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Acme Brick Company announces Plant Manager of the Year

Words: Ron TaylorTracy Bruton, manager of Acme Brick's Bennett, Texas, Plant, has been named Acme Plant Manager of the Year. Jeremy Hargrave, manager of Acme’s Dallas Block Plant, received the Acme A-1 Award. Acme’s Bennett, Texas, plant was named Acme Brick Plant of the Year.

In March 1994, Tracy Bruton began his career with Acme Brick Co. as a grinding room utility/operator at the original Bennett Plant, west of Fort Worth near Millsap, Texas. After holding several positions there, he relocated to Bridgeport, Texas, where he entered into the management trainee program in July 2000. In 2001, he became burning supervisor at the Bridgeport Plant.

In 2002, Bruton returned to Acme’s Bennett Plant, and he became plant superintendent in 2005. In October 2013, after serving in key roles at other Acme plants, he was promoted to his current position of plant manager at Bennett.

Jeremy Hargrave was hired as an Acme Brick sales-trainee in May 2006, following his graduation from Northwood University in Cedar Hill, Texas. He received his sales training at the Denton Distribution Yard. By the beginning of 2007, he had shown that his skills were better suited for operations management, and in April of 2007 he was promoted to operations manager for the yard.

Aside from a short stint as an outside sales representative in late-2008, Hargrave managed the Denton Distribution Yard until February 2012. He was then promoted to the plant manager position at the Dallas Block Plant, which produces concrete block under the name Featherlite. During this time, he also completed his master’s degree in business administration and graduated with his MBA in May 2012 from Texas A&M University — Commerce.
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