{"id":45039,"date":"2020-02-21T09:41:32","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T14:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=45039"},"modified":"2020-02-25T07:59:34","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T12:59:34","slug":"operations-manager-says-emu-education-opened-doors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/operations-manager-says-emu-education-opened-doors\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU education &#8216;opened doors&#8217; for packaging operations manager"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube alignright wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Accelerated Degree Program\" width=\"848\" height=\"477\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F_tP9WKEwOU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>James Ramsey &#8217;18 <\/strong>dons safety glasses, a hairnet, and ear plugs to go out onto the production floor at the Artisan Packaging plant, known for many years as Graham Packaging, in Harrisonburg. Brightly-painted machines, pipes and conveyor belts tower overhead \u2013 whirring, chugging, and puffing: molding and screen printing more than 700 different plastic bottles that the factory ships all over the world for customers like Downy and Johnson &amp; Johnson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now the operations manager, Ramsey first started out as an entry-level technician 12 years ago, and worked his way through every production position en route to management. Along the way, he decided to hone his leadership skills through Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/adultdegree\">Accelerated Degree Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Ramsey enrolled in the program in 2016, and earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in leadership and organizational management two years later. As the featured speaker on that commencement stage, Ramsey commended his peers for demonstrating \u201cproof that the biggest challenges have the greatest rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s now working towards his <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/ma-in-organizational-leadership\/\">Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership<\/a> at EMU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/02\/ADCP-James-Ramsey-10-1000px.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45044\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/02\/ADCP-James-Ramsey-10-1000px.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/02\/ADCP-James-Ramsey-10-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2020\/02\/ADCP-James-Ramsey-10-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cIt\u2019s just a place where you want to be,\u201d Ramsey said, of his educational experience at EMU. \u201cIt makes you feel like you belong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tRamsey took a long and winding educational road to that first college diploma. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Virginia Tech, then at Blue Ridge Community College, before deciding to travel around the U.S., working the vacation resort circuit. He then spent a few years in Malaysia, and when he came home, his brother was working at Graham, and helped him get hired on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tAfter his body started to show the wear and tear of heavy lifting, Ramsey decided he needed to further advance his career. He finished his associate\u2019s degree at Blue Ridge, and started shopping around for bachelor\u2019s programs that fit the schedule of an adult working full time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>EMU \u201copened a lot of doors, professionally, for me. It gave me a lot of confidence to be a strong, effective leader.\u201d<\/p><cite>James Ramsey &#8217;18<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, the factory celebrated one year free of safety incidents \u2013 before that, they went three years until a worker twisted her ankle, Ramsey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ramsey leads safety meetings once a week, which he said would have intimidated him before his EMU coursework helped him improve at public speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cI take a lot of pride in that. I\u2019m always preaching safety,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cEverybody takes pride in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tRamsey said that the camaraderie within his cohort was another boon of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cAll the professors were wonderful, too,\u201d he added, \u201cthey are just so intelligent, and emotionally intelligent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\tThat emotional intelligence, in addition to the nuts-and-bolts theory of leadership, has helped the introverted Ramsey become confident in his managerial role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cWe always make sure we take care of the people\u201d at the plant, Ramsey said. \u201cIt has a family feel.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another employee,<strong> Cindy Berry<\/strong>, confirmed this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\t\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019ve all been here so long,\u201d Berry said. She\u2019s been at the plant for 33 years, and now works in the quality lab, ensuring that bottles come out in accordance with diagram specifications. She also praised Ramsey for having hands-on knowledge of every part of production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> \u201cHe\u2019s been everywhere \u2026 that makes a good leader,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James Ramsey &#8217;18 dons safety glasses, a hairnet, and ear plugs to go out onto the production floor at the Artisan Packaging plant, known for many years as Graham Packaging, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/operations-manager-says-emu-education-opened-doors\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU education &#8216;opened doors&#8217; for packaging operations manager<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12546,266,17594],"tags":[17761],"feature":[17427,17422],"class_list":["post-45039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adcp","category-alumni","category-ma-in-organizational-leadership","tag-adult-degree-program","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EMU education &#039;opened doors&#039; 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