Ben Smith, UMC, Inc. 2022
Finding the right work environment isn’t easy. Here at UMC, Inc., we’ve worked hard to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all our employees. We focus on communication, integrity, and supporting one another as we all strive to be a little better each day. One of our most recent hires, Ben Smith, noticed the difference here at UMC, Inc. from the start.
Ben joined our team in February this year as an assistant project manager. He came from a woodworking company where he had been a project manager for the past five years, but he wasn’t happy. The environment was toxic, and there was no room for growth and little support. Ben wanted a change, and luckily he found UMC!
As part of our team, Ben quickly jumped into work on two of our big projects here in Salt Lake City. The Sorella is a new, nine-building, 219-unit, multi-family project under construction. The Vida project has seven buildings and 230 units and is now under construction in Salt Lake. As the assistant project manager, Ben is the main point of contact for the site supervisors. His role is to ensure that they have the support they need and meet timelines and schedules. In addition, Ben enjoys making sure that all the weekly targets and goals are met, so these projects keep moving forward!
As he’s started working on these large projects, Ben relied on the integrity of his fellow UMC, Inc. employees. He knows that his teammates support him and work hard each day. So when he’s coordinating with employees on the job site, he knows that he’s getting a clear picture of how each project is progressing because of our on-site employees’ dedication to quality and commitment.
We support our employees through our company book club, where we share and discuss some of our favorite leadership and values-based literature. Ben’s joined the club here at UMC and loved the first book he got to read, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Values by Patrick Lencioni. Reading and discussing this book with his UMC, Inc. teammates helped Ben change his communication approach and see things from other perspectives. He says that it’s modified how he approaches his job for the better, and he’s so grateful for that mindset shift.
Even though he’s just started with UMC, Inc., Ben’s excited for the future. He loves the company atmosphere and culture and enjoys working with UMC, Inc. team members. In the future, he hopes to move up to a project manager position and even further because he knows that at UMC, Inc., he will be supported and encouraged!
