Two 50-year Legacies At Amherst Madison
For employees in the United States, the median tenure with their current employer stood at 4.1 years in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s down from 4.6 years in 2012. Nearly a quarter of all employees have been with their current employer for 12 months or less. And for workers 55 years old and above, 28.7 percent have been with their current company for 20 years or more.
How many people work for the same employer for more than 50 years? So few that BLS doesn’t even track that statistic. But Charleston, W.Va.-based Amherst Madison does. The company, founded in 1893, already had several reach the impressive milestone, and now two more have joined them.
“We could not ask for a more talented and dedicated workforce,” said Robert McCoy, president and CEO of Amherst Madison.
Celebrating Nancy Summers and Capt. Bill Barr
Nancy Summers began her career with Amherst in 1974 as an accounting clerk. It all began with a phone call to Drema Woods, currently corporate secretary of Amherst. Summers asked Woods if there were any job openings. Neither could have known what would come of that phone call, but that starting job was all Summers needed to launch a lasting and impactful career.
A few years after Summers joined Amherst, the company moved to a computer system to handle payroll. A transition from typewriter to computer was a big step for every employer in that era, and it took the right personnel to make the transition seamless. Summers was “instrumental in getting the new system launched,” Woods said. Summers has managed payroll for all non-management personnel since 1980. Today, Summers remains dedicated to assuring that more than 300 employees receive their paycheck without fail regardless of holidays or weekends.
Her vacations for more than 40 years have been scheduled around pay day.
According to Jeremy Hodges, chief financial officer and treasurer of Amherst Madison, Summers is “dedicated, dependable and loyal with an unmatched work ethic.” Summers and Amherst look forward to more time together. Retirement, Hodges said with relief, has not been discussed.
Capt. Bill Barr, the subject of an article in the September 18, 2020, issue of The Waterways Journal, is well known both at Amherst Madison and along the inland river system. Many fondly know him as “Bowtie Bill.” Barr is currently vice president of safety and compliance at Amherst Madison, a position he has held since 2001. His interest in a career in the river industry goes back to when he was a young man.
In early May 1970, Barr boarded the mv. J.S. Lewis to work under port engineer Jim Bentley as a striker in the engine room and flunky in the galley. That was just the start of his rise at Madison Coal & Supply, now known as Amherst Madison. After graduating from Marietta College, he pursued his first-class pilot’s license. Capt. Barr then went back to school, earning a master’s degree in industrial relations from West Virginia University.
At the time, Charlie Jones, a legendary figure in the river industry and then president of Amherst Madison, assured Barr that the door would stay open for his return after he finished his degree. He kept that promise. Barr returned to Amherst Madison, nearly around the same time that Summers joined the company, for what began his 50 years of continuous employment. Barr has aided the industry by participating in The American Waterways Operators safety committee and by serving as president of the Huntington District Waterways Association. River historians who share his passion have benefited from his involvement in the Sons & Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen organization and the associated J. Mack Gamble Fund.
While Barr intends to retire at the end of 2024, his legacy at Amherst Madison and his impact on the river industry at large will endure.
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Photo caption: Capt. Bill Barr and Nancy Summers pose with the anchor displayed at Port Amherst in Charleston, W.Va., during their recent 50th employment anniversary celebration. (Photo courtesy of Amherst Madison)
