by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Steven McDaniel never thought he would begin and end his career at Anheuser-Busch’s Jacksonville Brewery.
When his phone rang two months ago, he realized that what he thought was impossible was possible.
“It took me 45 minutes to decide from the moment they asked me if I would be interested in coming home,” said McDaniel, who grew up in Jacksonville. “I had to call my wife first and ask her one more time if she would move again.”
He added that his wife’s family lives in Jacksonville, so it was an easy decision for the McDaniels.
McDaniel replaced plant manager Sylvester Robinson, who retired after being with Anheuser-Busch for more than 17 years. McDaniel began his job as the Jacksonville Brewery’s new senior plant manager in November 2007 after beginning his career there in 1979.
McDaniel graduated from the University of North Florida in 1975 with a degree in public administration. He then went to work for Anchor Glass on Huron Street off of Commonwealth Avenue.
“I made bottles for Anheuser-Busch. That was my introduction to the company,” he said.
McDaniel got to know many of the employees at Anheuser-Busch by working at Anchor Glass, and he was later offered a job as a line foreman (also known as a bottle line supervisor). He worked the early shift from midnight to 8 a.m. for about eight and a half years.
“Our packaging operation runs 24 hours a day and about seven days a week,” he said. “It takes a special type of person to work those hours.”
From 1979 to 1988, McDaniel held four different operating positions at the Jacksonville Brewery. In 1988, he was promoted to beer packaging and shipping manager and relocated to the brewery in Merrimack, N.H. Two years later he was brought back to Jacksonville as the senior assistant plant manager.
In 1992, he relocated to Fort Collins, Colo. and was promoted to senior plant manager. For the past seven years he was the senior plant manager at the brewery’s Cartersville, Ga. location.
“I have been everywhere and done every type of operation,” he said. “Hopefully I can finish my career here.”
When McDaniel left the Jacksonville Brewery the first time in 1988, he said he thought he would be back — and he was right. But after he left for the second time in 1992, he was at his going away party and was upset, because he never thought he would work with the Jacksonville Brewery employees again.
“These employees are the best I have ever worked with,” said McDaniel. “It really is amazing how all of this worked out.”
Over the past two months, McDaniel said he has enjoyed spending time on the production floor getting to know the company’s new employees, but also catching up with employees that worked there when McDaniel first started at the company.
“I have seen people on the floor that I knew 16 years ago,” he said. “That’s what is so great about it.”
McDaniel explained that a lot of Anheuser-Busch employees really enjoy what they do, and that is the main reason the company has a low turnover rate. There are currently about 700 employees at the Jacksonville Brewery.
“For a lot of our employees, this is the only job they have ever had, because they enjoy what they are doing. We have excellent benefits and compensation, and it is somewhat fun helping produce the world’s finest beer,” he said.
After nearly 29 years with Anheuser-Busch, he said his career — no matter what position he was in — was never dull.
“My career has been fun,” he said. “It’s never been boring, the work has never been dull and I get to work with the finest people in the world.”
McDaniel said many of Anheuser-Busch’s senior managers have worked their way through the company, and it is something the brewing company tries to do. It is the only way to learn how the plant works, he said.
“Our CEO spent time on the production floors,” he said. “When my bosses come to town, we spend more time on the production floor than in the conference rooms.
“I still have more fun on the production floor, because I enjoy interacting with the employees and I still enjoy seeing the world’s finest beer being shipped out the door.”
McDaniel realizes that he may have never even started working for Anheuser-Busch if it wasn’t for his job at Anchor Glass.
“I love this brewery. I consider it home,” he said. “I am very proud of what the brewery has become and my number one objective is to continue that.
“We have one of the most efficient systems and we have a wonderful thing going here. I am just proud to be a part of it.”
McDaniel said as he worked at different breweries through his career, he always talked to the other employees about the Jacksonville’s brewery’s can-do attitude. He said that if there was anything they were asked to do, they did it and refused to fail.
“This is such a unique situation for me,” said McDaniel. “I hope the family of employees here feel excited about me coming home.
“This truly is a blessing to come home and finish my career at the same brewery I started at.”