![]() The company is currently looking to hire qualified electrical and mechanical engineers, among other positions. Sentry currently has about 220 employees in Forest and about 37 employees at its robotics group, Sen-Pack, which is located in Deland, Florida. We work with food, gasoline, and even shingles.” “But in today’s market, we’re very diverse. “During our installation days, 99.9% of what we did was beverage,” Goff says. Sentry’s work is not limited to the beverage industry. Sentry’s location in Central Virginia is ideal due to the beverage company’s large contingent from the east to west coast. Womack adds that Sentry’s conveyors are the “Cadillac of conveyors,” which are ideal for large companies such as Coca-Cola that “run all day and all night seven days a week and need something that’s going to last a long time.” “They are the best and most well-known machines we build.” “Bulk depalletizers are the flagship of our company,” Goff says. Among the myriad services and products Sentry offers, its bulk depalletizers and conveyors are the most highly requested. “Taking something from raw metal to a top-of-the-line running machine gives you a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction,” says David Woods, Shop Manager. The factory housed in Sentry’s 250,000-square-foot headquarters in Forest boasts numerous departments that work together to take products from start to finish. The first thing that Sentry does when a customer needs something fixed is ask, ‘when can I get there to fix it?’ rather than ‘how much are you going to pay us to fix it?’” Goff adds that he believes Sentry is “one of the few companies left that will do a verbal agreement with a customer to start the manufacturing portion of a project before getting the banks involved.” Sentry has clearly found a win-win approach for itself and its customers with abundant repeat business. “A lot of companies that are owned by corporations or are publicly traded are counting and squabbling over nickels,” Womack notes. Sentry also strives to treat its customers like family. “We care about our employees and how they feel, and they know they can pick up the phone and call us at home.” ![]() “This company has grown a lot over the years, but we have always been and always will be family-oriented,” says Tim Woodson, President. Most importantly, Sentry strives to maintain a family-like atmosphere among its employees. “When you embrace that, you know that the outcome is not predetermined it is what you make it.” In addition to ESOP, Sentry offers no-cost health, dental, and life insurance for employees, their spouses, and their dependents, a 401(k) program with company match, ample opportunities to advance within the company, and college tuition reimbursement. ![]() “Everybody here has embraced the notion of being an employee owner,” says Les Womack, Operations Manager. The ESOP program has been instrumental in Sentry’s success. “Adam could have sold our business to a multitude of different companies, but he and Carole decided early on that they wanted to leave this company to the people who helped build it with them,” Goff says. Now the company’s earnings enrich the employees’ retirement savings. ![]() When he retired, Vinoskey sold his stock to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) through which employees could earn shares of the company in their retirement plan. “From there, we grew out of the installation company to progress to a full manufacturing facility which grew exponentially,” says Greg Goff, Vice President of Sales. Adam ultimately agreed, and Sentry’s first conveyor was built in 1986. Before founding Sentry, Adam was the general manager of an installation company, and Coca-Cola approached him numerous times to build conveyors. Instead of seeing their work from a distance, I had the opportunity to visit Sentry and talk with four longstanding employees to learn more about the company’s history, projects, and goals for the future.Īdam and Carole Vinoskey founded Sentry in 1980. If you happened to watch the 2011 episode of National Geographic’s show “Ultimate Factories” featuring the Coca-Cola Bottling Company United facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana-or caught it later on YouTube-you witnessed Sentry’s impressive array of equipment in action at length. Pepper and watch the Super Bowl (specifically the commercials), you have likely seen the handiwork of Sentry Equipment & Erectors, Inc. If you enjoy any beverages produced by Coca-Cola or Keurig Dr.
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