The Steering Committee Members Up Close

Ron Coons, Safety & HR Director for Northeast Panel & Truss                                    

Ron Coons has been a member of the JSEC steering committee for about a year now and is also the chairman of our scholarship committee.  Ron is the Safety & HR Director for Northeast Panel & Truss in Kingston, a manufacturer of wood components. He has been in the safety and health field for more than seven years now and has found his calling. He also moonlights as a senior consultant for EHS Excellence Consulting, a firm out of Saratoga Springs that specializes in safety and health program development, training, and also OSHA initiatives such as the VPP program.

Ron is also the President and Founder of the Safety & Health Council of the Hudson Valley, a not-for-profit organization designed to bring local companies together to network and share best practices. The organization offers at least four free training events per year to its more than 225 members from the five surrounding counties.

In his spare time, Ron is finishing up his Bachelors degree in Occupational Safety & Health Management through the University of Western Alabama. Ron plans on beginning his Masters in Industrial Psychology by June of 2007. He has also recently earned his Black Belt in Six Sigma philosophy through Villanova University. On top of all this, he is also preparing to take the first part of his Certified Safety Professional exam in March of 2007.

Ron lives in what he calls “his little piece of heaven” in a small town called West Kill, about an hour northwest of Kingston, deep in the Catskill Mountains.  He lives there with his wife Jill of 17 years, and their three daughters, Lindsey 7, Skylar 5, and Allie 3.  When he is not working on his education, he enjoys bow hunting, and hiking and camping with his family.