilet brush and a check gets in my mail slot every Wednesday.

7. Yes, especially when it gets on the toilet seat.

8. Renovated restrooms.

9. I would be Dorothy so I could liquidate the old witch.

 

Darnell Pinnick

1.

2.

3. Since 2008.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

 

Derek Stoltz

1. Shoe salesman (15 years old).

2. Best Buy (boo hoo!).

3. Since 2007.

4. Photographer, videographer, sculptor, set designer.

5. Creative place, constantly changing environment, supports our environment, great customers and people to work with. 

6. Warehouse/Truck operations.

7. Not as much as now, but I've always been environmentally conscious because my father and I recycled when I was a kid.

8. Will get bigger, more well known, play an even larger roll in the community, be a permanent drop off for hazardous wastes so they can get recycled and disposed of properly.

9. The Wizard.

 

Ed Schneider

1. Working in my father's warehouse sweeping the floor and stocking shelves.

2. Mung Dynasty.

3. Since 2008.

4. Retired.

5. It's a company whose views align with my own and you never know what will come into the store.

6. Deconstruction crew.

7. Absolutely!

8. We're in it to win it.

9. A twister, A twister!!

 

Edie Yorke

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

 

Haley Miller

1. Summer camp counselor.

2. Denali National Park & Preserve in Alaska on a trail crew.

3. Since 2008.

4. Me, though older.  And hopefully a little wiser.  And somewhere outside.

5. The people, the mission, seeing all the cool stuff that comes through, and in the winter, it's essentially the same as working outside.  

6. I just do what they tell me.

7. Duh.

8. Bigger, better (if that's even possible), and badder (the good kind of bad).

9. The ruby slippers.

 

Joe Lamar

1. Selling newspapers...  maybe working in a fish market.  Can't remember...  I was young...  eleven in fact.

2. Supervisor for Lifeswork.

3. Since it started in 1999.  I'm one of the anchor guys.

4. Me...  wouldn't change a thing.

5. Meeting the people and seeing the different types of things people find uses for in their homes.  Seeing how things go together.  CJ was a new enterprise and I like seeing it progress.  I learn something new almost every day.

6. Sales Manager/Customer Relations

7. Can't say I have...  no.

8. Hope I'm here for one thing.  I see a lot of doors opening up, a more modern store, drawing more people in, and increased competition in the marketplace.

9. The Wizard.

 

katie mackowick

1. Coffee wench at Au Bon pain.

2. The Pitt News as a designer.

3. Since 2008.

4. Graphic Designer.

5. It's easy going and the people are cool.

6. I work on graphics related tasks and other things as needed.

7. I remember fearing the hole in the ozone as a child, so I guess so.

8. Great success.

9. Winged monkey who grabs Toto (uncredited).

 

Kirby Hamilton

1. Huckstering vegetables from a horse draw cart.

2. Craig Beer Distributor as a truck driver delivery man.

3. Since 2007.

4. Gentle Ben.

5. Lot of Casper the Friendly Ghost memories from yesteryear.

6. Doors, doors and multiple chores.

7. No doubt, no doubt.

8. Good progress and more stores in the up and coming years.

9. Toto... duh!

 

Marc Parenteau

1. Schleppin' coffee.

2. I taught art to grade schoolers.

3. Since 2008.

4. A subsistence farmer/cartoonist.

5. The visual stimulus and the donuts.

6. To put the "Junc" in Junction.

7. Indeed I have.

8. Bigger, better, even more sustainable.

9. A flying monkey.

 

Mike Gable

1. Warehouse worker in a paint company purchased by my great grandfather in 1922 -- it's all about who you know. 

2. Organic farmer for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

3. Since the beginning... 1999.

4. Taller.

5. I like that our mission resonates so strongly with so many people.

6. The guy that tries to hold it all together.

7. I would say yes.  In the fifth grade I started the pollution club -- no we didn't make pollution, we picked up litter until there was an internal power struggle and...

8. It will be taller...  No seriously, in five years CJ will be the most dynamic, innovative, and green reuse facility in the country.  We will also have our own beer label :)

9. From an environmental perspective, I'm torn between the scarecrow (compostable) or the tin man (recycled for scrap) -- also there is the whole head/heart conflict thing in my choice, but that's another interview. 

 

Mindy Schwartz

1. At 15, I started working on commission selling cameras in a department store.

2. I was co-founding an urban agricultural nonprofit called Grow Pittsburgh.

3. Since 2004.

4. I'm not sure I'll ever really grow up, but if I did I'd probably want to be King. 

5. The infinite potential for growth and impact.

6. Development & Systems Director.

7. Yes.  I've always had a sense of unrest about the state of our global environment for as long as I can remember.  It might just be that I have a severe anxiety disorder.

8. That 1) CJ is internationally recognized as an exemplary nonprofit in all areas of operations and management, 2) we're paving the way towards a more sustainable future, 3) we're making a substantial impact through acheiving our mission, and 4) we're warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

9. I'd want to be the author of the story.

 

Shannon Clover

1. Delivering the Washington Observer newspaper at 4:30 am when I was 10 or 11 years old.

2. Social Innovation Accelerator.

3. Since 2008.

4. A travel writer.

5. I imagine I'm going to like working at CJ because it's simply the coolest place in town.

6. Operations Director.

7. Yeah, every person has to do what they can if we are all going to survive. I thought as a young child that everyone had a compost pile, until I got yelled at for "helping the neighbors start one" by throwing the remnants of a picnic plate in their yard.

8. As the expert and example in all practical applications of green things.

9. Toto, because with elegant simplicity he reveals the elephant in the room...and he gets carted around in a pretty fine basket.

 

Cozmo

1. Being cute.

2. Gardenalia.

3. In dog years? Since 2007 when we started e-Blasting.

4. Mr. Bowie Rose (Bowie is my girlfirend and Ms. Rose is her mother).

5. For the world recognition.

6. Info desk manager and CEO (canine executive officer).

7. Yes.  Particularly about trees and all vertical natural elements.

8. An expansive pet department with all sorts of reused items such as half chewed raw hides, eviscerated plush toys and squeakless sqeakers.

9. The Wizard... of course.