Today we’d like to introduce you to Art Merino.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Art. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
After working for many years on the Supply Chain organizations for 500 fortune companies such as Clorox, Amgen, Baxter, The Gillette company, I decided to become a business owner.
I started the company with a simple mission of teaching people and organizations the importance of safety compliance in the work place. My goal was to help companies to improve safety awareness and provide an effective and practical forklift training to ensure compliance with Federal regulations and to help avoid penalties and expenses associated with OSHA inspections.
We are also focusing on teaching people to learn new skills in order to make a better living and improve their lives. Most of the people who attend our forklift training are unemployed and looking for a career change.
There many people with a variety of background including an attorney who was looking for a part-time job to support his family while finishing his bar exam, an inventor of a flying car who run out of money and a famous actor (can’t mention the name) who was required to have a license in order to operate a forklift for a movie scene.
We are expanding the footprint of our company in the US and currently we have locations in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and Houston. We will be opening several more locations in the second half of the year.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Owning a business has never been a smooth road for me. You have to wear too many hats and you never finished answering emails. The biggest struggles for me has been to manage my time between my family and my business. I like to be busy so when I’m at home I always helping my wife on the kitchen cleaning or cooking. We are parents of 14 years old twin girls so I can’t afford to retire!!! Also I’m a team manager for one my girls’ soccer team so that keep me very busy.
Forklift Academy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are one of the few Forklift Schools in the country. We provide forklift training and certification for companies and individuals. There is a lot of misunderstanding of the OSHA rules and regulations regarding Forklift safety. Also there are very expensive penalties if a company allow an employee to operate a forklift without the proper training.
We are very proud on helping people learn new skills to find better jobs and make a better living. We have many happy customers that we’ve help with new jobs. Our company’s main focus is our customers so everything evolves on improving our customer service, is a moving target
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is to have a stable process that is running smoothly and creating an outcome that many people can benefit from.
Contact Info:
- Address: Forklift Academy Houston/Pasadena
- Website: http://www.forkliftacademy.com/houston/
- Phone: (713)805-8512
- Email: info@forkliftacademy.com
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