Tim McKernan, who was instrumental in bringing the company to Oswego County, to step down this summer; John Murray to take the reins at the local plant
By Stefan Yablonski
Tim McKernan plans to sail off into the sunset.
On Aug. 8, he will retire from his role at EJ as facility manager for fabricated products in Schroeppel. John Murray has been promoted to facility manager.
McKernan has been a cornerstone on innovation, assisting customers across the United States, Canada and other EJ global markets with pioneering access solutions for their infrastructure needs.
Over the years he has taken on a variety of roles, including facility manager, technical sales manager, national sales manager, operations manager and product developer — each contributing to the company’s growth and success. His work was instrumental in securing three U.S. patents for EJ.
He transitioned the plant from Onondaga County to Oswego County.
“That was a big deal. It was probably one of the highlights of my career,” he said. “We moved in here January 2019. We had started building in 2018. It took roughly a year to put everything together.
“I go all the way back. We started in Buffalo, New York, where our shop started. And in ’93 I moved that shop from Buffalo to Syracuse … our site was in Cicero.”
He has watched the company grow.
“We went from a handful of people up to, we are close to 100 people here now on site. We have created a lot of jobs; we have launched different product lines. I am particularly proud of our EJ Safe Hatch and the EJ Hatch Skirt which have advanced safety standards in infrastructure access. The safe hatch — before we had people falling to their death, believe it or not. These pits are 30, 40 feet deep and people opened the hatch and they forget there is a hole right there and they fall in and die. We created a hatch that protects people from falling in and also controls who goes in the confined space. We are pretty proud of that because it changed the industry. Every hatch manufacturer out there has had to copy us. So we feel like we have saved a lot of lives. Somewhere along the line, somebody’s life got saved because of that hatch.”
Retirement plans
“I am taking my whole family on a cruise. My wife’s family came from Italy. We are going to start in Venice and end up in Athens. So we are literally sailing off into the sunset,” McKernan said. “We are pretty excited that we are going to do that.
“My children live nearby, I’d say within 10 minutes of our house. We see them every week. We see our granddaughters more each week. They are 3 and 10. My wife watches the little one three days a week. My routine now is I have coffee and she has tea in the morning — I do that before I go to work. I’m still going to do a lot of fishing. I have all kinds of friends now lined up wanting me to take them out.”
“Of course I want to continue to grow here locally. Tim has done a lot of work here in the community. He’s brought me into the fold on a lot of it, like CiTi BOCES and working with the county,” Murray said. “This is something that has been well fine-tuned. Tim’s allowed me to step into a good running car here. In the short-term I want to make sure that I have a good handle before we change.”
“I have a few weeks before I walk out that door,” McKernan said. “So it is kind of my obligation, my duty to everyone, is to make sure that the transition is smooth.
“The plan is for EJ to stay here. We are building for the future for fabrication here in New York. We are growing like crazy so it’s real interesting to watch how the business is growing.”
“I have a direction and a trajectory for the facility that makes sense and is sustainable to stay here in New York. I am going to be learning even deeper the nuts and bolts of what goes on.” Murray said.
Murray has a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Clarkson University. He earned his professional engineering license in the spring of 2012.
Outside of work, Murray’s passion for classic cars and trucks often finds him under the hood pursuing his love for automotive restoration.
“Straight out of college, I came in to EJ back in 2004. I started in manufacturing,” Murray said. “I have always been a hands-on guy — working on cars as a hobby. I had a mechanic for a father so naturally I became a car guy.
“I love manufacturing. This is a perfect fit for me. My engineering background really lends itself to the product design end of things.”
He said he has a ’69 1/2 Dodge Super Bee A12 440 6pack.
“That’s a really nice car. I bought it 10 years ago. Also have a ‘73 Plymouth Scamp and a 1965 Ford Mustang. I hope to make some memories with my kids.”
“May 5 was the announcement that he was working in transition. He’s going to take the helm while I kind of coach him,” McKernan explained. “It’s a two-month transition period. So I’ll basically be telling people go talk to John and any problems he’s encountering, that he can’t handle, he’ll ask for advice. We’ve been working together for almost two years mentoring him, getting him ready for this. We knew it was coming. So, he’s ready.”
Murray’s broad experience within the manufacturing industry includes roles as design engineer, manufacturing manager and engineering manager, showcasing his dedication to excellence in both design and operations.
“Tim’s done everything he can to prepare me,” Murray said. “He kind of brought me into things like BOCES and P-tech. I do that. I’ve brought our engineering team up there for four years running now. We do a challenge some time during the school year. It’s really good to get all the guys here involved and interact with the kids up there. Tim and I do the mentoring.”
