Press Release
Dan Finn has had a good time at Goodyear.
As plant manager of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. facility in Norfolk, Finn has been able to prove his leadership skills while maintaining the opportunity to pursue his longtime interest in the field of chemistry.
Finn grew up in Blair, where he attended high school. He said that’s where his interest in chemistry began to blossom.
Finn said his high school teacher made a lasting impression on him.
“He was a very nice man and made it fun to learn,” Finn said. “That became my favorite subject in high school.”
Finn said he decided to pursue a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. From there he started working at the Norfolk Goodyear facility.
“I was a product development engineer—a chemist,” he said.
During that time, Finn said he also decided to pursue a master’s degree in business at the University of South Dakota-Vermillion.
“I think it was through that graduate work that I started becoming interested in the management side of my career,” Finn said.
He added that teaching part time at Wayne State College also sparked his interest in management.
After working in Norfolk for a number of years, Finn said he moved to a different Goodyear facility in Ohio and then worked at the company’s Akron, Ohio, headquarters for about six years.
When Finn, his wife and three children returned to Norfolk, he worked as a branch manager for about six months before returning to corporate, he said. Finn became plant manager in 2005.
Finn said much of his job entails focusing on the safety in the plant and overseeing the normal operations of the plant.
“Mostly, it’s…focusing a lot on continuously improving our safety environment and financial performance,” Finn said.
Goodyear makes a wide variety of products for various customers, so tracking those orders through the plant is a large part of Finn’s job, he said.
“We make sure we’re servicing the customer’s property,” he said. “And obviously, we’re running a business here, so I work with the finance department quite a bit.”
But Finn said he still is able to work with his first love—chemistry.
“I’m also responsible for the technology and product development of our facility,” he said. “I still get to dabble in chemistry of our products as we look at not only improving the performance, but also the processing of our materials.”
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
