Voyage Michigan
Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Owens.
Hi Andrea, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a born and raised Grand Rapids native and come from a large family of seven. I started out my professional career as a medical assistant and from there went back to school to get my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management and leadership from Cornerstone University.
What started it all, well…my mother endured a debilitating accident years ago at the hands of someone who was under the influence and that is what fueled my passion. That experience cultivated the thought process of creating a safer workplace, safer roadways, and safer communities—and not wanting people to ever have to be involved in something like that.
My work as a medical assistant evolved into managing drug and alcohol testing programs for employers. Thirty-four years of experience in the drug and alcohol testing industry has allowed me to train drug screen collectors, breath alcohol technicians and employers on policies, compliance and regulatory issues that affect productivity and job performance.
As the work evolved so did my passion to provide a more personal, customized approach for businesses. In 2013, I was approached by a young lady, a dear friend who at the time was the transportation director at Rockford Public Schools. She believed in the work that I was doing and said, “If you can get your business up and running, I will be your first client.” In that same year another dear friend, an HR manager for a local exterior building products distributor, signed on and our journey as HourGlass Testing Solutions began. I am forever grateful for these women and all who have believed in me!
We started out by providing same-day- onsite collections, consortium services and training. Now we have expanded our services offering employers a choice- same-day onsite services or a walk-in collection facility. We have also partnered with an organization to provide fingerprinting services. We have also increased our training efforts to understand the importance of substance use disorder and its effects on employees and employers.
