Employee Spotlight: Conner Cox

Learn about Conner Cox

Tell us a bit about your family.

• My wife, Christine, and I have two boys. Ryan is 7, and Tyler is 5. We tend to be a pretty active bunch!

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

• Most time is spent with my family. I enjoy coaching the kid’s baseball and soccer teams. I also like playing golf and cooking with my smoker.

Do you follow any sports teams?

• I follow Notre Dame and Oklahoma college sports, and since moving to Chicagoland in 2010, I’ve picked up the Bears, Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks.

What movie genres interest you the most?

• I typically enjoy comedies.

What’s something that you’ve always wanted to try or learn?

• Instruments and languages. As a kid, I learned to play the piano and speak Spanish pretty well, but I would be rusty at best these days.

What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on and why?

• In college, I spent 6 weeks over the summer studying in London. We traveled every weekend throughout Europe to see all we could see. I was able to fit Rome, Edenborough, Barcelona, and Paris in while we were there. I was able to go to the Old Course at St. Andrews, Wimbledon, the Tour de France, and the Running of the Bulls in a relatively short amount of time.

Describe a funny or unique experience that you’ve had.

• A unique experience from college was being a student manager. We were responsible for equipment and support of the football team my Junior year, so we would be out at practice every day and on the field for gamedays (think Rudy painting helmets). I then was assigned to Men’s Tennis for Senior year where I was responsible for travel, expenses, equipment, game and practice setup and tear down, etc.

Describe an experience that has had a lasting impact on you.

• The transition from SPEC to ADPE over the last year and a half is one that I believe will shape me and my career. As Stephen said when he announced it to our team, this is something that you hope you never have to go through in your career. While true, it has and will be something that will have a profound impact on all of us.

What’s your favorite memory from working at the company?

• I enjoy reflecting on the path we’ve taken from when I started to today. There are obviously a lot of things that have changed. I believe one thing that remains consistent is that we have a team of smart people who care.

What is one thing you can’t live without?

• My wife keeps me on the right track.

What’s your favorite type of food or cuisine?

• I’m pretty adventurous. I like to try new things. Some favorites include Mexican, Thai and sushi.

What’s your favorite memory from working at the company?

• I enjoy reflecting on the path we’ve taken from when I started to today. There are obviously a lot of things that have changed. I believe one thing that remains consistent is that we have a team of smart people who care.

If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?

• I have a big list of places I still want to visit, but one of the big ones is an African safari

If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?

• Flight. No traffic.

Erik Peralta - Electrical Manufacturing Manager

Congratulations to Erik Peralta on his position change to Electrical Manufacturing Manager! Erik joined ADPE in March 2018 and has served as Lead Electrical Technician and Electrical Technician Supervisor. In his new role, he will be leading the electrical manufacturing department, supporting strategic development for operational success and fulfillment of panel building center of excellence for Gray Inc.

Josh Thomas - Lead Electrical Technician

Congratulations to Josh Thomas on his position change to Lead Electrical Technician! Josh Thomas joined AD Process Equipment in February 2021 and served as an Electrical Technician. In his new role, Josh will be the lead man for all panel shop employees, in this role he will collaborate with electrical manufacturing manager to schedule personnel and workload to ensure we consistently meet our customer specifications and quality expectations. 

Chris Schmidt - Design Engineering Manager



Congratulations to Chris Schmidt on his position change to Design Engineering Manager! Chris joined ADPE in 2016 and has served in various roles over the years. Cad Drafter, Design Engineer, and Sr. Design Engineer. In his new role, he will be leading the design engineering department which includes Jim Gratzke and Zac Mazur. Chris's role will be to ensure continuous development within the department improving the quality and technical competency of all aspects pertaining to design engineering

Meet Mike! Mike Brandt has joined the team in the Sr. Technical Sales role.

He will be responsible for business development, prospecting, quote follow-up, project review, and fact-finding on projects to identify new opportunities.

Last month, the Hill's and Colgate-Palmolive team proudly unveiled the new greenfield manufacturing site in Tonganoxie, Kan.

Located on more than 80 acres, the 365,000 square foot, Hill's Tonganoxie is a fully designed smart facility that will allow them to serve more pets globally with our science-led canned products.

AD Process Equipment was proud to join the Gray family of companies on the Hill’s Pet Nutrition project. Incredible collaboration!

Congrats to all of the near miss winners for the FY23 year!

$50: Steve Hoehn, Mar Bauza, Josh Thomas

$150: Hannah Hlavacek

$250: Josh Pearson

Congrats to the ADPE Survivor League Winners!

Erik Peralta won the ADPE Survivor 1 League, winning a $250 gift card.

Jim Gratzke won the ADPE Survivor 2 League, winning $210 cash.