Herkimer BOCES students tour Barrett Paving Materials Litchfield Plant and Quarry

2 graduates now working there

Two Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES heavy equipment operation students have extricated jobs out of the program’s partnership with the Barrett Paving Materials Litchfield Plant and Quarry.

Herkimer BOCES heavy equipment 2016 graduate Jared Flansburg and 2017 graduate Cody Lyman both now work full time as groundsmen at the Litchfield Plant and Quarry.

“This is a great opportunity for our heavy equipment students that has come out of Barrett Paving Materials being kind enough to work with our program,” Herkimer BOCES heavy equipment instructor Tom Browka said.

In addition to hiring two Herkimer BOCES students and providing an internship to another Class of 2016 graduate, Barrett Paving Materials has been an ongoing supporter of the Herkimer BOCES heavy equipment program.

Litchfield Plant and Quarry Superintendent Doug Henry and Human Resources Manager Heather Schmidtka visited Herkimer BOCES to speak to heavy equipment juniors and seniors on March 31. Then heavy equipment juniors and seniors toured the Litchfield asphalt plant and limestone quarry on June 8.

During the tour, students visited the entire site and learned about the whole process of work — including blasting the face of the quarry to get the initial large pieces of material, hauling the large rock to the quarry plant where it is crushed into various sized stone, taking the stone and adding it to various other materials to create various types of asphalt mix out of the asphalt plant and testing the materials in the quality control lab to assure that they meet project or state specifications, Schmidtka said.

Students also were able to see the types of heavy equipment that Barrett Materials has on site and what they are used for.

Schmidtka said she hopes the students took away from the experience that Barrett Materials has opportunities available for BOCES students whether they choose to go on to college or pursue a career right out of high school and that the company has a positive impact on the community in the greater Utica area.

“The students learned, both during the tour and during our visits to the class, what career options are available for them right out of high school as well as out of a trade school or college,” Schmidtka said. “We also heavily discussed the safety culture here at Barrett, as well as the importance of ethics and teamwork.”