Jim Garza is constantly learning new skills and creating BEST WORK for customers and the Team. Starting at Dancer Concrete Design in February 2023, he has been a STRONG AND STEADY part of the Team since Day One.
Before DCD, Jim worked for 22 years at Foamex, a manufacturing plant, and most recently at Citilink, Fort Wayne’s public transportation system, and he brings his experience in operating all types of machinery and equipment as a CAST Craftsman. CAST is Dancer Concrete Design’s brand of precast terrazzo products, which include stair treads, landings, and wall panels.
Jim enjoys putting in hard work and supporting the DCD Team. He sees the MORE THAN ONE attitude the Team brings to work each day: “Everyone here does their part and works together as a Team, to support each other and get the work done. We are here for more than just a paycheck.” In the mornings, you’ll find Jim lending a hand by loading Team trucks and keeping the Shop and CAST Lab NEAT, CLEAN AND ORGANIZED. “It’s like coming into a place where it feels like I belong,” Jim says about keeping everything dialed in and flowing.
He enjoys working with fellow CAST Craftsman, Marshall Aspy. Jim likes to create the forms and jigs to help with the terrazzo pours, while Marshall is like a mad scientist measuring and mixing the terrazzo materials together.
Jim learned how to operate the CAST Lab’s new radial arm machine, the “Wizard,” for grinding and polishing our terrazzo products – and he is a wiz on it. It is one of his favorite parts of working in the CAST Lab. When the Wizard machine was delivered, Jim took ownership of learning how to operate it. “The satisfaction you get from start to finish amazes me. When you start, [the terrazzo product] doesn’t look like anything, and then when you finish it, you’re just like ‘Wow, that looks great.’”
One of the most rewarding projects Jim has worked on was for the Institute For Orthopaedic Surgery in Lima, Ohio. Together the CAST Team poured, polished, and installed 26 8-foot-long terrazzo structural steps and a landing. “Being in here, all those hours and days working on those steps, and then going and seeing them installed – man, those things are really, really good.” Jim got to work on every single step with the Wizard. “That’s the most rewarding thing: the final product.”
