TIers do amazing things every day at work and when they are out of the office. In our ongoing series, ‘Out of Office,’ we showcase the unique and fascinating hobbies, talents and interests of TIers all over the world.
TIer Steve Moore always hears the water calling him. For as long as he can remember, he’s been a boater, growing up near Lake Erie and teaching sailing classes in high school and college. Steve came to TI and Dallas in 1982, originally working in the defense division and more than a thousand miles away from the shores of the Great Lakes. But the water kept calling him.
As Steve advanced through his career at TI, you could often find him out on the lakes surrounding the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A few years ago, he earned his captain’s license, and to make a little extra cash, Steve put his license to work at a Dallas area marine towing and salvage company. In 2012, the owner of the company mentioned he wanted to sell – and Steve became the buyer.
Today, Steve spends his weekdays as the manager of the Central Utilities Plant and site services. On the weekends, he hits the waters of Lake Lewisville with his wife Becky (also a TIer for more than three decades), helping people whose boats have broken down and are in need through his company Tow BoatU.S. Lake Lewisville.
“The water is a place to get away from our normal work week, to relax. For me, it is a vacation every weekend,” said Steve.
Becky also loves to be on the lake during the weekends, working as Steve’s ‘1st mate.’ However, she said it is not necessarily always a vacation. Steve and Becky, along with the five captains employed at his company, are on-call 24-hours a day.
“You may get a phone call in the middle of the night on the weekends. We are on the lake and the call comes in at 3 a.m. where someone is stranded and needs help. So it’s a challenge to go through a rescue like that,” said Becky.
Steve and Becky said they have learned so much from TI that they’ve applied to their ‘Out of Office’ job on the water. Becky, who is the administrative assistant to Paul Fego, vice president of TI worldwide manufacturing, said they follow many of the manufacturing practices at TI’s fabrication and assembly/test plants. This system (called 5S) is designed to reduce waste and optimize productivity through ‘organizing, cleaning, developing and sustaining a productive work environment.’ Steve and Becky use the 5S system to make sure their boats are well organized, lines neat and tidy and everything needed is handy and within reach.
“Just like at TI, we enjoy servicing customers and the satisfaction it brings to solving a customer’s problem. Typically when you are on the water with problems, they are usually pretty big. And at TI, there is no doubt we are solving big problems for our customers,” said Steve.Steve said when he bought the marine towing and salvage company, he also took TI’s fundamental concepts of safety, reliability, ethics and quality and used them as his tent poles to running a successful business. Steve believes TI has thrived as a company for more than 80 years because of the talented people working for the company, and he said the towing and salvage company wouldn’t succeed without the talents of his five captains and his four rapid response boats ready at any time. Steve said the parallels don’t end there.
Steve and Becky Moore – solving big problems during the week, and on the weekends, for customers in need.