It’s No Secret—ORC Is a Great Place to Work

The last time Cecelia Brinke, the Director of Human Resources for Oregon Resources Corporation, placed a “help wanted” notice—for a forklift operator—more than 500 people applied.

“We are known here as one of the premier employers in the community, and the employer that’s actually doing some hiring,” said Brinke, who can relate to all those prospective employees. She was one herself only last January.

Cecelia Brinke

“I saw an article on ORC in the October issue of Mining Engineering,” said Brinke, a veteran of 25 years in human resources who was working for Freeport McMoran in Arizona at the time. “I had the article sitting on my desk for several months. Finally I picked up the phone and marketed myself. They made me an offer the day after Christmas and I started here January 10.”

It’s obviously no secret in the Coos Bay community that ORC is a great place to work. There are currently 68 fulltime employees at ORC, a number expected to swell to 72 in the next month or so as the company fully ramps up its excavation efforts. But that doesn’t count the vendors who also work on the site, and are all also local contractors. West Coast Resources, a local firm that does the actual excavation work, hired an additional eight people from the community to support ORC’s needs. And Jerry Bowers Trucking, a local contractor that is trucking the materials from the site, hired an additional 12 people, all from the Coos Bay and surrounding local area.

“Our administration and production is all 100 percent local,” Brinke said. “We like to highlight that fact. The local vendors, like the gym, and the bank, and AT&T, have all offered employees discounts. The World, our local newspaper, highlights our ‘Employee of the Week’ each week. Last week that was John Cook, one of our employees and a great guy. He’s been married for 28 years, has two great children, and born and raised in Coos County.”

Brinke can sincerely say that ORC takes care of its employees. She says the company offers “one of the best benefit packages in the community—major medical, dental and vision insurance,” for which the company pays 100 percent of the premium, and at least two weeks of vacation for every employee. Then there are employee luncheons during the week, like the barbecue they had May 24. And Boys and Girls Club functions that ORC supports.

“We are focusing on the opportunity of keeping it in the community, but also being able to give back to the community,” Brinke said.