A hearty laugh began the conversation followed by a warm introduction.
“They call me Ricky Joe,” Rick Lawson said.
While sitting in an office wearing a Dodge polo shirt and a smile, Lawson quickly transported the conversation to 1971. In March of that year, a ball bearings plant opened its doors in Rogersville, Tennessee, and in October, at 17 years old, Lawson walked through them.
Pictured: Rick Lawson 
Pictured: ABB Rogersville Plant
“I started on the assembly line. My first job was boxing because they wouldn’t let me touch any of the equipment until I was 18 years old,” Lawson said.
Fifty years later, he’s moved from the assembly line to a planter/buyer at the same plant, which means he buys all the steel and most of the castings. Now ABB’s Rogersville, Tennessee plant and Lawson are celebrating 50 years of service. The plant manufactures Dodge® mounted ball bearings as well as plain and spherical bearings. There are currently more than 200 employees, but Lawson is the only employee who still works there and with Dodge products since the plant opened 50 years ago.
While working, Lawson got a degree from Walter State in Rogersville and became a scheduler at the plant.
“I did that for years and years and then in 1997 they opened the Marion (North Carolina) plant, and I went over there,” he said. “I was the production control supervisor to get that plant up and running. Back then, you would work seven days a week over there.”
In 2004, Lawson said he moved to a plant in Clio, South Carolina where he became the materials manager but would move back to the Marian plant. But for Lawson and his family, Rogersville always felt like home and so they returned.
“It’s a great company with great products. No complaints, they’ve always been great to me,” Lawson said. “I’ve always tried to do the very best I could in any position. They take care of me and I try to take care of them.
Lawson said it’s a pleasure to go to work every day.
“I enjoy meeting people and talking to people on the floor. If someone doesn’t get along with me it’s their fault,” he said jokingly. “When I was in North Carolina I got to do a lot of traveling- going to different places and overseas. It was a great experience and I’m glad I did it. I was so young when I first started, my boss had to rent my car for me when I needed to go somewhere.”
Just as Lawson has been recognized for his 50 years of service, so has the plant. It’s won several awards through the years. The plant received the Commissioner’s Award for Safety Excellence from the Tennessee Labor & Workforce and it also won the Governor’s Award several times.
For Lawson, he says one of his biggest rewards is his job.
“I was the youngest one here, now I guess I’m one of the oldest ones” he said with that familiar hearty laugh. “Dodge is a great name. The name sells products.”
