Born and raised in south Logan County, Jeff Pedigo grew up on his family farm in Olmstead, Kentucky. From a young age, he and his brother were tasked with jobs to help his mom and dad. From working the tobacco fields to clearing up fence rows, Jeff knew the demands of farm work early in life.

After graduating from Olmstead High School in 1980, Jeff wanted to pursue a career in farming. With 30 acres of land given to him by his dad, he planted rows of wheat and soybeans. Despite his multiple attempts, the dry conditions that year yielded no crops and Jeff was left with no choice but to find another job.

After putting an application in to Fluor Daniels in 1981, Jeff would arrive every morning at 5 A.M. to wait to be selected. Every day, they would need so many pipe fitters, carpenters, or other skilled workers. Weeks went by without being called in before Jeff decided to finally walk in to talk with the hiring manager. After looking up his name in the pool of resumes, the manager inquired about his young age. Doubting his qualifications and capabilities, he was unsure of what skills Jeff could bring to the company. Jeff told him if he just gave him a chance, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

The next week, he received a call to let him know he’d been assigned as an apprentice to a journeyman. The journeyman, Charles Howard, was from Alabama and travelled the country to work jobs listed in a newsletter put out by Fluor Daniels called, “The Game Box”. Described by Jeff as, “a little rough around the edges”, Charles expected him to pay attention and learn quickly. With a little over 2500 construction workers from all over the country working onsite, Jeff said he had many opportunities to learn.

With only three columns standing at the time and mud pits filled with rebar, Jeff worked with Charles to help construct the Cold Mill, Finishing Mill, and Rotary Mill.

“Many of the workers told me that our business would never make it, ran by hillbilly tobacco farmers,” Jeff said. “Even though we had to work hard to learn the machines and what we needed to do to make Logan successful, our desire to be the best drove us to be better and better.”

From 1981 to 1982, Jeff went through the Millwright Best program to acquire his license as a journeyman. During this time, he had completed the test and assessments to work at Anaconda. Hired on to work as an operator in Finishing, Jeff was impressed with the incredible benefits and competitive wages offered. Recognizing the incredible opportunity, Jeff decided to discontinue the program.

The Finishing unit was small in 1983, with only three General Technicians and four operators. Jeff and his team rotated jobs, working one day on the coating line and the next on the pack line. Learning how to operate the machines together, he and his team were like family.

“When I first started, my team and I learned how to operate the machine together. One day we might be working the pack line and the next the coating line,” Jeff said. “There were no chairs to sit in or inspections. We would ask each other questions and get everyone’s opinion to work through problems. We would ask ourselves how we would run things if it was our business.”

In 1985, Jeff entered the GTT Program to pursue a career as a Mechanical General Technician. Raising three sons with his wife, Tammy, Jeff said that the biggest challenge in his career has been learning to find the work-life balance on swing shift. Farming on the side with his dad, Jeff said that he isn’t sure how he managed everything back then and credits his strong marriage. That, along with Logan’s flexibility, allowed Jeff to swap shifts when he needed to coach his son’s baseball team and to be there for the bigger life events.

In his time at Logan, Jeff has served in many roles, including the Finishing Safety GT, and the Maintenance Planner. Jeff has been an asset to Logan Aluminum through the development and implementation of the lock-out tag-out program.

Jeff said the advice he would give to new hires at Logan would be to listen to the wisdom and advice offered by your older team members. Even though the responsibilities might be mindboggling, being successful required focus and dedication. 

Jeff and his wife, Tammy, enjoy spending time with their three sons and seven grandchildren.

“Jeff, or JP as we call him, is one who routinely displays a strong commitment to Logan. He is known as an engaged team member that willingly offers advice and guidance to the GT team. His many years of experience have provided many opportunities that some of our less experienced GT have not had a chance to deal with, and I am glad to know JP does his part to aid in their development. Additionally, throughout his years of service JP has served in various roles beyond his routine GT duties. These include the maintenance planner/scheduler and PDM positions. For the past several years, JP has been the Finishing Safety GT. In this role, he has been highly focused on further developing our LOTO program and documents. I am proud of JP’s efforts in this area and am happy to say he has elevated our LOTO system to the next level.” -Jamie Stobaugh, Finishing Unit Manager.

“I have worked with Jeff on a large LOTO project for Reliance. He is very passionate about making sure that things are done correctly, which was a perfect fit for me to work with. His work ethic is impeccable. It is always a pleasure working with Jeff. Logan is very lucky to have someone like him still here after 40 years.”-Debbie Enoch, Finishing Administrative Assistant.

“JP has been a staple of the Finishing GTs. His years of experience, Tabware knowledge, and work on the LOTO program in Finishing have proven invaluable. JP is always willing to help and always has a story to tell. It has been an honor to work alongside him.”-Steve Boggess, Finishing GT Team Leader.