JCI GM Announcement Agg & Mining Group

Photo: Avril Watt, GM Eugene, at the 70th Annual Springfield Chamber Awards & Installation Banquet

Article submitted by Johnson Crushers International

As we simplify, focus and grow our company I am pleased to announce the following General Manager appointments in our Agg and Mining Group. Each of these General Managers will report to me. 

Avril Watt, GM Eugene 

Avril Watt was born and raised in Northern Ireland and after graduating High School she spent ten years in various public sector roles. In 1996 she pursued an opportunity to spend one year attending college in the U.S. and this evolved into a four year Bachelor of Theology degree. In 2004 Avril earned an MBA and accepted a management role in Human Resources with an electronics manufacturing company in Portland, OR. In 2013 she joined the Astec family as the HR Manager with Johnson Crushers International, Inc., transitioning to an Operations Manager role in early 2019. She serves on the Executive Board of Springfield Chamber of Commerce and is the Chair of their Education Committee. For fun, she loves watching her favorite team, Liverpool FC who play in the English Premier League. 

Brad Dickinson, GM Thornbury 

Brad Dickinson, P.Eng, joined Breaker Technology as a Senior Industrial Engineer in 2012. In 2014 he provided leadership to Production, Manufacturing Engineering and Maintenance as Plant Manager before being promoted to Director of Operational Excellence and Facilities Manager. Prior to joining Breaker Technology, Brad held technical and leadership positions with Solectron Global Services, Nortel Networks and General Electric. Brad holds a B.A.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Windsor as well as a Diploma of Civil Engineering from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. 

Steve Sager, GM Mequon 

Steve Sager received his undergraduate degree from South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Industrial Engineering. He is also a certified ‘Lean’ Practitioner and a certified Six Sigma Blackbelt. He has worked in the manufacturing and service industries over the last 24 years in various capacities – Field Engineer, Manufacturing/Industrial Engineer, Lean Consultant, Production Supervisor, Lean & Quality Manager and most recently Staff Level Manager as OpEx Director at Kolberg Pioneer, Inc.. Sager has specialized in leadership training and development, manufacturing management, strategic planning, quality management, productivity improvements and waste elimination through process optimization, facility layout, workstation design, and work methods analysis. He has also designed and implemented multiple product flow lines, cellular layouts and facility layouts 

In his tenure at KPI, Sager has had the role of Lean/Quality Manager & OpEx Director, responsible for the company’s Continuous Improvement System and Quality Management System. He was also assigned the Outsourcing Project Manager role for a year to develop partnerships and manage equipment outsourcing requirements. 

She looks forward to leading the Aggregate and Mining Eugene team during this transformational period. 

Mark Fisher, GM Omagh 

Mark Fisher is a Certified Professional Accountant. After University he worked for Ernst and Young for over 10 years in Ireland and the USA as Finance and Business Development Manager. He joined Telestack in 2012, and following their acquisition by Astec in 2014, Mark has been the Company Controller, and for the last four years has been Finance Director. Mark will continue to reside in Omagh as General Manager. 

Please join me in congratulating Brad, Steve, Avril and Mark on their well-deserved promotions!