Looking back into the last 12 months we see a lot going on at AMS. AMS Fulfillment is a company that has a strong commitment to workforce development; diversity, equity, inclusion and promotion from within; community service; safety of employees; growth and bringing together AMS East and West; top notch service to clients and respect for the environment. We’ve been doing it all, and in this writing we’ll look at some of the highlights of the year.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
In February the “Wall of Justice” mural was installed in the AMS classroom. This mural was created to recognize the March for Change that took place at AMS in response to the murder of George Floyd. At the installation, Ken Wiseman, AMS’ Chief Workforce Development Officer, offered some inspiring words: “This ‘Wall of Justice Mural’ memorializes and reflects our pledge towards Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity. Pause to look at it now and again, as its images and words represent the best of AMS moving forward.”
In March Ken Wiseman, was nominated for the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Award! He joined four other nominees on a panel called “Master Class on Diversity, Inclusion & Equity.”
AMS celebrated Women’s Equality Day in September by featuring and interviewing Betty-Lou Wiseman, President of AMS West; Kim Peszek, VP Client Engagement AMS East; and Carmen Kernek, Vice President of Human Resources.
In November the organization Diversity Works conducted an interview with Ken Wiseman in which Ken gave examples of how employees are respected as stakeholders. That interview was made available on YouTube.
Workforce Safety:
As readers are aware, AMS has a strong and consistent commitment to workforce safety. Throughout 2020 many steps were taken to keep covid infections at bay. We placed hand washing/sanitizing stations, pumps and wipes in our buildings; we brought in a 3rd Party cleaning agency to first do a deep cleaning in each building, and then provide 2-3 people onsite at each building each day to provide incremental sanitizing and cleaning services. We developed a checklist for all high-risk common touch areas that must get sanitized a minimum of 4x per day. In February of 2021 we stopped using steam cleaners and switched to spraying guns equipped with UV lights. The UV light is used in conjunction with a special mix that kills all viruses including COVID-19.
In June AMS held an OSHA Challenge and also scheduled the second Vaccine Clinic on campus with great success. About the vaccine clinics, Marco Pelaez, AMS VP of Operations said, “AMS rolled out their second vaccination clinic with a great success delivering close to 100 vaccines of which 70% were the second dose for our employees and family members, the other 30% were employees getting their first dose.”
AMS held a third mobile vaccination clinic on July 15th and the vaccine clinics continued throughout the Summer and Fall with the latest clinic being held on December 3rd. Marco Pelaez announced, “We’ve had another successful vaccination clinic this morning. Over 70 people were vaccinated; first, second, and the booster shot were provided.”
Company & Culture:
In February and March of 2021 we saw some exciting promotions: Eric Wiseman was promoted to Operations Director: Building; Shannon Crader was promoted to, Software Development Manager and Carmen Kernek was promoted to Vice President of Human Resources.
In March AMS was named a MCM Top 3PL for 2021, joining dozens of other leading third-party logistics providers selected by Multichannel Merchant in its sixth annual directory. MCM explained that “Each company has been selected based on their industry experience, services offered, performance and range of capabilities.”
In April AMS launched a new website to bring together its East and West Coast locations. Jay Catlin, AMS CEO, explained the planning and purpose of the new website. “For the past year AMS Fulfillment and Echo Data Group have been operating as one AMS family, yet with two public ‘faces’. During this one-year time period we have planned, created and now are launching a website that embraces the clients, employees and communities on both coasts.”
Also in April, AMS received the Middle Market Growth Workplace Award granted by the Association for Corporate Growth due to our extensive efforts in workforce development. In June AMS was featured in the magazine of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation as one of two outstanding B Corporations in the area. In October Retail Tech Insights Magazine recognized AMS Fulfillment as a “Top E-Commerce Fulfillment Company 2021” and featured AMS’ CEO, Jay Catlin in a cover story interview.
Finally, in December CEO Jay Catlin was interviewed again when AMS was honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal “Disruptor Awards” in the Sustainability category for its efforts as a B Corporation in protecting the environment. In the interview, Jay explained that a B Corporation considers its obligation to do good for the world a primary goal, over and above the “bottom line.”
AMS Green Team:
To celebrate Earth Day in April, the AMS Green Team published an extensive report with the following highlights: In 2017 AMS adopted Vanpool, taking 22 vehicles off the road; in 2018 we implemented our first partnership in recyclable bin sortation; in 2019 we implemented a companywide recycling program on warehouse floors, and adopted Eco Green cleaning agents. In 2020 we reduced electrical consumption and replaced our propane powered machinery with rechargeable battery-type machines; we began recycling cardboard and used metal products and began exchanging and re-using pallets with our vendor. In 2021 we installed LED lighting and natural skylights in every warehouse; began using disposable compostable paper cups and table cloths for employee events and placed purified water dispensers in each warehouse to encourage re-usable water bottles. Our future plans are to adopt solar energy sourcing, carbon credits, and Client Participation.
In September the AMS Volunteer Committee stepped in to support Green Team efforts by organizing participation in environmental programs taking place on both coasts: Work day: Kelly’s Run Invasive Removal in Lancaster, PA, and the 26th Annual River Rally Cleanup in Santa Clarita, CA.
Congratulations AMS for making 2021 a hard-working year of growth, service to clients, protection of the workforce, advancement of DE&I and commitment to the protection of the environment.
Last January, in our first blog of 2021, we talked about the upcoming Chinese ‘Year of the Ox’, and described the Ox as strong, hard-working and persevering. Looking back at 2021 it does seem an accurate prediction. Coming up in 2022 is the ‘Year of the Tiger’! What does the Tiger mean? The description we found is… “Tigers are strong in the face of adversity and never back down from a challenge, they’re persistent and determined.” It sounds like another good year coming up for AMS Fulfillment!
