In her own words: Tricia Schweiss, Senior Vice-President of Market Development, Sunbelt Solomon
What or who fueled your interest in manufacturing?
I can’t pinpoint when my interest in manufacturing actually occurred- but at a young age I knew manufacturing was a sustainable area to grow my expertise. In the Sharon area we always had great companies that had a great reputation and talking with individuals that worked for those companies really help me identify how a career in manufacturing could be long lasting.
What is your current role in manufacturing?
I am currently the Sr. VP of Market Development and my role is to focus on new business and growing our existing customer base for the company. Ultimately in simple terms- the growth and profitability of the commercial side. I am lucky to have a fantastic team that helps come up with specific strategies across all customer segments focusing on all divisions of the company. We do more than just rebuild transformers- we have a rental side, field service, repair, and much more! It’s about providing our customers custom solutions and executing on our commitments.
Describe your path to get to where you are today.
Prior to my current company- I worked for a manufacturer focused on the chemical side. I knew eventually I wanted to get back to where I grew up, so when a role at Sunbelt came available, I knew I wanted to see what it was about. I started in a marketing role, but quickly transitioned to all facets of the business that were all geared toward customer facing roles. I have been extremely fortunate to be able to grow within the company and continue to add to my skillset still to this day even after 13 years! Being eager and asking questions and digging in deep when something doesn’t makes sense is really what growth is about. Understanding and asking ourselves what else can we be doing better—something that we should be asking ourselves on a daily basis.
What is your Superpower?
I would not say I have any “superpowers” but the one thing I LOVE getting to do every day is work alongside a fantastic team of individuals that continue to impress me every day. When I say I have the best team around- I surely mean it. Getting a chance to help lead them and help create sustainable actions plans is really what makes me wake up everyday ready to go.
Why is your role important to others – like to customers or end users?
Ultimately I am responsible for making sure our customers get handled quickly & efficiently with the products & services they require. I work alongside and help lead a commercial team that is 100% focused on providing our customer solutions to help bring any project to life and/or even to get them back up & running in emergency situations.
What do you think the future holds for your career or others you inspire?
When I was in grade school figuring out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life- I only knew I wanted to have a job that allowed me to be creative yet focus on working with people. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant at the time or even what to major in. I ended up majoring in marketing from Westminster College and after college I quickly got a marketing role at a chemical manufacturer. During my time there, I was able to do marketing, but also quickly transition into a sales role that allowed me to start understanding what customers’ needs were. It was then where I realized I wanted to be able to handle all facets of a business cycle- meaning understanding a customer profile yet focus on delivering products/goods operationally. To this day- I am very lucky to be able to work with all business functions across our organization from operations to finance, and of course marketing.
