Started at WRS
1990
Outside of Work
If Ryan isn’t at work, he’s spending time with his wife Traci and their three boys.
Ryan started at WRS in 1990, working what he thought would be a short, two-week stint before heading off to college. That two weeks quickly turned into a year, and after a short break to study business and accounting at Davenport University, he returned in 1993. From 1993 onwards, he filled a variety of positions across refinery work, bookkeeping, safety, spill response, administration, and dispatch. In 1998, he officially bought in and became a part-owner.
Throughout his career, Ryan played a role in many projects that were key to WRS’s growth. One of the most notable is his involvement in the cleanup of the Olympic Pipeline spill of 1999. He and his team coordinated solutions that, in some areas, increased efficiency from < 5% to 80%.
In his role now, Ryan focuses primarily on business development. Although this position lends less to the problem-solving and field work that he loves, he’s excited that it allows him to focus more on people. He believes that the more we pour into people, the more they’ll pour into each other and their work. “When people like who they work with and who they work for, they do better work”, he explains. “They come to work in a good mood. They engage the customer with a smile on their face. They look out for each other.”
One of Ryan’s mentors in and outside of work is our founder, Jerry Libolt. Jerry was the one who saw Ryan’s potential early on and gave him countless opportunities to grow into it. As a result, Ryan is inspired to do the same for others.