Up Close and Personal with Ned Tippie by Al Duthie Ned Tippie entered the dairy industry with no dairy products experience when he joined Crest Foods in 1988. He had, fortunately for Crest, answered a classi- fied job advertisement. Ned did not know Crest Foods and Crest Foods did not know Ned Tippie. However, Ned did have solid, pure selling experience and at that time Crest believed the technical aspects could be, and in this case were, taught to a capable, willing individual.
Ned began his Crest career as a technical sales representative within the mid-Atlantic territory. He quickly pro- gressed up the learning curve able to make plant visits and plant trial visits on his own. Taking advantage of his professionalism, personality, and dairy industry knowledge Crest Foods promoted Ned to Corporate National Sales in 2001. On a national level Ned is responsible as a liaison for information flow between Crest Foods and Safeway, Kroger, and Dean Foods. This position is crucial to help tie-in business projects and activities between Crest and its customer base. Ned was born and raised in Lima, Ohio. In high school he was a good student, a star athlete (football, basketball, track), a great musician (trombone in marching band), and lead vocal in the school choir. From high school he went on to Ohio State University majoring in agricultural business. Ned’s plans were to use his farming background and after earning a degree go into farming for himself. Ned successfully earned his B.S. degree; however, he quickly figured out that buying a farm was a huge investment, and one he was not inclined to attempt. Therefore he used his degree by seeking and gaining employment in the agricultural field (literally) when he went to work for Edward J. Funk & Son’s Seed Company. Like Crest Foods, Funk Seed Company was a solid, family-owned business. Ned resides in the Springfield, Ohio area with his wife Margaret. Ned has 3 grown sons, Jason, Nathan, and Seth. Currently he has one grandchild. Outside of work Ned’s interests lie with church, music, sports, wood-working projects, and fishing. His bass voice in song is outstanding (as told to me by one of his relatives), but Ned is reluc- tant to say or share this talent with many folks. Ned plays the guitar, practicing on his own. And the sales group and technical service group hopes that someday he might play and sing for us at an annual Crest Foods sales meeting. And of course Ned is an avid Ohio State Buckeye fan! Ned does plan to retire from Crest Foods within 5 years to pursue his hobbies and spend much more time with family and extended family. By finally being off the road and at home, except for desired vacation travel, I’m sure that Ned will not miss all those early mornings and late nights in dairy plants, nor all those hotel stays, airports, rental cars, and restaurant meals amassed during those many years working in sales. But until then Ned will continue to work hard in helping Crest grow along with its many customers in the dairy industry.
FLU SHOTS TO BE GIVEN Watch for signup sheets for the flu shots. Crest Foods will again be giving free flu shots in the month of October and/or November to any employee who wishes to have this vaccination. Dates and times will be posted later but don’t miss your chance to sign up!
October, November & December 2011 Crest Ink 23
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