Cameron joined JR Merit two years ago for what was thought to be a short-term gig but has happily developed into a role as a general foreman and piping team leader. His project experience includes fish hatcheries, paper mills, and hydroelectric projects across the PNW. As a union pipe fitter with a 14-year career, Cameron has his sights on returning to his hometown of Eugene, Oregon, but remembers when he first left home for the only other job he’s had: working for the United States Army.

At eighteen, Cameron joined the Army and served seven years, including a deployment in Afghanistan where he got his first taste of construction. “When I was overseas, I built some tower guards and did a little bit of construction with a team that didn’t know what they were doing, but I thought it was cool. I knew I wasn’t going to follow the military path because my future wife told me if I wanted a family, I had to get out, so I decided that construction was what it was going to be.” Cameron found himself drawn to welding. Feeling like a small kid drawn to flying planes, welding seemed like a cool job that involved hands-on work. “I didn’t know what it was or how to do it, but I knew I wanted to work with my hands.”

As he left military service, Cameron took advantage of a veteran’s career assistance and job training program, almost going after a career as an electrician. Instead, he took their welding program under a military contract and after six months, found a job with Intel in Hillsboro. After years of contractor roles with the standard 40-hour work week and long commute times, Cameron got a call that would change his career trajectory yet again.

“I got a call from Brandon Smith [Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Division Manager] asking me to lead a titanium piping job in Idaho. He needed someone to take over the work with a promise that it would be a two-week gig, and I’d never worked with titanium in my career at that point.” Those two weeks quickly led to the next project at a fish hatchery in California, followed by short-burn projects across the region, before joining a $1.5 million job at the University of Oregon. For the last eight months Cameron has been on the road, tackling hydro jobs from Chief Joseph Dam up near Canada to Toketee Dam near Roseburg, Oregon. “Brandon’s [salesman] talents are why two weeks have turned into two years.”

Brandon can take some credit, but it’s also the type of work that’s kept Cameron on the job with JR Merit. “I like that every day’s different. It’s not an average 9 to 5 job, whatsoever, and it’s been a big change of pace from previous work I’ve had,” Cameron said. “You have to think outside the box to get the tasks done. There’s a lot of problem solving, and while there is a standard method for the majority of work we do, that standard could incorporate 50 different routes to get to a solution, and you have to think about which way is the best way. That’s 50 different ways to connect pipe, from flanges to threads to so many other ways.”

On top of the work experience, it’s been his relationships with team members that Cameron appreciates most. “The people, the teams we build—we’re all very close. We work together a lot, and I usually only have two or three guys on my team, so we know each other like family.” Nothing compares to the family he’s got back at home though.

“I’m away from my family quite a bit. I do about two weeks up at the job site, for about three weeks in a row, and then I’m home working from my ranch and being with my family,” Cameron reflected. “Being away from them has been the hardest part. I currently have all the other resources I want, but I can’t create time.”

Cameron is planning for the future. He hopes to find himself closer to home and stepping into a bigger role within the company. “I haven’t been home since I joined the military, and all I want to do is get back to Eugene,” Cameron reflected. “I would like to grow the Southern piping division in Oregon, where I won’t be traveling so much, and I can work closer to home and build an awesome piping team for JR Merit.” When he’s at home, he’s enjoying time with his wife and four kids out at their 300-acre ranch, where there’s no cell reception—unless you set up Star Link, and even then, it’s spotty. “We have some really cool swimming holes, do a little bit of fishing, maybe float the river, or make some s’mores around a fire. It’s very disconnected.”