Tracey Chase, Fort McMurray Valve & Fitting Operations Supervisor

She keeps our Fort McMurray branch running smoothly - and brought us a couple of recruits

If you have ever visited our Fort McMurray branch of Edmonton Valve & Fitting, you very likely have seen or talked with branch manager, Tracey Chase. She has been with the company for 13 years, but she's been in Fort McMurray much longer. Her family settled there at the start of the 1970s boom, and she has raised her family here and she never left. "I'm a lifer," she says.

Like many people who have come to work for us, valves and fittings were not her original area of interest. Tracey was trained in early childhood development and started out in that career. But after 12 years she wanted something different, and worked as an assistant manager for a couple of shoe companies. Then in 2000 a newspaper ad caught her attention, and she interviewed with us. 

Tracey was a key hire, as that was the year we opened the Fort McMurray branch. She may have had a steep learning curve when it came to the Swagelok product line, but she had the managerial skills and customer service skills to get her off to a strong start.

She now has four people working with her in the shop, two in the warehouse and two customer services reps. There is also one account manager that is full time in Fort McMurray and a couple other account managers than come in for a few days a month each. The branch has grown briskly in sustaining Fort McMurray's rapid growth in all of its industry sectors.

"I wear many hats at my job; I am a Supervisor, Customer Service Rep, Office Admin, and Office Manager along with branch team training and office maintenance. We want to cross train all our staff in all areas as we are a small group and want our customers to have the best service we can possibly provide. I also represent the company on the condo board for the unit we own here," she says. Fortunately, she likes to stay busy.

"Sometimes I'm overly busy, but that's when I reach out to other people in the shop to help out with certain tasks," she says. But customers always come first. "If somebody comes in, I'm going to assist them before anything else."

Tracey has made Swagelok something of a family involvement. Her husband, Peter, has been a great support; he helps out with forklift training and other odd jobs. Her daughter Sarah works in the Edmonton warehouse after starting as a part-timer in Fort McMurray. But the family has no problems leaving work at work and enjoying other aspects of life. Tracey likes to play with her grandson and enjoys relaxing with yoga, golf, and fishing. On her last trip to British Columbia, she and Peter got to do some ocean fishing and caught some nice sockeye salmon.  "Mine were keepers, and hubby's were throw backs," she says with a smile.

If you're in the Fort McMurray area, stop by and meet Tracey and get to know your local branch better.  For more information, call the Fort Mac branch at 780-790-0640.