Meet James S. Reder

It is an honor to introduce James “Jim” Reder, who is a Maintenance Mechanic Level 3 within The Vantage Plastics Family of Companies. As you will see, Jim maintains a very active and productive life. Jim has been with Vantage Plastics for about five and a half years and fulfills an extremely important function. Jim specializes in motor controls, drives, and PLC program controls. These are vital elements within thermoforming machines and critical to keeping them operating well. Jim graduated from Pinconning High School and then attended the Bay Arenac ISD Career Center in their electronics and robotics program. After finishing that program, he was hired into a company that oversaw thousands of vending machines, jukeboxes, and game machines. He worked there for about twenty years and was a supervisor for eighteen of those years. He then worked for another company in an electronics lab servicing devices for customer companies. One of the companies serviced was Vantage Plastics. During multiple visits to Vantage, Jim was encouraged to join the Vantage Team by Dave Cook the head of maintenance. Dave kept saying, “We need somebody like you here full-time.” After several attempts, Dave had Paul Aultman meet with Jim during one of his visits, who told Jim that “If Dave thinks we need you, I would like to have you join our team.” After taking a while to think about this and getting the blessings from his family, Jim eventually decided to join.

Jim now says, “I really like the variety of work I get to do at Vantage Plastics rather than being stuck at a workbench in a lab. I also really like the variety of good people I get to work with.” Additionally, Jim says, “When a machine goes down, there is a level of stress to get it back up and running so we can meet the needs of our customers, but this also shows the importance of the work we do in maintenance.” Regarding Dave Cook, Jim says, “He is amazing and a great source for me to learn so much more.” When it comes to our maintenance group, we are reminded of the Walt Whitman poem, “I Hear America Singing” in which the first line says, “I hear American singing, the varied carols I hear, those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,” …. The Vantage Plastics maintenance crew is a group with amazing skills and reflects Whitman’s poem. They keep very busy addressing a myriad of issues and are vital for keeping things up and running to keep customer projects on track and Vantage Plastics singing.

Outside of work, Jim lives on and operates a fourth-generation farm and also farms additional surrounding land from retired farmers. He’ll often leave his job at Vantage Plastics and return to the farm, where he goes back to work doing all the many activities required in a farming operation. Given his mechanical skills, he likes to repair stuff like tractors and other equipment either for use on the farm or to sell. Somehow, he also finds time to pursue his hobbies of hunting and fishing. Spending a lot of time with family and friends is also extremely important to Jim. He says, “We are a very close family and community.” His mother, Karen, and father, Joseph, live next door on the farm, and he spends a lot of time with them and often prepares the family meals. Jim has two sons Jacob who lives nearby with his grandmother helping her, and Justin, who still lives with Jim in the family home. Jim has faced some adversity as he lost his significant other Tracy to Covid a couple of years ago after being with her for several years. This left a deep hole in his life. Most recently, he has reconnected with a paramedic he has known for quite some time named Hope, and they are now spending a lot of time together. Jim is excited about taking his two sons on an upcoming vacation to Florida, where he has scheduled some fishing, wild boar hunting, and some alligator hunting. Jim is also very involved in his church and strong in his faith which is a great comfort during the challenges that life can present.

We are delighted to have Jim Reder as a member of our team. He is a highly engaged teammate and integral in helping us pursue the vision of our team. As a member of the Vantage Plastics team, Jim has certainly been helping fulfill the Vantage Plastics’ Mission of Forming Better Lives, Forming Solutions, and Forming Sustainable Futures.

Experience the thriving work environment at Vantage Plastics, where positivity and professionalism flourish. Our exceptional team is the cornerstone of our success, and we invite you to be a part of it. Don’t miss out—apply today and join the Vantage Plastics team!