Meet MVP Winner Mike Ryan

By Kate Edwards.

Go above and beyond but do it quietly.

Every year, the Roofing Alliance’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards program recognizes and celebrates workers who are nominated by their coworkers in two categories:  1) Workers who exemplify dedication to their work, employees, and company; demonstrate a strong work ethic; and practice excellent leadership, initiative, and resourcefulness.  2) Workers who show compassion for others outside the workplace and volunteer their time with their communities, churches, families, and friends.

MVPs are dedicated to their work and to helping others, going above and beyond to get the job done and ensure everyone feels valued for what they do.  Seven winners were selected for 2020. At RoofersCoffeeShop® we live by our motto of Roofing Respect® and are highlighting each of the MVP award winners. Keep reading to understand how these devoted individuals add value to their workplace and contribute to the world around them.

When describing Mike Ryan, OMG President and CEO Hubert T. McGovern says, “Mike is a go above and beyond but do it quietly kind of employee.” OMG is a leading manufacturer of fastening products and technologies for commercial roofing and other industries worldwide, a member of the Roofing Alliance, and for the last 20 years, proud to call Mike Ryan an integral and exemplary asset to the company. Mike is currently a group leader in OMG’s maintenance department. He stands out for his continuous dedication to improvement and learning, passion for volunteering demonstrated by his eagerness to step up and help, and the admirably humble manner in which he contributes to the company.

As a group leader, Mike is crucial to upholding the company’s commitment to excellence and consistent delivery of a world-class product. OMG explained the significance of his role, saying,  “His area of responsibility includes maintaining the production and warehouse facilities supporting our Roofing Products Division, which manufactures and assembles innovative fasteners, adhesives, and roof drains for use by the commercial roofing contractor. The Roofing Products Division is responsible for the majority of the company’s sales and employs approximately half of OMG’s 600+ employee workforce.”

Approaching 22 years at the company, Mike has always displayed a strong dedication as an employee. OMG said, “A review of Mike’s performance record reveals a consistent pattern of excellence in several areas including adaptability, attendance, communication, cooperation, dependability, initiative, job knowledge, judgment, problem solving, quality and safety. He is also active in our community, supporting youth sports and serving as a certified volunteer youth football coach since 2011.”

When Mike first came to the company in 1998, he began as a maintenance technician. His supervisor at the time described Mike as “a self-motivated worker who was able to accomplish many special projects in a timely manner, and as an individual who contributed to a positive team spirit – putting the success of the team above his own interests.” Mike’s hard work would pave the way for a strong career path with the company.

After going back to school in 2009 to obtain his state license for overhead hoists, Mike took on the task of training new employees on equipment operation and maintenance, serving as a role model and mentor. The following year, Mike was promoted to maintenance technician II where he would work his way to maintenance technician III in 2014 before the promotion to his current role as group leader in 2018. Of Mike’s recent promotion, company President Hubert McGovern said, “In this role, Mike is responsible for coordinating and supervising the various engineering, maintenance, and repair projects involved with the upkeep of the equipment, buildings, and utility systems. Mike is successful at providing the level of supervision necessary to ensure that these services are provided in an efficient, cost-effective and expedient manner at the five locations that make up our headquarters in Agawam, MA.”

Some of Mike’s notable contributions to the company were given in his nomination. The company highlighted the following two examples from the last few years in which Mike demonstrated his strengths and the way in which he consistently goes above and beyond.  

“In 2015, Mike took over the responsibility for both machine and facilities repair at a packing and distribution facility we opened on our campus in Massachusetts. This was a unique assignment in the sense that Mike worked away from the rest of his team without direct daily supervision. Mike was the right person for the job, clearly capable of completing projects on time and at a high level of quality regardless of whether he was being supervised. Mike was recognized for the work he did on the setup and ongoing maintenance of this operation several times. The project involved managing outside contractors completing work that impacted the safety of the employees and building. Mike executed everything connected to this startup in a diligent, thorough, and efficient manner.”

In the next example, the company said, “In 2018, Mike’s responsibilities were expanded to cover the maintenance for an adjacent warehouse. Within a short time, Mike was described by his supervisor as having ’made a big difference managing the two buildings in safety and productivity.’ He was asked to help resolve problems for others because of his knowledge, experience and, especially, great attitude. Mike was described consistently as willing to help when asked, and often volunteering without being asked because he saw a need.”

The accomplishments and character defining Mike as an asset to the company have not gone unnoticed, and it is the humbleness with which any type of recognition is received that make him stand out. Company President Hubert McGovern explained, “He does not look for recognition and is humble when it is given, as we have on several occasions. Mike has been recognized as Employee of the Month several times and received our Right Stuff Award just recently. These awards are no surprise as Mike is organized, thorough, and delivers a consistently high output. Because of his work ethic and the quality of his results, Mike is often asked by teams outside of maintenance for support. Last year, Mike participated in the development of a new floor plan that makes it safer for employees and lift truck operators to do their work in two busy distribution locations. He has also assisted with the reorganization and layout of a hand packing operation, planning and organizing the moves each time because it required the shutdown of production equipment.”

As someone who has worked with Mike for most of his time at OMG, Wayne Ringenbach, director of manufacturing, described his overall experience with Mike in which he effectively summarizes the outstanding qualities that combine to make Mike shine.

Wayne said, “I have managed Mike directly or been responsible for managing Mike’s team for most of his 20 years with the company. During that time, Mike consistently has been an exemplary contributor. He is one of those employees you love to manage because he requires so little effort. He is conscientious, careful, deliberate, reliable and delivers results that are exceptional. Mike excels at OMG because to continuous improvement, safety, and quality. He excels because he cares about the company and the products we are manufacturing and delivering to our customers. Most importantly, he excels because he always goes above and beyond in every project you give him without prompting or follow up. He is someone we rely on and direct others to use as a role model. As a group leader, and even before Mike was given leadership responsibility, Mike set a strong example and worked on his own to mentor and coach his team members, especially new hires, to improve and meet goals."

For more information on the MVP awards and nomination visit the Roofing Alliance’s MVP Program webpage.