Wrench of the Year 2015 – Results

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Wrench of the Year Award 2015: Dan Wagner, plant engineer and maintenance manager at Brentwood Corporation; and Don Eaton, plant engineer at the Portland facility of Darigold.

The Wrench of the Year Award honors two true “wrenches” – folks diligently working in the ducts, rafters, floors and trenches to make machines run right and tight. The awards are given to personnel working in facility management where their work contributed significantly to energy efficiency improvement during the award year. Winners are involved in day-to-day management of facility operations, efficiency measures or procedures, and their work has demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement in energy efficiency.

“There were so many great nominees and each person really deserves to win,” said Lauren Bromley of Abacus Resource Management, member of the selection panel. Jason Jepsen, President of AEE CRC, adds, “The Wrench of the Year Award seeks to recognize the grit and gristle of successful mechanical energy improvements. It’s where the rubber meets the road, the details that matter and need to happen. Who is going the extra mile to keep machines and operations on tack?”

Dan Wagner spearheaded the purchase and implementation of an innovative controls package that not only displaced the costly purchase of an additional dust collection system, it reduced the annual system energy consumption by over 56 percent.

Don Eaton was nominated for overseeing the implementation of Darigold’s new compressed air dryer, taking it upon himself to work closely with vendors on installation and proper functioning of a highly complex system, including correctly diagnosing and resolving multiple system level issues.

The Wrench of the Year Award includes an attractive trophy, a $500 check, and the responsibility of helping to select next year’s winners. The trophy is beautiful enough to mount in the living room, yet useful enough for the shop. The 12″ Blue-Pointe crescent wrench is fastened with powerful magnets, allowing quick removal in case of maintenance. The winners were nominated and selected by peers working in the energy field, and honored at the AEE CRC Annual Holiday party December 10th at Lompoc Brewery’s Sidebar.