Despite the changes brought about by the pandemic, 2022 was a very good year at AMS Fulfillment!
Vaccination Clinic
How did the year begin? Looking back we see the seventh successful vaccination clinic held by the AMS Safety Team. It was held on January 7th, and the total number of employees and members of the community taking advantage of this free clinic was 140 people. According to Marco Pelaez, VP of Operations, as of this clinic, 95% of AMS employees are fully vaccinated. Read about it HERE. Thank you Marco!!
Black History Month
As we moved into February, our focus was on Black History Month. We recognized that “Black history in the US began with a decision to deny the humanity of another human for the sake of extracting a profit.” As an organization we are dedicated to repairing that decision by honoring every human being. Read about it HERE. Also, as a B Corporation, in recognition of Black History Month, we recommended Valentine shopping at a Black-owned B Corp called SOKO. The story is HERE.
New Chief Financial Officer
More big news in February of 2022: Bobbi Booher joined AMS as our Chief Financial Officer. Bobbi is responsible for all Finance and Accounting matters at AMS. She also is tasked with overseeing Human Resources. Her previous experience makes her a tremendous advocate for the AMS workforce. And Bobbi is aligned with the B Corporation culture as well. Read about Bobbi HERE.
Warehouse Safety
In March the focus was once again on safety as AMS made a significant change to OSHA training. Matthew Warholy, Security & Safety Manager at AMS pointed out that the changes are simply common sense: “I realized that we weren’t providing equal resources for our Spanish speaking, and limited English speaking employees. This week we had our first OSHA Safety Walk in Spanish, and it was a huge success!” Read that story HERE.
Women’s History
March is Women’s History Month; Women’s History Week began March 7th and March 8th was International Women’s Day. We gave a special salute to the women in leadership positions at AMS Fulfillment: “In recognition of the Women at AMS, we asked the President of AMS West, Betty-Lou; our CFO, Bobbi; Carmen, our VP of Human Resources; and Maryanne and Zuleika, Client Services Directors, if they would be willing to tell us what woman in their life, whether historical, personal or professional, inspired and motivated them to achieve.” Their inspiring stories were published HERE.
Earth Day
April marks one of the most relevant, historic and important global commemorative days – Earth Day. AMS has a team focused on the environment and sustainability called the Green Team. In March the Teams from AMS West and AMS East made the following announcement: “The Purchasing Department has designed a Catalog of best options for our packing material and our COO, Daniel Butera, is working towards less wasteful shrink pallet wrap. Each meeting we are excited to bring ‘Being the Change’ to the table.” Our AMS Green Team is active, committed, and accomplishing things!! Green Team members: Daniel Butera, COO; Samantha Hicks, Senior Program Administrator; and Jeff Pierson, Acct. Manager Client Services contributed to an Earth Day Report. Read the Earth Day Rep
Single Mothers Outreach
In recognition of Mother’s Day, AMS featured an organization called Single Mothers Outreach in Santa Clarita. One of the things Single Mothers Outreach (SMO) does is assist individuals with job training. As one of the major job providers in the community, AMS provides the opportunity and welcomes the trainees. In addition, thanks to the commitment of AMS’ Betty-Lou Wiseman, we donate clothing and products to their store, Closet on Main. SMO offered the following: “Not only have the products donated by AMS become a pillar to the success of our store, but also a source of joy for our moms. Saturday the 7th we will be hosting a brunch and each mom will receive a beautiful goodie bag with amazing products donated by AMS.” Read the full story HERE.
Pride Month
June is PRIDE MONTH! AMS Fulfillment strives to create a corporate culture that is truly inclusive, and eager to give respect to voices that have been historically excluded. We have a stronger company and a happier family because of the diverse talent, diverse backgrounds, and diverse experiences of our teams today, and we intend to continue on that foundation and improve whatever needs improvement as we go forward. Read the Pride Month story HERE.
Classes Begin Again
In June the AMS Learning Center opened back up to classes after having been closed due to the pandemic. In early 2020 the Advance My Skills Learning Center classes were put on hold out of concerns for employee safety with only the most essential warehouse safety training continuing. Now we are returning to the classes. With that return there is some excitement as follows: “ESL (1A/Beginning) is at full capacity! We are not accepting any new applications and interested employees will be placed on a waiting list. We are excited for our Spanish speaking Employees to start their English learning journey with College of the Canyons Summer Session 2022, right here at AMS Learning Center. Read the story HERE.
New VP of Marketing
In July AMS welcomed our new Vice President of Marketing, Sarah Smith. Sarah has more than 16 years of marketing experience, with over five years specifically in the eCommerce & fulfillment industry. AMS CEO, Jay Catlin extended his greeting! “We are so excited to be adding Sarah as our very first seasoned marketing professional to the Sales & Marketing Team at AMS! It’s a true Team effort at AMS within this department, and Sarah is already becoming a fantastic contributor and collaborator. Welcome aboard Sarah!” Read about it HERE.
Promotion – VP for WAMS
In August we announced that Ken Shaw has been promoted to Vice President of Product Management for WAMS. Ken’s new role is leading the Product Management team including all things related to WAMS going forward. This includes all order processing and integration systems such as WAMS, Warehouse Services, InOrder, ProShip, SluPaq, etc. Congratulations Ken! Read more HERE.
Donation to LA Children’s Project
Toward the end of August AMS donated a forklift to Lost Angels Children’s Project (LACP). This donation allows young trainees to get into the task of learning the necessary repairs to make the forklift operable, and once repaired it will be used to train and certify the students. LACP is an organization that helps disadvantaged youth by teaching them how to work on classic cars and learn other skills that are transferrable into industry. We are so happy to help them succeed and help open doors and opportunities that improve their quality of life. Read more HERE.
Veterans Day
November 11th is Veterans Day and we truly appreciate and value the Veterans among our employees. Our annual message was written to recognize and appreciate those in the AMS workforce who are veterans. As an employer we are aware of employment issues that veterans face after discharge from service. We look for ways to help those who are returning to civilian life, making veterans an important part of our workforce development programs. One of the biggest challenges faced by service agencies is helping homeless and vulnerable veterans find and keep good jobs. This is where our employment practices and workforce development can come into play. And we are proud to have a long history of hiring veterans in need. Read the salute to our military HERE.
Thanksgiving Giving Tradition
In November and December AMS continued some of the most enjoyable community involvement and that involvement has long been a tradition. Betty-Lou Wiseman agreed to share her stories of how the employees of AMS were inspired and the Thanksgiving program became an established part of the AMS culture. Betty-Lou talked about a 15 year history of giving Thanksgiving meals to families in need. “Fifteen years ago, AMS started working with the Youth Activity League in Val Verdes to help at risk youth get jobs at AMS. We started by interviewing 12 students (16), we coached them on how to write a resume, how to dress and be confident in their interview. We hired over 10 students and continued working with Deputy Rooney from the YAL program to keep the tradition going.” From this beginning, other ways of helping the youth led to a long and beautiful relationship of AMS with families in need within the community. AMS leadership and employees started contributing to a Thanksgiving program, dedicated to feeding the families in need. Read the inspiring story HERE.
Adopt a Family
Not only does AMS look after Val Verdes families for Thanksgiving, we also have a 12-year history of giving Christmas gifts. In December Betty-Lou continued her story as follows: “AMS supporting the Youth Activity League’s families for Thanksgiving was just the beginning. After a successful giving tradition to the Val Verdes community, we decided to continue with the giving spirit by adopting families for Christmas. Working directly with Deputy Rooney who identified families that were in need, our journey began in this holiday tradition.” Read the full “Adopt a Family” story HERE.
“Adopt a Family” concludes our year in review! The AMS culture is focused on the employees, the community, the environment and the clients. It is inspiring when Business focuses on Being the Change we want to see in the world. AMS is unique in the world of fulfillment as a certified B Corporation.
