Where the Jobs Are: Veritas Has Steel Appeal
build your future – and America’s bridges – with a career at Eau Claire’s Veritas Steel
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you’re making an impact in your job. Progress can be slow, invisible, or even nonexistent. At the end of the workday, what do you really have to show for the hours you put in?
This isn’t the case at Veritas Steel in Eau Claire, which fabricates steel bridges for transportation projects around the United States.
“From when you start to when you go home, you can see progress,” explained Iain Cochran, the company’s Vice President of Estimating and Project Management. “Something is tangible: You can touch it, you can feel it.”
This feeling extends far beyond a given shift: “When you drive around you can see bridges and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve worked on that. I know where that came from,’ ” he added.
Veritas Steel’s handiwork can be seen from right here in the Chippewa Valley to St. Louis, Detroit, and even the nation’s capital. Veritas fabricated the steel arches used on the landmark Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.
“We’re a Wisconsin facility, but we’re sending projects all over the country,” said Kevin Bird, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Decades from now, the multi-ton pieces of steel fabricated, welded, and painted here in Eau Claire will still be holding the nation’s infrastructure together.
“When you drive around you can see bridges and say, ‘Yeah, I’ve worked on that. I know where that came from.’ ”
Veritas Steel employs about 140 people on its shop floor in Eau Claire. That’s thanks in part to increased federal funding for infrastructure projects. The steady need for infrastructure upgrades and the long lead-time for projects – which can take from six months to two years to complete – means Veritas and its employees are largely insulated from economic downturns.
Because of intended growth, there are numerous jobs available. According to Lisa Heidtke, Talent Acquisition and Engagement Leader, “We prefer candidates have at least some construction or fabrication background, and should be prepared for physically demanding work. But on-the-job training is provided, and there are opportunities for advancement for those who put in the effort.”
“If they show initiative and drive, and they are here every day, there are endless opportunities for them to learn and grow throughout their whole career,” Heidtke said.
All positions at Veritas are full-time, and there’s plenty of opportunity for voluntary overtime. The plant operates three shifts, including first and second shifts on weekdays plus a weekend shift.
Pay for first shift, which runs Monday-Thursday 5am to 4:20pm, starts at over $22 an hour, while second shift, which is Monday-Thursday 4:30pm to 3:50am, has starting pay of over $23 an hour. The weekend shift is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5am to 5pm, and pay starts at over $25 an hour. (Because the weekend shift is just 36 hours long, overtime pay kicks in after 36 hours.)
Employee benefits include health insurance, dental and vision coverage, employer-paid life insurance, employer-paid short-term disability, and an employer-paid pension plan, paid time off, and more.
Beyond these benefits, there’s the feeling that comes from building things that last for generations. Heidtke shared a story about a longtime employee who was proud to take his kids boating on the Chippewa River. He showed them the North Crossing bridge, whose huge steel spans he helped build right here in Eau Claire. Now, he’s able to share that same accomplishment with this grandchildren.
“We’re here to stay, we’re not going anywhere,” said Cochran, who noted that the company’s roots go back more than a century in Eau Claire to Phoenix Steel. “From that regard, it’s a good place to get in. We’ve been here for over a hundred years.”
“We’re trying to find people who do want to make it a career here,” Heidtke added.
Interested in exploring a career at Veritas Steel? Job postings are always up to date online: Visit veritassteel.com/careers and click on “See Job Openings.” You can also reach out to the Eau Claire Plant, 2800 Melby St., at (715) 835-2800.
