MGBW E-News

Swing into Spring with New Faces Accounting!

Spring has arrived which marks the season of new beginnings, especially true for a few of the team members in Accounting. Controller Tom Lynch has announced his retirement—generously giving a few month’s notice to assist us in a seamless transition.  On the heels of his retirement, we congratulate Albert Barraza who has been promoted to Controller while welcoming aboard Assistant Controller Sandy Gonzales who will be filling Albert’s shoes once Tom sails officially into retirement mid-May. Read on to learn more about our esteemed colleagues in Accounting.

Sailing into Retirement, Tom Lynch

Tom Lynch began his journey with MGBW over ten years ago when he joined us as the Controller of our accounting department. During his time here, Tom managed a team of seven accounting professionals, managed overall recordkeeping and accounting compliance, handled tax returns for both MGBW and Cabo, and advised on financial impacts on important projects. He has brought a great deal of added value to our organization during his time with us, but it’s time to say farewell as he ventures into retirement in the middle of May.

Thank you, Tom, for your incredible contributions to MGBW! We will certainly miss you, and we hope you enjoy your future adventures with your family in the next chapter of your life!

Rising to the Occasion, Alberto “Albert” Barraza

As Tom prepares for retirement, we congratulate Albert who has jumped into the role of Controller and is looking forward to the personal growth that comes with added responsibilities of managing a team. Albert served as our Assistant Controller for the past five years. Since his onboarding in 2020, he has been responsible for tracking costs on vessel projects to support the Project Management team and ensuring our accounting is done in a timely and correct manner. When asked his favorite part about working here, Albert said that his team plays the biggest role in job satisfaction.

Welcome New Fish in the Sea, Sandy Gonzales

Taking over for Albert, we welcome Sandy Gonzales as our new Assistant Controller for the Chula Vista location. With over 20 years of accounting experience in different industries like manufacturing and aviation, we’re excited to bring her on board.

Sandy is currently attending SDSU for an Masters degree in accounting and enjoys traveling and exploring the city to find new restaurants in her free time. She also enjoys long walks through Torrey Pines with her husband and chocolate lab, Charlie.

Sandy is located in the upstairs accounting office and will continue where Albert left off, tracking job costs and supporting Albert in his new role.

We want your input!  You have the safety boots on the ground and are some of the best people to tell us how we can do things better and for improving efficiency. Submit your thoughts in the suggestion box located by the timeclocks or online here for any ideas you may have.  All suggestions are reviewed and answered by Todd personally.

Here’s a look at the latest employee questions!

Q1.  Can we add name patches to our uniforms – it would be nice for Customers to know us by name? 

Answer: That is a great suggestion, especially for improving the level of customer service we strive to provide!  We will look into pricing to see if this can be implemented.

Q2.  Birds are nesting in the Travelift and other areas of the shipyard which causes extra work for employees. Can we build a “dedicated nesting pole” somewhere to deter them from nesting in the machinery?

Answer: Unfortunately, MGBW is not allowed to interfere with protected wildlife.  The Department of Fish & Wildlife protects these creatures through laws against interfering with their habitat, so we are not able to create a nesting pole or move their nests.

Q3: Coverall chest pockets have exposed zippers that are unsafe and easily torn. Can we get flaps that cover the pocket zippers like the flap that covers the main zipper?

Answer: We greatly appreciate your feedback and will take this into consideration the next time we order coveralls!

Click here to see what’s scrolling in the breakroom this week.