Dave Johnson

Dave Johnson is the Warehouse Supervisor in the Portland office. His regular duties of managing one of Valin’s main stocking distribution locations are very wide spread. However, he has quietly slipped into the unofficial role of “operations manager” without holding the title. The list of tasks has progressively increased along with his direct involvement.

It became abundantly clear how much Dave contributes to the running of the Portland facility and maintenance when the Portland office re-signed a 5-year lease agreement that contained negotiated tenant improvements. This involved working with, and overseeing the following improvements while working with a new building owner.

When the large shop fans were initially installed, Dave recognized that the fans were not reaching the areas that required consistent temperatures and realized that the placement did not match the work order. He acted on getting the contractors to first recognize the incorrect placement and then coordinated the move to the correct locations. He made sure the controls were set properly along with blade rotation.

After months of coordinating lease improvement tasks and finally getting them completed the dishwasher kept shorting a breaker, and after seeking help from a local electrical company, no one could identify why there was a short. The conclusion, and answer was, it must be an old dishwasher. After purchasing a new dishwasher and installing it himself, Dave sought to find the answer to why water was seeping up under the floor tiles in the lunchroom. After a few weeks and a few more tiles with water, this quickly became a much larger issue when a slow water leak was discovered in the wall between the lunchroom and the warehouse bathroom. Uncovering and resolving the water leak lead to the remodeling of both the lunchroom and the bathroom. Dave was again instrumental in working with the contractor and making sure all items were properly handled to avoid mold issues.

Dave recently spent 9 hours on a Saturday in the office while carpets were being cleaned. This is not unusual because he is willing to help whenever he sees a need, or is called upon. Other examples that he has been involved with, include ceiling insulation, shop area wall splits, HVAC/plumbing maintenance, storage unit wrap up, and the upgrade of cable / internet.

Dave’s commitment to helping when needed extended past the Portland branch. Specifically, when two factors made it critical to right size the Santa Ana, CA warehouse and do it quickly, the departure of warehouse personnel and a soon to expire building lease. It was necessary to shift some of the workload away from the Santa Ana warehouse and focus only on essential services like will call, deliveries, consignment, and local refinery orders.

Instead of delaying the project, Dave was approached and agreed to take the lead after a personal situation required the Director of Operations be out for a short period of time. Dave hit the ground running by assembling the team and coordinating all the steps involved in right-sizing. He put together an action item list and held regular meetings to ensure that tasks were completed. Due to Dave’s attention to all the details, the project was a success and finished ahead of schedule.

No words can accurately demonstrate what Dave Johnson means to the Portland office and beyond. He is usually the point person for contractors and workers doing repairs and maintenance. He consistently informs employees when work is being done. He is very personable, approachable, and easy to get along with. He takes on many projects that could easily be contracted, but instead takes it upon himself to save Valin money and, employees in the office, time and headaches. Dave contributes far more than his time. He steps up when a need arises and still maintains his “normal” day to day work at a quality level. Dave acts as if he is providing for his family which is what we are.