Front Office Assistant
Braidy's First Local Hire
Cassandra Flocker knew she’d have a slim chance of getting hired by Braidy Industries. Like thousands of others across the Tri-State she read and watched, with eagerness and hope, the early news reports about the company’s plans to build the nation’s most technologically-advanced aluminum mill in northeast Kentucky. Like thousands of others, she also read about good paying jobs the company would create.
Long settled into a job in the medical field, Flocker was happy where she was, but she knew the value of a high paying job close to home. Like many in the area, her husband Jason’s job requires a lot of travel. The couple lives in Worthington with their two daughters, Megan, 19, and Adriana, 16.
“He went to work immediately out of town when she (Adriana) was about two months old because there were no high paying jobs here in our area. We didn’t have much of a choice but for him to literally live on the road,” explained Flocker.
There was also the chance to be a part of something historic. “I have never witnessed, and I don’t know there are many people in our area that have witnessed, a plant being built from the structure up,” said Flocker. “I not only wanted to see that being built but I wanted to be a part of it.”
That is what she told Braidy officials during her months-long application and interview process, which included an online application, six interviews, and computer and personality tests. Cassandra Flocker was the first “local hire” Braidy Industries made.
She was selected as the company’s front office administrative assistant and began work at the Ashland headquarters in the Community Trust Building on October 1, 2017, before the third floor had finished undergoing its complete transformation. She is now the first person visitors see when they enter Braidy’s third floor suite.
Among her duties are scheduling, planning on-site meetings, travel arrangements, working with vendors and guests, organizing new hire files, and monitoring the online job and sponsorship application databases.
“It’s been an exciting process. I see it being built from all the work from behind the scenes that no one else is seeing right now,” said Flocker. “Every day is different here. It is very fast paced. There are many projects that we work on to keep everything on schedule and on target for the opening of the mill.”
“Our slogan here is ‘Braidy Driven.’ ‘Braidy Driven’ truly means flexibility. We are very flexible here; we handle anything that comes our way, even if it isn’t on our calendar. We work on projects together to make sure they hit the deadlines like they are supposed to. It is a team effort for sure. A big team effort,” she said.
“We have a lot of people stopping by. A lot of guests who stop by and say, ‘Hey, we applied online. Are we doing what we are supposed to be doing?’” she explained. She assures folks that the online application is the correct way and is being watched daily. “We have built a lot of good systems here so we can accommodate each different need to keep everybody organized and everything working really well.”
“Craig has put together an amazing team. He has handpicked everyone. He has reached out from every direction and pulled our employee base from all over the United States. At first, I didn’t realize how lucky I was,” she added, noting the caliber of the other employees was intimidating. “But everyone here is so nice. They are so down to earth. They want this for our community like they were born and raised here, too,” she said.