Meet the Team: Cortney Hockemeyer

It is a pleasure to introduce Cortney Hockemeyer the Engineering Coordinator at Vantage Plastics. Cortney has worked at Vantage Plastics for approximately three and a half years originally starting as a product designer. She attended Saginaw Valley State University and received a degree in Mechanical Engineering. When asked about how she chose that career path she said, “My dad is a mechanical engineer and kind of pushed me in that direction.” However, she also stated, “Despite my dad’s push I was just naturally drawn to the science and math classes especially during high school.” As the Engineering Coordinator Cortney oversees items customers rebuy from existing tooling, creating the Bill of Materials (BOM), process routings, and as she says, “whatever the boys need.” Career wise Cortney envisions becoming a project engineer as her next progression. She likes the idea of having a more hands-on involvement with projects.

Cortney was born in Ann Arbor, but her family moved to Midland when she was a few years old, and she has lived there ever since. She and her significant other Jacob have a son named Jaxon who is two and a half years old. Cortney says Jaxon keeps them very busy chasing him around. He’s also in the language learning phase so he is constantly repeating the words she and Jacob introduce. Much of her family lives in the area including her mother and father. She has a younger brother, two older sisters, and an identical twin sister named Kristin. She and her identical twin look so much alike that a coworker from Vantage Plastics saw Kristin at an event and went up to her and said, “Hi Cortney” only to be told she wasn’t Cortney but was in fact her twin. In her work life balance family is an important aspect for Cortney. Gathering regularly with her siblings and her three nieces and one nephew along with Jaxon is a priority.

Cortney is also an avid reader of books and belongs to a book club that meets once a month to discuss the books. She enjoys the genres of romance, thrillers/suspense, fantasy, and sometimes sci-fi and historical novels.

When asked if she had some unique things that people may not know about herself Cortney shared several stories. After her father and mother divorced her father met a woman from Africa and married her. Cortney attended their marriage in Africa. Cortney also shared that her aunt (mothers’ sister) lived in California and was a model and had some acting parts in movies including “Face/Off with Nicholas Cage. In addition, her aunt’s ex-husband was Michael Jackson’s music attorney. Even though Cortney was too young to attend their wedding her parents and older sisters did. Among some of the famous people in attendance were the Back Street Boys. Cortney shared that her aunt would rent a place in northern Michigan during the summer months where her family would gather each year.

It’s always meaningful and rewarding to spend intentional time with teammates and get to know the unique stories and relationships that shape their lives. As part of the Vantage Plastics Family of Companies, Cortney Hockemeyer has become an invaluable member of our team and is clearly helping us bring our mission to life—Forming Better Lives, Forming Solutions, and Forming Sustainable Futures.