Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
Jen Rozell Whalen, 37, and Tiarra Rozell Guidon, 32, are both officers of Rozell Industries and Rozell East, the business started 35 years ago by their late grandfather Peter Rozell Sr.
“I remember coming into the office as a little girl,” Jen said. “We all did as kids.”
Tiarra, daughter of company president Brian Rozell, is vice-president and an engineer, having earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
Jen, daughter of secretary Mike Rozell, is treasurer, has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Empire State College and said she will graduate with an MBA from Empire State in December.
Tiarra comments, “Just like Jen, who works during the day and goes to school at night, I did that, too. I went to school until 10 at night three or four nights a week and it was tough. But I was able to get the field experience here, which I think is worth more than a degree.”
She would go out on jobs with her father.
“If I hadn’t been exposed to it, I probably wouldn’t have become an engineer. But I can’t imagine doing anything else.
“I love what I do. Some of my friends don’t understand how I could, but one day I’m in a nuclear facility and the next day I’m in a sewage treatment plant. You learn so much every day. I love it.”
Together, the two women are majority owners of Rozell North, which their fathers started years ago but which had been dormant. Jen and Tiarra bought it in September 2015 and are seeking certification as a Women-Owned Business Enterprise from Empire State Development.
Tiarra says, “We are working on growing Rozell North….It’s taken a while….because we’re making our own connections. So anything new that we start, those are our customers…and only we deal with them.”
Jen says, “We do the same type of work that Rozell Industries does. Tiarra is managing the project, I try to deal with them on the business aspect like invoicing.”
Mike and Brian Rozell are minority owners of Rozell North, but Mike says, “They don’t tell me anything about it. I’d screw it up if I got involved.”
Husbands’ key roles, too
Brian Rozell praises the next generation.
“You’ve got Jenny, who is soon to be our comptroller. She’s going to take over the office. Tiarra is an engineer, and she does project managing.
“Her husband Tim [Guidon] runs all of our union pipefitting work. He does an amazing job. He’s hard-working, he works until all hours. He does a great job.
“He estimates, he runs the projects, and he gets them done. He was a good find because he’s one of those guys who likes to turn wrenches. And he’s very smart. He won a world competition in pipefitting as an apprentice.
“You’ve got Jenny’s husband Jeremy Whalen, who runs work for us. He’s a foreman on the pipefitting side. He’s one of those guys we send out to take care of four- and six-man jobs.
“My other daughter Kayla, who works for Normandin Marketing, her husband Josh Herlihy is a project manager here for us. He does a great job. He cares, he’s hard-working.
“We get a lot of call-ins for emergencies, and Mike called Josh in just this last weekend to turn wrenches. You’ve got to be able to do everything. And that’s where we feel confident that things are going to be in good hands, and if we leave, we won’t be back. Nothing’s worse than going on to your next generation and then having to come back.”
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