The A-State Advantage
The A-State Advantage is hosted by Heather Nelson, and she bridges the gap between high-level academic research and real-world industrial application to solve the Mid-South’s most pressing workforce challenges. Featuring a mix of visionary researchers and industry titans, the series showcases tangible "Economic Impact Stories" that move beyond theory into pragmatic results. This is the definitive platform for regional business leaders to discover direct pathways for leveraging Arkansas State resources to gain a competitive advantage in a global market.
The A-State Advantage
Building Leaders, Not Bosses: Cultivating Workforce And Safety Excellence
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Steel has a reputation for being dirty and dangerous, but that framing misses the real point. When you’re working around heat, heavy equipment, and molten metal, the job is unforgiving, and that means the difference between a safe shift and a life-changing injury comes down to culture, systems, and leadership that refuses to bend.
We sit down with Raymond Tarnow, Director of Safety and Health Services at Big River Steel, to talk about how a modern steelmaker builds safety into the day-to-day. Raymond shares why accountability has to “trickle down” from plant leadership, why safety can’t live in a department or a poster, and what it looks like to lead a team that won’t accept average. He also explains how protecting paychecks and family stability becomes a core part of occupational health when you focus on keeping people healthy and able to work.
Then we get into the most unexpected part of the story: Big River Steel’s on-site clinic partnership with Arkansas State University, plus a growing pipeline for nursing students through A-State and ANC. You’ll hear how preventive care and basic vitals checks can catch emergencies early, why nursing students gain rare occupational health experience on the plant floor, and how the “industrial athlete” mindset helps tackle extreme heat stress with hydration, cooling tech, rest, and recovery.
If you care about workplace safety, occupational health, leadership, or real industry-university partnerships, subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with someone in manufacturing, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
Welcome And Steel In Mississippi County
SPEAKER_02So welcome to another episode of A State Advantage podcast. I am so excited today to welcome Raymond Tarno, who is has a brand new title. Not, I don't know how long it's been, but um you are the director of safety and health services now for Big River Steel. So when did we last year? Last year. So uh my boss retired and you got a promotion. I got the move up to his role. That's that's amazing. So we have been so lucky to have Raymond on campus before. And so we're just excited to have him again and to this time record the conversation that we're gonna have uh today. So we're gonna focus today on um Big River Steel and uh safety and health services, and uh want to start off by giving you a little background to our audience that Mississippi County is the largest steel-producing county in the United States. And that didn't happen by accident. Big River Steel has become one of the most innovative steelmakers in North America, and a significant part of that story is how it develops and protects its people. Raymond spent nearly a decade at Gary Works in Indiana before Dan Brown recruited him to Arkansas. Dan is a persuasive man. I can imagine how that went. Uh, today he leads health and safety operations at Big River and has helped build one of the
From Gary Works To Big River
SPEAKER_02most forward-thinking workforce and safety cultures in the industry, including an on-site family practice clinic developed in partnership with Arkansas State University. And we will be talking about that today. So, but first we've kind of started a little bit. We always like to kind of start at the beginning of our guest story. So you spent close to a decade at Gary Works in Indiana before you moved to Arkansas, um, the persuasive Dan Brown. And um, what did he say to get you here? And what did you find when you got here?
SPEAKER_01Oh wow. Uh, so it was actually pretty hard to come down here because Gary Works was kind of my home, and it's always been my home. My dad works in Gary at Gary Works. Uh my grandpa worked there, my great-grandpa worked there. Uh, so I was a fourth-generation, fourth generation uh Gary Works employee. Um so a lot of family memories there, uh a lot of love there. Um, but I felt like I was falling out of love with my job. Really? Yeah, it was just uh it wasn't fun anymore. Uh so this job opportunity came available. Uh, and then I found out, you know, Dan was down here. I worked with Dan for a couple of years up in Gary. Really? Yeah, one of the best people that I know is probably Dan Brown. Oh, wow. He'll give you his shirt off his back. He's a great guy. Uh came down here for the job interview, and uh as soon as I knew he was running the place down here, I was like, I gotta go work for Dan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I didn't know that about your history that you guys had worked together previously um before
Unforgiving Work And Safety Culture
SPEAKER_02uh Big River. So that's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So um, you know, I was just talking about this um earlier this week with Dan and uh Cody Brown, about um this, you know, reputation Steele has um about being, you know, dirty and also dangerous. And you really push back hard on that that lingo, especially the dangerous part. So what's the distinction that you make and why does that matter?
SPEAKER_01Well, for me, I don't like I don't like this persona that you know steel the steel in your shoes is dangerous, right? Uh it's unforgiving. Uh I love that. Yeah, our job is not dangerous, it's unforgiving. You know, we spend a lot of money, time, effort, a lot of experience, uh writing programs, writing procedures, um, providing tools, um a lot of knowledge sharing to make it uh safe for our employees, for our team members. Right. Um, nobody wakes up and decides today's the day that they're gonna have an injury at work. Right. You know, so uh I don't like saying that our job's dangerous. Uh it's unforgiving. If you don't follow the rules, um if something's not done correctly, we don't follow the program, follow a procedure, put guarding back, uh, wear the proper PPE uh that we're supposed to do or supposed to follow, it's unforgiving.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Um when people don't follow the established rules, then it's uh then it's it becomes dangerous because it's unforgiving. Right.
SPEAKER_02When you got here, kind of going back to the the previous question, uh again, specific to this, is when you got here and you got into Big River, um what in the area and the people and the team that you came into, what did you find as far as the approach to health and safety? What were your immediate thoughts of what the need was and the approach? And, you know, where did you see the need as far as going forward when you got here?
SPEAKER_01So US Steel in total is got a great safety culture. You know, our our our motto is safety first. We con that we coined that phrase. Um, and any mill you go to for U.S. Steel, you'll see that. You'll see it on the floor. Uh, people believe that. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt. Um, but when I came down to Arkansas, which I still can't believe, being a uh a Yankee, you know, from northwest Indiana, uh, where all the mills are at, they're in Pittsburgh, right? Mississippi County, where the largest steel manufacturer and county in the country. The country, yeah. It blows my mind still. Rs too. RC. It's awesome. I mean, that's that's amazing. Um, but coming down here, and I tell I talk to Dan about this all the time. I have never met a group of employees, team members, workers, families that are more dedicated, uh, hardworking. I I mean, the stuff that those guys do, those team members do it at Big River, it it's amazing every day. Um, nobody out there says that's not my job. You know, it's not my job. Everybody out there uh goes over um over way over what they're required to do. Uh there's no laziness out there, you know. I mean, everybody shows up to do the work. It's you know, everybody is outworking everybody else, yeah. Um, safely. You've got a lot of plant managers out there. Uh Sumner, one of my best, my best friends out there, I consider him a great guy. And he he lives uh safety first and he holds all of his guys accountable. It trickles down when you see top management out there uh holding people accountable, uh holding that line, yeah, uh it genuinely is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So coming down here and seeing the culture uh that they had, um they were hungry for safety. They were really hungry for it, you know, and uh they genuinely care about it. Um, but just that change of pace uh where everybody wants to help, you know, everybody wants to help, everybody wants something, wants to be involved. Um no laziness, yeah, it's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Do you is that not not knowing? So let's and and for our audience that may not know a lot about culture in the steel industry, is that um you you kind of note that as being refreshing? Um, so is health and safety the way that Big River and you specifically as a leader out there is the approach new today? And as we sit here in 2026, has it has safe the approach to health and safety has it evolved over the last you know 10, 20 years or I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I I think I think with everything we're doing, um I think boy, I don't know, that's a good question. I don't know. That's a good that's a really good question. I think it continues to evolve. Um you stopped me there.
SPEAKER_02No, it's it's fine. But so well, we'll to to lead into that. Um what I what I feel like it maybe is a new thing and is kind of leads into the next question. Didn't mean to stump you, but but it was just interesting listening to you talk about like what you found when you got here, and then knowing what I was gonna ask you next, I thought, you know, I wonder if the the approach or the culture towards health and safety has changed
Why A Steel Mill Has A Clinic
SPEAKER_02industry-wise. But you have at Big River, you have a family clinic on site, and most people, frankly, would not immediately connect healthcare and steel. And so can you talk a little bit about how that partnership with Arkansas State University, like how it came together, and what was the initial problem that you were trying to solve by approaching Arkansas State University and coming up with the partnership?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I think you know, the community's a big involvement in having uh a university this size, this close to our mill, uh, it's very key for us to harness that relationship. Um, a lot of our medical staff are from A State. So we have a nurse practitioner, she graduated from A State. Um, being able to provide the best care for everything that can for team members, uh, makes them ready to work, uh, helps them. A lot of these guys uh are team members. We work four on, four off 12-hour shifts. Right. Sometimes it gets kind of hard to schedule doctor's appointments, uh, take care of yourself. Uh, you know, we run on uh as it is a nature of the beast, but we run on fatty foods, caffeine and nicotine, you know. And energy drinks, uh yeah, energy drinks. Guilty. Uh, you know, but it makes steel, you know. And uh what do we what can we do uh to help these guys out when they're at work? Right. And I think unlocking that little that little thing keeps those guys healthy, keeps those guys at work, and it shows that we genuinely care about it. Right. Um, not just you know, taking care of them, but taking it a step further. What else can we provide our our team members to keep them at work, uh, keep them healthy, keep them not sick, uh, keep them on the job, making money, making steal. Yeah, you know, when we can provide that for our team, uh I think you unlock that little bit more where they feel like they are genuinely respected.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And they turn it up just a little bit more uh for people that care about them. And I think, you know, if we show that, it goes a long way.
SPEAKER_02Plus, if you prioritize health and safety then and they know it, they see it as something that's important to you, they it becomes something that's important to them too. Even even when you're talking about their own health, you know, if you're if your boss is appreciating and valuing your health, it does make you maybe take a second thought of maybe I maybe I shouldn't have that second donut, or maybe I should go, you know, get my shots, or you know, uh right, you know, whatever, whatever the case is.
SPEAKER_01So I mean, a big thing for us too is like when people in the industry see us trying to manage medical cases, a lot of people think, oh, you just worry about your numbers and such. I don't. I do, but I don't. A lot of times we try to help the guys stay on the job uh because it impacts their pay. You know, a lot of people don't realize that if you can't, if you're injured and you can't come to work, that impacts your your pay. Uh that impacts your family life, that impact impacts your home life.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, I don't like seeing that. You know, I mean, being a fourth generation steel guy, yeah. I remember, you know, my my dad and my grandpa, I remember the stories and the you know, the mill locking the gate because of a a lockout for union stuff. So I mean, seeing the the impacts of dad can't get the full pay or grandpa can't get the full pay, I don't, I don't like that. It doesn't sit well with me. So anything we can do on my side, the safety and health side that helps those guys, you know, uh stay at work, get a full pay, uh stay at work longer, work longer hours. Yeah, if they want to. Right. You know, if they want to, if they want to stay and work extra, I mean, it's just gonna help them out. It's gonna help us out.
SPEAKER_02Taking care of the individual takes care of the team,
Nursing Pipeline With A State And ANC
SPEAKER_02which takes care of the company. Absolutely. You know, it all it all builds on itself. Um, and I hope that with this next question, I really want you to walk us through the on-site nursing program um and what it actually delivers, you know, to your teammates there um at Big River Still and what it means for the people on your floor and for the company's bottom line. But I also, you've got a couple of great stories that do involve A State graduates through the nursing program. So if you want to throw in a couple of those, that would, that would be great too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So what we're really pushing for with the clinic and with blood drives and such is a sharing of resources uh, you know, with ANC, with A State, the nursing program of getting the students uh on site, learning more of the occupational setting uh because they don't get that exposure. Um that's right. You know, we just posted another position that we're hiring another nurse practitioner uh on site for our clinic for our nurse staff. Um, and I'm flooded with applications. So the opportunities that we're giving, you know, every time we do this interview for the new nurse practitioner, one of the first questions that they give us is the steel industry. I don't understand what what do you mean? What are you guys hiring a nurse practitioner for? Um and there's a lot of education of that, yeah. You know, and uh just trying to help give nursing students another route. Right. Um my wife's a nurse, my daughter wants to be a nurse, uh, I have family members that are nurses, so I think it's a valuable asset to bring them and show them that there's other routes out there. Right. You know, I know there's some other industries that that have clinics also, um local industry that has clinics also that I think this can expand further to help the community. Right. Um and I would challenge the other local, I would say, competitors to look at A State uh for that need. I mean, I think it's a home run. I get help uh from the college, from these students. The students get higher knowledge, higher hands-on knowledge, stuff that they probably aren't going to be able to see anywhere else. I don't want them to see this stuff, you know, the injuries. Um, but they get to work through uh conditions and stuff they wouldn't see in a family practice, right? Um really good understanding of what's out there, and they get to bring that back here um and and grow that into their toolbox of traits. So I I think it's you know, and some of the God forbid, but some of the worst stuff we get to see out there, they're seeing that. So I think it's a win for the college, also. Right.
SPEAKER_02And I do want to point out, um, and I'm glad you brought up ANC, that it's not just simply collaboration between US Steel, Big River Still, and and Arkansas State University, it's also with ANC. So we're able, Arkansas State is all about collaborating with the two years as well. And so it's just a wonderful opportunity to tie in for ANC and Arkansas State to work together and collaborate, and then for both of us to collaborate with U.S. Steel, Big River Still. So I'm thank you for bringing that up because that's an important part of this collaboration and we appreciate that. Will you talk for those in the audience that don't really know about the program? Like what does it look like from internship to job opportunities? Can you talk a little bit about how the program works between um ANC, Arkansas State, and Big River?
SPEAKER_01So, well, I mean no, it's coming up to be summer, but like next when after summer, uh, we're gonna expand and we're gonna try to really get a lot of more nurse, a lot more nursing students out there to help us. Uh, we're gonna come up with a good schedule, a pretty aggressive schedule. Uh, try to get more help out there.
SPEAKER_02About how many are you thinking?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I don't know that yet. Okay. I don't know that yet. So no, no breaking news on that. So um, but you know, for me, uh selfishly on my side, I get free help. Right. Um, you know, because I don't I don't typically have that staff. Um, but now I get a bunch of help from my medical team. Right. Uh where now we get nursing students that can do all the paperwork, they can do the charting, they can help with all that stuff. Right. Um, extra hands. Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02And they're getting all that exposure and experience. They're seeing things, as you mentioned earlier, they're getting to from the student standpoint, ANC and Arkansas State University students, they're getting to experience and see things they would otherwise not. They get valuable internship experience, resume builders for them, et cetera.
SPEAKER_01Free training. Yeah. All that free training that they're getting. Um, so you know, I I would envision that as we expand our scope of coverage for our team members and family, um, I'm going to have to expand my job opportunities.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Uh, you know, and obviously the ones that I have trained out there, um, they're gonna be the priority hires out there. Right. You know, and we have a very good salary base out there. Um, I think everybody in the community knows that Big River Steel pays a very good competitive salary for the the area. Uh so um I would definitely uh look forward to expanding to A State and uh hiring out of those nurse students and see where we can go from there. Yeah. Uh and you know, in Big River, uh our current RN that we have, God bless her, she's going back to A State right now to become a nurse practitioner. Right. The and the company's paying for that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Do you you is she the one that you have a great story about that uh an employee that um came in, wasn't feeling well? And is she is she the that's an that's another one of them. Okay. For the audience, they're probably going, What is what is Heather talking about? But can you tell that story? Because I've heard you tell the story before, and it's just an it's an incredible testament to why the program is important for you guys and for us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we've had, I mean, we've had a couple different situations where an employee would come in uh for a hearing test, and our nurse or our office manager would check their vitals and something wouldn't be right. Um and in this one situation, uh our office manager checked the vitals for a hearing test um and said, hold on a second, this doesn't look right. You need to go be seen. And there was a little back and forth because we're men, right? We we're healthy, we don't need any advice from anybody. Right. Well, he went on to have a lot worse medical conditions, but he followed the recommendations, went to the hospital, and we saved his life. Amazing. The the the hospital basically said if you would have came in tomorrow or the next day, you probably would have passed away uh if you would have waited. So um it's those little things, you know. You know, we've had, I can't even count. There's too many examples of us having the qualified nurse, uh LPN, uh nurse practitioner on the job that, you know, when we don't think we need them, that they step in and save somebody's life.
SPEAKER_02That's right. And you know, that goes back to that whole philosophy around preventative care and just an observation, you know, just observation, seeing, listening, hearing, watching, paying attention, you know, right there. So I I just I've I think I've heard that story three or four times now. And it it they every one of those stories just gets me because you just think, you know, can you imagine from the student's perspective or from, you know, and whether it's an you know, eventually either an intern or a a hire that you've made, you know, to s to have such immediate real feedback and impact and to hear those stories about, you know, the people that they're working with and to know how important their their role is. I mean, that's gotta be an amazing feeling for those for those people coming on board. And it's crazy to me because he went.
SPEAKER_01For a hearing time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it had nothing to do with anything, anything else. And uh it's just um part of it. When you um before I kind of go on to some of the next couple of questions,
Leading Beyond Average And Owning Safety
SPEAKER_02I want to kind of touch upon something. Um, so I know you don't have it all worked out or or figured out, but we you have a very futuristic look at um from your leadership role, you have to be thinking about the future and the growth plan. And certainly um I've heard just this week uh Dan Brown and Cody Brown talk about you know the the current growth trajectory for um Big River Steel, for U.S. Steel here in Northeast Arkansas. So when you think about the future of just the the portion that you are responsible for and and with health and safety, what are some of the things that that you'd like to see on the horizon in the next you know one, three, five years for for for your piece of Big River? Oh man. Um do your wish list and and uh we'll make sure that uh the leadership team, the rest of your leadership peers hear it.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, I think the biggest thing I'm working on, uh I'd like to see uh I have an amazing team. Uh my the team that we've assembled for the health and safety side, uh they're rock stars. Yeah, they really are. Uh bunch of rock stars. Um I love that uh they have such a fire in their belly to get stuff done. Um it's my job to magnify that fire and not extinguish it. Right. Um I try to be a leader and not a boss. Um, so I I think what I'd like to see is more leadership training, uh opportunities. Um, I think one thing we really need is probably uh some type of lab uh where we can do PPE testing, um, some stuff like that right now, like the well, the one we typically use, the University of Alabama. Um, I'm gonna try and challenge us. Why can't I use this one? Why can't we kind of copy what they have and do it here? Uh you know, when we try to change PPE or do something out there, yeah, if a guy, if a guy's been using a certain product for 10 years and there's a new product uh that's in the market, you really got to prove to them why is this new one better than what I've been using. Right. So I think a lab yeah, I think a lab where we can try try out and show and video uh results would be huge for us. Um and then uh just training opportunities, um, confined space, training, uh rescue, uh some type of fire prevention. Uh we are I'm big on training my team uh so we don't have to hire third party to do it. I want to be able to have my team empowered, uh, whether they stay with Big River or they're improving their resume and go to the next place. Right. Um so whatever we can do, more industry-specific trainings. Right. Train the trainer on crane, uh mobile equipment, confined space, safety stuff. Yeah. Uh so you know, if the melt shop gentlemen want crane training at 2 a.m. on a Saturday, my team can respond to that, show up and give sp special training to them.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Instead of calling a third-party trainer, trainer and spending $30,000, we do it and we are gumby. We're able to show up, provide the training, and we don't spend all that money.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. No. Those are maybe some things that we can, Arkansas State University can look to help with too as you you look at those, especially the lab idea. I love that, uh, with with that. Um one of the things I've heard you say is that average is crowded. I build teams that that lead. And you just kind of mentioned that about wanting the more leadership training for for your team. So what does um what is that philosophy of, you know, not average, but you know, really building teams that lead. What's that look like in a steel plant for you?
SPEAKER_01So for me, um, you know, 10 years in the military and then up in Gary and now down here, um, I've learned more from bad bosses than I have from good leaders. Um, I try to remember what I've learned from bad bosses. So I don't do that to my team or represent that in any time of any type of room that I'm in with people.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, part of that was the reason I came down here, because Dan Brown is a good leader. Um, what I'm trying to do, what that means to me about being average is I never show up with an excuse without a without having a result. I hold my team, I try to hold my team to that same expectation.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01People don't like showing up, whether it's your spouse, your kid, a team member on a sports team or in the industry, whether it's Kroger's or Big River Steel, right? People don't like when you show up with an excuse of why you can't do something unless you show up with a result on how we're going to get it done. Right. Um, so I always try to challenge myself. I I fall short sometimes. We all do. We all do, we all do, right? Um, but I really do try to honestly push myself and push my team um to go to the next level, you know. Don't don't accept average um because you wouldn't accept average. And I think a lot of leaders are always worried about teaching your direct report too much because then they're gonna replace you. I don't worry about that. I want them to replace me. Yeah, um, that's their job.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01You know, that my my my shoes need to be filled by the next guy.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01His shoes need to be filled by the next guy. So it's my job to teach him everything I know, and then some uh don't be average, outwork me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So then when I lease, um it's gonna be left. You've got additional opportunity. It's gonna be left better uh than I inherited it. Right. So, you know, it's your turn.
SPEAKER_02Right. I love that. Yeah, I love that philosophy. Um so a lot of companies treat safety as a compliance function, uh, a department that you fund and leave alone. And I love that you describe it completely different. Um, so what is the shift in thinking that has to happen, do you believe?
SPEAKER_01I really think we get in trouble or we get stuck when safety is just a department or a poster. Uh, you know, everybody sees these posters, safety first. Right. Um, but like I said earlier, no nobody wakes up, hits the alarm clock, grabs their coffee and lunch, and says, Yep, today is the day I'm gonna amputate my finger. Right. Nobody plans that. Right. Um, I think if I'm the if I'm the only owner of safety at Big River, that means we're only gonna be safe when I'm at work. Right. Um, yeah, we have a very good track record of being safe. That's not by accident, right? That's because it trickles down. Uh the frontline management team believe it and they push it. They hold people accountable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01If we were only safe when the safety department was there, our numbers numbers would reflect that. Right. So it's pushed down by Dan Brown, it's pushed down by Tommy Kiefer, uh, the plant leadership. Um it can't be a department. If it's owned by a department, your your results would would show that would reflect that. Right. Yeah. So I think when the people understand that I want everybody, we want everybody to go home exactly the same way. Ten fingers, ten toes, no permanent scars. Um that's how we want you to go home, is the same way you came to work. Um, I think they would agree.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, uh, I think it works a lot better for the the team. Right. The company.
SPEAKER_02So
Heat Stress And The Industrial Athlete
SPEAKER_02I love that so much. Um, so you've described heat as one of the most complex, ongoing challenges on the floor. Workers in three-layer protective gear um on a cast floor running between 140 and 160 degrees. How do you even begin to approach a problem like that, Raymond? Yeah. Like I, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's the worst. It's the worst. Uh we have a lot of hazards uh that we have to consider in our job. But uh to me, um, so when I moved down here, you know, being up by Lake Michigan, I was like my house is like two miles from the lake. And it was funny because we'd always watch the weather, and the weather guy, my wife always laughed because she'd say, Oh, it's cooler by the lakefront. You know, we would kind of flirt with 90 degree weather, but boy, when I moved down to Arkansas, this is a whole nother level of heat down here.
SPEAKER_02Plus, we have this um state bird called the Mosquita.
SPEAKER_01That's no joke.
SPEAKER_02That is no joke. I've heard that since I was a little little girl, but it's it's true. It does feel like sometimes that they are the size of a small bird, but um, but yeah, I can imagine you know, the heat, the humidity, mosquitoes, and then now you top on top of that 140 to 160 degrees plus the three-layer suit. I I just I I mean, try to I I'm trying to do a good job in failing at painting the picture for the people who are gonna watch this and and listen to this of just imagine what that's like.
SPEAKER_01And you got a base layer, right? Like long johns, some guys wicking, something like a wicking material, like a long john. Then you have like a heavy, thicker than gene fr kind of outfit with a jacket.
SPEAKER_02Think car heart, think heavy car heart, like a winter car heart, except you have to wear it in the in the throes of summer too.
SPEAKER_01And then you, you know, some jobs you you wear like a big trench coat that's aluminized over that. Uh, and then you have this big hood on uh that's illuminized with a face shield. It's miserable. Um, you know, and honestly, the only way we do anything with it is I try to get any and every idea for hydration, uh, for rest, for breaks that we can. Right. Uh fruit. We spend over, we play, we probably spend over a half a million dollars a year on fruit. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Um you have like those, you know, um like ice pack clothing, you know, where I wondered if that technology was making its way into the steel mills. Um, that um you see it in firefighters even don't uh but the that's like a cooling pack, can you describe that?
SPEAKER_01Yep. You so they're completely cool vests you put in a freezer. We actually got new ones that were I found at a a conference I went to, uh-huh. Um that you just pour any type of water into them. You don't have to keep them in a freezer. Okay. You just pour water into them and they're gel activated and they freeze. So this is really pretty cool for us. So when somebody starts having a heat case, right, it we got minutes before it goes into a heat stroke. Right. If it's a heat stroke, we're flying them out right away. Right. And that's detrimental because we got minutes to stop it. Uh so if it's the beginning stages, we can throw, we keep them in our truck. Uh they don't have to be in a freezer. We pour a bottle of water into it, and within three minutes, it's activated and cooling down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so I'm old, we got pickle pops. We we add in pickle pops this year.
SPEAKER_02I mean, anything in that you're doing all the technology. Are those um is there technology coming where you could have a cooling vest or cooling clothes all the time? Like that could be just a permanent part of their uniform, or is it just like it's only good for I don't understand the technology.
SPEAKER_01I don't, you know, so a lot of times some of that stuff, some of that material, we have to be careful um because when you get splashed with molten metal or you get exposed to high heat, right? It has a tendency, like this type of shirting, it has a tendency to like melt uh or become a hazard itself to your skin.
SPEAKER_02Understood. Okay. Um so you have to think about that on top of everything else you have for you. You have to think about that too. Um, do you you could do um ice ice dunks or ice, you know, I'm imagining you probably do have places where you could put them down into ice or into cold cold water tanks. Um what is the the new uh trend for uh working out? What are those ice baths or whatever? Ice baths or whatever this is.
SPEAKER_01So we're looking at ice baths in some of our locations.
SPEAKER_02Uh just anything to cool cool them off even during the day. Like I'll do anything. Do a lunch break. I'm gonna go take a ice bath just to cool off my internal tent. Yeah, you know, if not.
SPEAKER_01I mean, besides like the typical hazards for safety, like falls, uh confined space, lockout heat is probably my number one concern.
SPEAKER_02And I just don't know that if you're not in the industry, if that's something that you would think about. I mean, we all think about the summer heat in Arkansas and how that affects anybody who works outside, but just that's just an an especially difficult and challenging thing to have to in the steel industry, just because the nature of what you do every day is just so hot in itself.
SPEAKER_01And that's kind of why one of the things we're working with is a state, we're trying to uh work with a state on the industrial athlete. Right. Yeah, you guys have the athlete. That's right. You guys have the athlete on the football field, the tennis court, uh, the baseball field, the track.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01How do you guys keep them hydrated and healthy uh on the football field or performing? Yeah. How can we, what little tools do you guys use that we can copy uh on our field?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh we're industrial athletes. We might not be able to run a 40 uh as fast as you guys can, but uh we're pouring metal and it's 140 degrees. What what can we copy from you guys into our industry?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I love that. And I love that that program, and and I don't I don't know who gets credit for thinking. Is that is that was that your idea or was that somebody, you know, who whose first thought, you know, we need to think of this as um an athletic problem and and look at Arkstell State like their athletic department, you know. So where did that kind of get birthed out of?
SPEAKER_01So industrial athlete, I heard from a uh union safety rep up in Gary. And it was always stuck with me, industrial athlete. That's amazing. But then coming down here, I think it was last year, A State approached us about this hey, can we work together and come up with uh a solution? A solution.
SPEAKER_02And it just and that that wording that language clicked in. Yeah, that's fantastic. And now I'm gonna try to push that even more. Yeah. What are you guys doing? You know, what I just love all the multiple points of collaboration. I think that's one of the most exciting things is when we meet with anybody from the Big River Steel, is that we just continue to find opportunities where uh we can collaborate together and help help you, help your your teammates, um, help your departments, and all while also adding value to um our current students and future students of these are the problems that are out in the industry and and these are the things that we need to do to work together to solve them. So I just love that. Well, you know that we really should have blocked off a couple of hours. So we're definitely gonna be having Raymond back to talk more because we literally so many questions that we're not gonna get to. And we talked even before we uh started, we sat down today that we needed
What Young Workers Should Know
SPEAKER_02we're definitely gonna need to do this again. But for our existing students, future students that maybe have never thought about the steel industry as a potential career or a potential employer, you know, what would you, the chancellor and I have a class that that we teach, we've taught the last two semesters, and the students of our panelists that we have come in every week, they this is their favorite question. And so I may just incorporate it with every guest for the show, but they say, what would you, if you were 19, 20, 21 years old again, um, and sitting in a in a seat here at Arkansas State University, what do you wish that you had known? What do they need to know that you wish you'd known at their their age? Um and I would like you to address it specifically um as it pertains to the steel industry, to the career that you've chosen, um, to Big River, how would you like to apply it?
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, first off, I'd probably take every dollar I had and buy Bitcoin. Uh, but for the steel industry, um so actually when I was that young, uh my family was probably I should have probably joined the steel industry. Uh and I didn't. I joined the military, yeah, which wasn't a bad choice. I met my wife, uh, my guiding rock through all this stuff. Right. Um but I would say look towards the steel industry. Uh, you have the biggest steel mill in North America in Mississippi County, right here. Big River Steel. Um, you know, we we're making six million tons a year right there locally, right? Uh six figures, making six figures on average per position, right? Uh right here in Mississippi County. Um live here, stay here, buy here. That's right here. Yeah. Uh we pay for going back to college. Uh, there's so many benefits over here, full benefits. Uh the stuff that we are offering, it's amazing. Yeah. Why would you not consider steel? Um you know, it's provided for my family for four generations. Yeah. Um I would say think outside of the box and challenge yourself. Uh, what can you do, what are you doing in college that's beneficial uh for the real world? For me, when I see people in college, to me, it means that you are dedicated to something. You have to get up in the morning and go to do something for four years. Uh, so that's a good start. What's next? Uh, what's your plan? Um I just challenge you like, what what do you want? Um what do you want out of your degree? What do you want out of your next step? Um and also go back to the trades. Also, you know, why is are you getting the value out of your degree that you want to get? Right.
SPEAKER_02Um it is um the chancellor's coin the phrase, he doesn't, um, and he he he's done it, uh it came from a conversation he had with Dan Brown, actually. But instead of um, he doesn't want us to talk about you know workforce development, or he wants us to talk about the workforce development continuum. Yeah. Because the way that um industry and all different types of industries and companies are teaching us here at Arkansas State University is that you need people all along the spectrum. You know, you need uh people who don't go to college at all, you need people who maybe take an ANC pathway and a certification uh pathway, you need four-year degree students, you need master's students, you need PhDs, you need opportunities to send workforce at multiple, you know, all the different ages to go back to school to, you know, learn AI. You know, your your existing workforce needs to come back to school to take some classes, to get some potentially AI certification, or, you know, maybe they need another degree to to expand their career. And so that's one thing that we're really focused on here at Arkansas State University is how are we um approaching that workforce development continuum? And instead of saying to industry and the community, here are her graduates, you know, you know, take take those. Um, we're instead saying, what do you need? What do you want? And work with us and let's let's deliver the the student that you need and the the new hire that you need, or let us help your existing workforce with what they need, and so that we can cater, cater to that. And so, and that's a win for everybody. We find that it's a win for the students, the workforce, for the companies and industries, and for Arkansas State University.
SPEAKER_01And so I'm big on that. Like I appreciate all my team members go back to school, don't stop learning. Right. I'm going back to For my PhD, one of my team members going back for the master's degree.
Wrap-Up And Thanks
SPEAKER_01Keep going. Yeah. Like always learn. Keep learning.
SPEAKER_02Keep that curiosity.
SPEAKER_01Always.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Keep going.
SPEAKER_02Well, we appreciate so much the partnership between Arkansas State University and U.S. Steel, Big River Still. And it's just always a pleasure to talk to all of you. But Raymond, I'm you have to promise to come back. Um, because, you know, I just want to talk about more of the different, the different types of things because just like I'd like to talk more about the athletic thing and what that opportunity holds and other other things that are on the horizon. I think we could just talk for an hour just about, you know, what's what's going to happen over the next three years and the ways that we could potentially partner. So thank you so much for for coming today. And um that's another episode of the A State Advantage. Thanks for so much for joining us, and we'll see you next time.