Did you know that Lafarge Ravena located here in the Capital Region produces some of the highest quality cement in the world?

Part of it has to do with the materials we use, but an equally important factor is the people who work here.

Here’s an interview with one of our employees responsible for making sure our cement meets the strictest of standards before being shipped. Bernadetta Montgomery works as a technician in our quality assurance lab but, according to her, she has a lot in common with people who drive limos for a living.

Employee Profile: Bernadetta Montgomery

Cement production takes more than massive machinery, stone and highly skilled manpower. Lafarge Ravena has that “more” part down to a science.

Bernadetta Montgomery works as a lab technician in Lafarge Ravena’s quality assurance lab, performing chemical analyses of the cement, clinker, raw materials and fuel, and testing cement and masonry.

“We’re the gate keepers,” Bernadetta said. “We certify that [what we test] passes ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standards for release to the public. If materials don’t pass, we say ‘No, they can’t ship.’”

A graduate of the Technical School of Chemistry in Krakow, Poland, Bernadetta came to the United States in 1988.

Before joining Lafarge Ravena, she worked for Callanan Industries Inc. (formerly King Roads Materials) in Schenectady; six years as a lab tech and five years in the sales office. She took a break from science to raise two children, but she missed lab work terribly. When she heard about an opportunity at Lafarge, she got out from behind a desk and back into the lab.

Bernadetta said the most challenging and rewarding part of her job is proficiency samples testing, a way for labs to monitor their own testing accuracy between Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL) on-site assessments. Specified tests are performed on two samples, and the results are reported to the CCRL for review and evaluation. The last two samples the Lafarge lab sent both scored 100%. She said, “Proficiency tests add spice to my work when the daily testing becomes routine.”

She enjoys the whole hands-on lab experience. “The more tests you run, the more accurate your technique becomes,” she said. “Your precision increases – that’s the ultimate goal – and you gain a high level of confidence in your results. The equipment and chemicals have to be up to par, and so does the technician.”

Bernadetta lives in Niskayuna with her husband Jason and their son Michael, 14, and daughter Michelle, 16. Her daughter’s volleyball tournaments and son’s avid snowboarding keep her busy as “an ATM and a limo driver” she warmly added, though she misses the volunteer work she did before her children were born.

“I get a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment, doing what I do,” she said of her work at Lafarge. “You are up to your ears in chemistry, and you can assist people who don’t have lab expertise, guide them, and give advice on production to produce a product with quality that is above that of our competition.” She said proudly, “Our work in the lab has a positive impact on the product, the plant, the company and the community as a whole.”