After many years in the office, Jan was looking for more of a challenge, so Jay talked with her about working with computers. This idea really intrigued Jan and she was ready to jump in. Jan said “I got my college education at the College of Crest.” Crest Foods sent Jan to many computer classes. “I was the dumbest one in the class. I knew zero about computers. The instructor told me that most of the people coming to take the class probably knew 50% about computers and would learn about 10 to 15% more. He told me that I was coming in with zero knowledge and would leave knowing about 50% of what was needed to know, so who was going to learn the most, them or me? That gave me the confidence to continue. Crest was always willing to send us to classes and keep us up to date on technology changes which I was so grateful for.” When Jan retired in 2001, her title was MIS (Manager of Information Systems) Data Processing Manager. In every day lingo, she was our main computer guru. Instrumental in getting Crest Foods up to speed in the technology field, Jan started with what was then called the IBM System 34. This computer system was cutting edge for its day in bringing manufacturing facilities, like Crest Foods, out of the paper world and into the technology world. Over the years, as our number of employees has changed, so has the world of technology. We have to give credit for Jan Warner’s work in bringing us into the 21st century. Memories of Ray Voss Construction by Jeff Meiners made the single name concept popular long before Cher did and I don’t think I ever had a conversation with him when the possibility of rain didn’t come up. We’ve had several contractors that we have relied upon heavily since the days of Ray and his crew, but never any quite as unique. Most of the plans for construction with Ray were drawn up on a pad of paper. Sure, buildings built with pre- stressed slabs of concrete needed to be engineered and blueprints drawn…but Ray didn’t spend much time con- sulting them. The everlasting image of Ray would be him on his bulldozer with a cigar in his mouth moving dirt. He didn’t often stop to chat, unless a pretty girl stopped by and then it would suddenly be break time. All concrete poured would be finished by hand which led to many late nights of finish work since there were many large pours. Never would a bill be itemized in any fashion – just a single number to pay and often we would literally need to chase him down to get us an invoice. With that being said, once an invoice was delivered, he would usually wait for the check to be cut since he was in need of cash. I can’t believe we ever asked if he carried insurance…pretty sure I know what the answer would have been. It was a different time and a different era and business in small town mid-America was done in a far different way. It wasn’t necessarily better or worse…just far different than how it would be done today. None the less, Ray’s work was almost flawless and he did more than twenty years of work for Crest without a competitive bid or making a formal quote. We trusted him and were never disappointed. Ray and Mingo have passed and Jerry has retired, but their work endures at Crest and we will always be grateful. Ray Voss was Crest’s contractor of choice from the 60’s through the early 80’s. Over half of the main production facility on Brown Street and all of the foundation work for our old warehouses in town was built by Ray and his crew led by Jerry Williams and Mingo. Mingo
April, May & June 2018 Crest Ink 17
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