Construction Update by Jeff Meiners It’s been quite a busy year for new construction at Crest and in true Crest fashion, we found ourselves in a hurry for each of our projects to be completed. We started off with the renovation of the original Crest Foods building on Main Street to make a Consumer Products research laboratory and believe it or not, this project was completed with out ever uttering the word rush. After that, things got a little hectic.
The re-built section of the Warehouse
Over the fall and winter we added on to our main production facility in town creating a new space for the storage of unused production equipment and in turn space for several new production lines. Of course this turned into a rush project as we suddenly faced production deadlines for our new cup line that was to be housed in this area. We got it done, but just barely. The next project in the works was the new Ingredient Division warehouse. This is a 120,000 square foot stand- alone facility that sits to the north of our existing warehouse. Once the Ingredient Division could move, their old 93,000 square feet of space would be taken over by the Packaging Division warehouse that was bursting at the seams already. No rush – we had nothing but time. We broke ground in the fall and the winter was reasonably mild so we were ahead of schedule. Then the tornado hit – packaging lost 100,000 square feet of space and we needed the space occupied by the Ingredient Division as soon as possible so the sense of urgency to finish went up greatly. The move to this facility was completed in August after an intense effort by all involved in getting this building ready of occupancy. The paint for the stripes on the floor was barely dry when the first trucks of product were being unloaded. Despite our haste, no corners were cut and it is truly a beautiful building that will serve Crest and the Ingredient Division well for years to come. Thanks to the many involved – suppliers and Crest Foods em- ployees– who worked so hard to meet such an aggressive deadline. The move by the Ingredient Division left us with just one unplanned project to finish – undo what Mother Nature so rudely did to our Packaging warehouse. We moved back into our warehouse exactly 5 months from the day the tornado hit. The amount of effort it has taken to make that happen has been almost staggering. While the rest of us could at least walk away occasionally, the folks who call the warehouse home could not escape the fact that they were operating in 100,000 square feet less space in a time when we were getting busier and busier. Many thanks to the warehouse staff for working safely and tirelessly under such difficult circumstances. While work was continuing in what was left of our facility, life on the other side of the ‘Great Wall of Crest’ (the temporary dividing wall between good and bad) was also hectic. After sorting out good and bad product and disposing of the bad, we began tearing down our twisted building so we could start all over again. While fascinating to watch, it was so sad to watch the building we had so lovingly put up be torn down piece by piece and hauled away. The foundation was still in good shape, so once the new building arrived the process of putting her back up started in earnest. Final touches included reconnecting to sprinkler and electrical systems and a few other of the bells and whistles. The roof still needs some work and we have patching to do on side walls in various spots throughout the rest of the facility, but that will happen in the coming months. Today it looks as if nothing happened at all other than the flag pole is still crooked and we are missing a few trees. Much has been written in other places about our difficult year so there is no need to be redundant. How about we end this thought by simply saying that many exceptional people performed many exceptional acts in difficult cir- cumstances to make this all happen. When one asks what makes Crest a special place to work…..the answer is always the same – it is the people. How fortunate we all are that we work in an environment that values people above everything else.
October, November & December 2015 Crest Ink 3
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