Strom’s Top Setup Man Excelling Under New Management
NORTH PLAINS, OR – September 23, 2025 – Compass Precision management stresses personal development as much as company growth with each of its employees across the United States. That’s why Compass’ nine operating companies offer competitive benefits, including parental leave for fathers with newborns.
This helps employees at Compass’ machine shops develop family-like relationships at work, and nothing comes before family. That was the situation this past summer at Strom Manufacturing with setup operator Joel Gonzalez.
Joel became a first-time father with the birth of his son, Joel Gonzalez Jr., in July. But his longtime co-worker, Cesar Macias-Banuelos, also had a child with his wife just two weeks later.
With two employees set to take extended absences, Joel reconsidered the timing of his paternity leave.
“Keith [Wenzel] and everybody was pretty ok with both of us taking the parental leave at the same time. But I know we were looking at getting a lot of orders from a top customer in the space industry,” Joel said. “We were also about to get orders from a new customer, so Strom was going to be in a tough spot to fulfill these client demands.
“So I was willing to push my parental leave back to not leave the company high and dry. I didn’t want to leave a big workload and allow the other guys on the shop floor to be struggling.
“I said I would stick around longer and try to get some stuff up and going. That way, we would avoid getting into a super tough spot.”
Joel’s selflessness will allow Strom to continue fulfilling orders for the customers he mentioned. Cesar is scheduled to return in early October, and Joel will then begin his parental leave on Oct. 13.
Cesar and Joel have each previously won the Compass Precision employee of the month award. Since receiving that honor in April 2023, Joel has learned more programming and begun organizing and running the company’s new automated tool system.
It’s obviously noticeable when Joel or Cesar is not on the shop floor at Strom.
But Joel’s versatility has greatly helped keep Strom rolling. Joel can set up nearly every machine at Strom. Over the last two months, he’s been operating the machines Cesar usually does while Chris Salinas, who is another former Compass employee of the month at Strom, has run the NH 4000 Horizontal.
That machine is Joel’s favorite to operate. Although he’s focused his attention elsewhere during Cesar’s parental leave, Joel still offers NH 4000 Horizontal pointers and advice to Chris when he needs them.
Joel will celebrate his 12-year anniversary with Strom early in 2026. During his tenure, the company has gone through some of its biggest changes in its history.
Compass acquired Strom in July 2022. Initially after previous owner, Bill Strom, retired, Compass created a co-general manager leadership system at the operating company. Looking for a new way to grow this year, Strom added Keith Wenzel as Vice President & General Manager in March.
Joel admitted that all of those transitions brought uncertainty to him and his co-workers. But he suggested that he couldn’t be happier now.
“The past couple years, I felt like I kept getting lucky. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation with Compass or Keith,” Joel said. “He fit right in from the start. He was like, ‘You guys are doing great, I just want to make it better.’ We could not have asked for a better boss. He’s phenomenal.”
Joel worked on a complicated rocket part for a space customer with Keith during July. Even two months later, the project remains surreal for the Strom setup operator.
“I’m kind of a space nerd,” Joel said. “Never in my life when I was younger did I think I was going to be making parts for a rocket that was going into space. So it was mind-blowing and super cool that I did that.”
Joel expressed excitement about the possibility of working on more future space projects. He said that industry should help Strom grow during the second half of the decade, especially after the company becomes aerospace certified.
Joel added that he enjoys working on space parts because of the opportunity to be involved in something that will hopefully “advance human society.” But while that’s the newest element he loves about Strom, it’s hardly the only attractive thing about the Compass operating company.
“I get to work with great people. All the bosses, the managers, everybody here is fantastic ,” Joel said. “I work with a bunch of my friends that I knew before work.
“We work great as a team. We get to bounce ideas off of each other. It’s a real positive work environment. If you don’t know something, someone is willing to teach you. Or, if someone doesn’t know something, I get to teach them. That’s really cool too.”
The Compass management team greatly appreciates Joel’s 2025 contributions at Strom Manufacturing, particularly his decision to schedule his paternity leave at the best time for the operating company.
“We are truly blessed at Strom to have versatile and talented employees like Joel, like Cesar,” said Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “And add Chris to that list, too. All great machine shops have a core group of people who simply do what is necessary to make it happen, to serve customers, no matter what.
“I was blown away when Keith told me Joel wanted to delay his paternity leave, so it would not overlap with Cesar’s and leave us shorthanded. Having guys like Joel are what makes Strom, and Compass, stand out above the competition.”
