Meet the Team Spotlight: Eldon Miller
Eldon with one of his antique tractors.
Outside Sales Rep Eldon Miller joined Cutting Edge Supply back in 1997, or as he says “a long, long, long time ago.”
Rewinding to 27 years ago, Eldon, a newly Cal State San Bernardino graduate, spotted a job posting by Cutting Edge for welders and forklift drivers in the newspaper.
“I had just graduated college and was broke — trying to survive on Top Ramen and make rent,” he shared.
He’d been driving forklifts since he was a kid as his grandparents had a few for their company. Welding was more of a hobby, but he had also picked up certifications while he was in college, figuring he could always find work as a welder.
“I filled out my application but hadn’t heard back after a week and so I kept bugging them because I really needed money,” Eldon recalled. “Finally, they told me they wanted to hire me as a salesman but run me through the shop and office for a year or two for training. So that’s what I did. I started out in the shop – loaded and cut steel plates, welded once in a while and then worked in the office too. I did pretty much everything except human resources and finance.”
After a few years, Eldon transferred to the Sacramento location as an Inside Sales Rep, before eventually settling into his current role in Outside Sales. Now residing in the remote Kern River Valley area, Eldon covers the central section of California.
“Outside Sales is very personal – very different than being on the phone or reading an email,” he shared. “I’m there with my customers in-person, trying to deliver solutions. It’s really cool when you can create something — a new product or a widget. You go measure something, draw it up, our drafting team fixes your math, our shop builds it, you deliver the product and it solves their problem. I love that feeling!”
The longtime company employee is passionate and confident in Cutting Edge Supply’s ability to consistently deliver.
“There’s nobody that can touch us on quite a few different levels,” stated Eldon. “There is no one that has the product lines we have. There is no one that has the knowledge we have. There’s really not a lot we can’t do or can’t take care of in this industry. The breadth of what we handle and what we service is much wider than most other companies. We truly are a one stop shop — quarry, construction, mining, etc.”
When he’s not racking up his annual 80,000 miles out on the road making customer calls, Eldon can be found either hanging out with his two daughters or tinkering in his own at-home shop.
“My daughters are great girls and provide a lot of entertainment,” he shared. “I’ve been teaching the oldest how to drive. And then I also like working in my shop on antique tractors — it’s cathartic in a lot of ways for me.”