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The Great Lakes Group > Blog > The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard Employee Recognition 2024

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The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard Employee Recognition 2024

12/27/2024

As we look back on 2024, we are proud to reflect on the resilience, cre­ativ­i­ty, and deter­mi­na­tion demon­strat­ed by our team. It has been a year of chal­lenges, but also of incred­i­ble achievements—both indi­vid­ual and col­lec­tive. To hon­or these efforts, our employ­ee recog­ni­tion pro­gram has played a cen­tral role in fos­ter­ing a cul­ture of appre­ci­a­tion and moti­va­tion. Employ­ee recog­ni­tion is more than just a pat on the back; it’s about valu­ing the hard work, inno­va­tion, and ded­i­ca­tion that indi­vid­u­als bring to the table. 

Employee of the Year Administration and Operations

Pres­i­dent Joe Star­ck pre­sent­ed Bran­don Cron­lotac with the Office and Oper­a­tions Employ­ee of the Year Award. Bran­don quick­ly became a stand­out employ­ee due to his strong work eth­ic, eager­ness to accept new chal­lenges, and unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to excel­lence. His proac­tive approach to prob­lem-solv­ing and his abil­i­ty to inspire his peers have made him a valu­able asset to the team. By con­tin­u­ous­ly seek­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to grow and con­tribute, Bran­don exem­pli­fies the core val­ues of our organization.

Employee of the Year The Great Lake Towing Company

In a field where team­work, pre­ci­sion, and resilience are para­mount, one indi­vid­ual has dis­tin­guished them­selves this year. We are proud to announce that Chris Swenk, a ded­i­cat­ed crewmem­ber based in Cleve­land, has been hon­ored with the Employ­ee of the Year Award for our Tow­ing division.

Chris’s jour­ney is a tes­ta­ment to hard work and growth, hav­ing advanced through the ranks after near­ly a decade as an Oper­a­tions Coor­di­na­tor. His pas­sion for his work, unwa­ver­ing pos­i­tive atti­tude, and open­ness to embrac­ing new tech­nolo­gies make him an invalu­able asset to our team. 

Chris Swenk ERP 2024

Employee of the Year Great Lakes Shipyard

Great Lakes Ship­yard Employ­ee of the Year Award rec­og­nizes not only tech­ni­cal exper­tise but also the ded­i­ca­tion, integri­ty, and team­work that dri­ve our orga­ni­za­tion for­ward. Antho­ny Sig­norel­lo, our Qual­i­ty Tech­ni­cian, exem­pli­fies a work eth­ic and pas­sion that inspires those around him to strive for excel­lence each and every day. He is always up for new chal­lenges includ­ing tak­ing on Project Man­ag­er duties on a few projects this year. Anthony’s tech­ni­cal exper­tise and lead­er­ship ensured seam­less project com­ple­tion. His con­tri­bu­tions have not only advanced the suc­cess of our ship­yard divi­sion but also rein­forced our com­mit­ment to deliv­er­ing excep­tion­al qual­i­ty in every project we undertake.

Chairman’s Award

The Chair­man’s Award was cre­at­ed by our late Chair­man, Shelly Guren, to hon­or an excep­tion­al employ­ee who deserves spe­cial recog­ni­tion for their contributions.

Jon Lei­vo, Vice Pres­i­dent of Engi­neer­ing at Great Lakes Ship­yard, has been a cor­ner­stone of our suc­cess through his hands-on lead­er­ship and excep­tion­al exper­tise in ship­build­ing and repair. From design­ing and con­struct­ing tugs to over­see­ing com­plex repairs and dry­dock­ing, Jon ensures every project is exe­cut­ed to the high­est standards.

A true leader, Jon tack­les chal­lenges with inno­v­a­tive solu­tions, set­ting an exam­ple that inspires the entire team to excel. His unwa­ver­ing ded­i­ca­tion and impact­ful con­tri­bu­tions have ele­vat­ed our oper­a­tions, and we are proud to cel­e­brate his remark­able achievements.