It is said that for every job there is a tool – that one specific tool designed for a specific task. The same can be said of companies when they hire people with a set of skills to do the work assigned them. Of course, there is also the Swiss Army knife to act as a single tool that can be there for hundreds of jobs. Companies have those too and at AffinEco, one of them is Ceferino Venes.
Venes works as a route supervisor overseeing approximately 15 properties in Connecticut. His main job is that of the venerable Swiss Army knife: he’s there for whatever happens to be needed at the time.
“He goes out there and does just about everything,” according to his supervisor Pedro Ruiz. “He delivers supplies and is there to assist employees with jobs or training. He does a lot of that training himself.”
Ruiz says Venes is also the one to call in the event there are any customer complaints. Venes will investigate and, if there is something to be fixed, he will fix it. Ruiz knows that when Venes is on the job, he need not worry.
For his part, Venes loves it. He recognizes his role is to support all the people working on his route. After starting as a night supervisor for the crew cleaning the buildings at the University of Bridgeport five years ago, he moved to a similar position overseeing the crew at Housatonic Community College. It was a little over a year ago that he got the promotion to his current position.
“I do everything,” Venes said. “Check in on all accounts and make sure everyone has what they need. I like it so much. It’s fun and I work with some great people.”
It is that great attitude and willingness to help anyone that helps Venes stand out. When Ruiz took a recent vacation, it was Venes who stepped up to cover both jobs for the week.
“He was doing my job and his job for the week I was out,” he says. “That is not an easy task at all.”
When he’s not working, Venes said, he enjoys spending time with his family. He has four kids of his own and is now also a grandfather. He says he loves the job but then loves coming home to the growing family. He credits AffinEco for making it all possible.
“AffinEco is a good company to work for because they’re very supportive of everything,” he says. “I’m happy to give 100 percent to my job.”
As lucky as Venes says he is to work for the company, Ruiz says the company is lucky to have him. Venes is someone other workers view as a leader. He helps train them and teaches them how to do jobs about which they may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable.
“He swoops right in and trains people. If it came to it, he can – and many times has – done the job himself,” said Ruiz, who sums it best when he talks about the intangibles Venes brings to job calling him “just one of those guys.”
“He touches all the bases. He’s got a great attitude and goes above and beyond. [He] just never says no.”
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