The Crest Ink is a quarterly newsletter that celebrates the success of Crest Foods and our employees.
Crest Ink July, August & September 2022 Ashton, IL 61006
Volume 34 • Number 3
100 Plays!
by Jared Stumpenhorst
Have you heard the news? The Packaging Division has created over 100 Plays in Redzone! This is quite an accom- plishment and we are pretty sure it is a first amongst Redzone companies. Before we get too far into that though, some of you may be wondering what the heck a Play is in the first place? Well, have you ever used YouTube before? I know that the first time I needed to change my headlight on my car I immediately went on to YouTube and searched for a video that would show me how to gain access to that headlight to change it. Much to my delight, there were dozens of videos of people sharing their knowledge and experience in how to perform that task. I was able to watch the video and quickly resolve the problem on my own. I felt great! I accomplished something on my own and I did not have to pay someone else to do it! WIN, WIN! Plays in Redzone are very much like that video that I had found on YouTube that day. They are videos that our people on the frontlines of the production floor are creating to share their knowledge with others in hopes that their experiences might benefit someone else, and make solving a problem a little bit easier and faster. This is all a part of our latest frontier in expanding the capabilities of Redzone. The content that has been created has been fantastic and many people have been surprised to learn new ways to do tasks that they may have been doing for many years. Not only are these tips and tricks able to be viewed through the Playbook in Redzone, we are also incorporating many of them into a revamped training program that we are piloting through the app. While most of Ken Franchino, Becca Dodd, Jackie Furman, Amy Williams, Jasey Moore, Caleb Henson, Rico VanOosten, Sherry Joos, Jacob Bergner, Michelle Kemmerer, Catherine Larson, Keith Larson, Kim Gallagher, Mike Jacobs, Natasha Pretzsch, Jessica Guenther & Trish Carter
our early creators of Plays were hesitant to take the plunge at first, most have found that it is pretty rewarding to share their knowledge and they even had a little fun along the way! We even have a duo of our early adopters of Plays, Hannah Derksen and Rico VanOosten, nominated as a Team of the Year for Redzone’s annual awards rec- ognition! While they certainly set the pace for creating Plays it has expanded greatly throughout all areas of the operation. In addition to those two the following people have been a key part of getting us to our first 100 Plays: Mike Jacobs, Catherine Larson, Cody Brill, Al Kvool, Ryan Burger, Sherry Joos, Kim Gallagher, Rick Cox, Dale Lippens, Keith Larson, Becca Dodd, Amy Williams, Ken Franchino, Jon Bakener, Jackie Furman, Jasey Moore, Natasha Pretzsch, Amy Wilcox, Michelle Kemmerer, Jordon Smith, Caleb Henson, Jacob Bergner, Jessica Guenther, Trisha Carter, Karen Yardley, Ben Fichter, Nick Sterling, Matthias Kemmeren and Brian Beckman. Each of these people has been a part of at least one Play in Redzone and is a big part of the success we have had so far (hopefully I did not miss anybody). Thank you all for jumping out of your comfort zone and being the early adopters! We cannot wait to see what you all will teach us next!
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Celebrating Good Times by Jeff Meiners
It has become a Crest tradition to celebrate the end of our fiscal year by having a cookout for all employees to show our appreciation for the contributions that everyone has made to the successes of the past year. Somehow, the celebration is always a little sweeter when the road we’ve traveled has been a little rough and as we all know we continue to be challenged by some of the after-effects of the pandemic. The good news is that things seem to get better every day and Crest employees, like always, have taken any challenges we might have head on and our outlook continues to be bright. Our employee celebration took place on a sunny and pleasantly warm August 10th. The big top tent was up, steaks and chicken were sizzling on the big grill, soft serve ice cream was available to all and the parties went off without a hitch throughout the day and night. Many door prizes were passed out that were generously donated by our sup- pliers, we had some product give-aways that were donated by Karlin Foods and suggestion program winners for the year were recognized and rewarded. At work as in life in general, it is important to take time to celebrate and cherish the good things. We are very grate- ful to those who call Crest their work home…taking some time to celebrate that with our summer cookout is one of our ways of saying thank you.
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Getting to Know the Consumer Products Division
What is Consumer Products? Consumer Products is Crest’s 3rd division, where we develop and sell dry food items on a turn key or finished packaged good basis. Are we Private Label? Kind of, only we do not have a list of items just anybody can put their name on. We consider ourselves a solution based division, creating custom/exclusive products for our customers. Whether you plan to expand a current product line, develop a brand new item or you simply need product matching assistance, we have you covered. Our team of developers will serve as an extension of your own research and development team to create a product that is the perfect solution to your distinct require- ments and challenges. Jonathon Aldridge, Stephanie Milan, Gaven Meiners, Holly Gleissner, Ryan Crouch, Jennifer Pittman, Tom Windelborn, Jamie Cooper & John Davis Jonathon Aldridge Lab Technician (We prepare and evaluate products that Crest Foods produces - as well as help develop new products.) 1 Year at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Pizza Hobbies & Interests: Watching football (Go Packers!), Cooking, Gardening. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: A duck, I don’t know why, just seems like they live nice peaceful lives. Ryan Crouch Consumer Products & 815Eats Sales 3 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Breakfast skillet, start the day off right! Hobbies & Interests: I like to ride my bike and work around the house. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: This is a tough one, I’d say a sloth because they seem to be relaxed all the time and I’m just not good at relaxing. Holly Gleissner Consumer Products Project & Tech Manager (Try to make my boss look good!) 10 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Thanksgiving dinner Hobbies & Interests: Horse Sports, Table top games with family, Exploring local food If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: A sea otter. They’re playful, curi ous, and live in social groups.
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Jennifer Pittman Lead Lab Technician 9 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Hard to pick just one thing! Hobbies & Interests: My kids sports are my interest, I enjoy cooking and gardening and hanging out with my family and friends. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: Bald Eagle because of what it symbolizes and to be able to have the freedom to fly. Tom Windelborn Product R& D (Make messes, and then do my best to rearrange the mess into a viable product) 8 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Bingsu, it’s a Korean dessert where they pour condensed milk over shaved ice, then top it with fruit or red bean paste, and small chewy cubes of rice cake. Hobbies & Interests: Waffles. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: An albatross. They get to circle the globe every year and they can drink seawater without getting sick. They have very few predators, and long lifespans. Stephanie Millan Consumer Products Coordinator 1 Year at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Pizza Hobbies & Interests: Volleyball, baking & watching movies If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: Tiger because they’re fearless, strong and beautiful. John Davis Lab Technician 4 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Crab Legs Hobbies & Interests: Direct and sing Barbershop Music, karaoke, play/collect cards, root for the Cubs, Bears and the Crimson Tide, and random road trips that usually involve antiques. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: Dolphin, cause they are intelligent, athletic, and free to swim most anywhere. Jamie Cooper Consumer Products Operations Manager 15 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Sushi Hobbies & Interests: I like to read and take walks with my pup when I have time. Other than that I drive kids to practices and games most days of the week. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: Honey Badger - “Joey doesn’t share food!” Gaven Meiners Consumer Products Sales & Research Manager 14 Years at Crest Foods Favorite Food: Smoked BBQ & Chicken Wings. Hobbies & Interests: Golfing, Fishing, Hunting and hanging with my family. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why: Penguin – I will forever offer my pebbles to my lady penguin named Tracy.
Congratulations to the next receipient of our M.V.T. (Most Valuable Trainer) award, Tina Johnson from Production A in the Main Plant! Tina was nominated by her co-workers and supervisors for having a great attitude with her trainees and everyone that she works with. Quotes from her trainees included: “She is al- ways there to help. I could ask her any question.” “She is great at explaining tasks.” “She is very fun to work with and be around. She created a fun atmo- sphere.” “Even after training she is there to help me and answer my questions.” “She is approachable which provices comfort especially when you are new.” Congratulations, Tina! We are proud to have you as a trainer at Crest Foods!
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Supplier of the Year by Matt Richardson, Purchasing Manager
On Friday, September 9, 2022 we held our 32nd Supplier Night Appreciation event at Prairie View Golf Course in Byron. It was a beautiful day to take a break from talking business with our suppliers and entertain them with a day of golf and dinner. We had over 100 people in attendance, including suppliers and Crest Management. I’m pretty sure over 80% of the suppliers have been in business with Crest and participated in this event for 20 years or more! That sure says something about the relationships we build with our suppliers. Tom Galen from Formstart has been at every event from the start. Thank you for being a supplier for 30 plus years and a part of this event from the beginning. We would like to thank and celebrate all of our amazing suppliers but this year only one stood an inch above everyone else. Tom Rainey from PalletMaxx brought home the Supplier of the Year title this
Matt Richardson & Tom Rainey from PallettMaxx
year. Tom has been a supplier to Crest Foods for only six years now and from day one, PalletMaxx has made sure Crest Foods was taken care of in regards to all of our wood pallet needs, especially over the last two years when we all know it has been really tough to do business the way we like to. PalletMaxx was able to get us more pallets when demand called for it and were able to hold our price per pallet for most of those two years. It wasn’t until just a few months ago did they say they needed to raise our price! We would like to thank Tom and PalletMaxx for being a supplier to Crest Foods and look forward to many years to come. PalletMaxx is a family owned company that formed in 1999 in Crestwood, IL. The ownership has over 75 years of experience in the pallet business and has taken their company national with offices now in Texas, Washington, Georgia and Florida. Tom and his wife Ashley have two little boys; Luke 11 and Dean 9 years old. Tom is very active with his children and coaches different sports. He is also Dean’s Cub Scout leader and Luke’s Boy Scout leader. Congratulations Tom & PalletMaxx for your outstanding service!
2022 VOP Golf Fundraiser Crest Foods and Village of Prog- ress teamed up for the Village of Progress Foundation Golf Outting this summer. These 2 teams plus many others in the community helped to raise over $22,000 for the Village! Thanks to Jon Bakener, Dan Yates, Gaven Meiners and Rod Burnette for representing Crest Foods!
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Recent Retirements
Congratulations, Lloyd Droege! Lloyd Droege decided to retire on August 12th and hopefully learn to sleep in past 4 AM. He woke up at that alarm for many years here at Crest and I had the pleasure to work with him for the last ten. There are many memories I have from working with him, but my most memorable is how hard he worked at everything and the friendly competition he liked to have with everyone. Every day he used to do 50 consecutive push-ups while waiting on his first batch to mix and he wasn’t afraid to challenge me to a head to head competi- tion. Even though Lloyd isn’t waking up to join us here in Ashton everyday, he is still keeping busy by continuing to work hard at fulfilling his role on the Ogle County Board and helping his cousin out on the farm. I’m not sure what time his alarm is set at now, but I’m confident he’s rolling over and starting his morning with 50 push-ups when it goes off. Congratulations, Joyce Meiners! The Queen of Consumer Products has left the building. Joyce Meiners has retired after 27+ years of dedication and devotion to Crest Foods. Joyce was a big part of building the division and she will be missed by many. Her work can be found all around the country in both the dairy case and grocery shelf. We would have never gotten to where we are today without her, thank you Joyce for all your hard work and enjoy retirement! Congratulations, Randy Reuter! After 28 years of service to Crest, Randy Reuter has decided it’s time to become a full time fisherman, golfer, hunter, traveler, grandpa…fill in the blank with anything but worker. Randy has been a production supervisor for packaging, the mix man- ager for ingredient and most recently the mix manager for packaging. Randy has always embraced Crest culture, been quick with a smile and a laugh and has been a key part in keeping things rolling at Crest on a day-to-day basis. We are more than thankful for all that Randy has done for us and wish him nothing but happiness in his retirement. See you on the golf course or a nearby river soon Randy.
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Crest Happenings
Our Sympathy Our condolences to Bill Zacharias (Ingredient A) on the loss of his son, Arthur “A.J.” Zacharias, in July. Our condolences to Jorge Ramirez (Ingredient A) on the loss of his wife, Dawn. Our condolences to Tara Lifka (Production Supervisor C) and Roger Wolber (Maintenance C) on the passing of Tara’s grandmother in October. Our condolances to Penny Ellis (Production A) on the passing of her brother-in-law in October. Congratulations Congratulations to Laura Mares (Production A) on the arrival of her grandson! Wayne Orlando Mares was born on August 12th and was 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. Happy parents are Laura’s son, Gage, and his wife Katrina. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to Olgert (Maintenance B) and Caitlin Refatllari on the birth of their son Gilbert Troy Refatl- lari (pictured), born August 8th, weighing 6 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long.
Congratulations to Kip Vincent (Production C) and his girlfriend on the birth of their daughter, Samantha Jo Mae Vincent! Samantha Jo arrived July 6th and was 6 lbs 14 oz 19” long.
Congratulations to Jaclynn Koch for join- ing our Emergency Response Team at Crest Foods! Jaclynn comes to us with many years of experience as an EMT. She spends many of her weekends at the Byron Motosports Park where she mans her own
Congratulations to Julie Pitchford (Switchboard) on the birth of her grand- son, Cyrus Anthony (pic- tured right), born August 17, 2022 to Amber and Anthony Theik. Congratulations to Susan Wilcox (Production A) on her marriage on July 9th!
ambulance providing emergency services as needed through the Swedish American Hospital EMS System.
Welcome Allison Mayfield We’re excited to welcome Allison Mayfield to the Consumer Products Team! Allison holds a Bachelor of Professional Studies from the Culinary Institute of America, and will be as- sisting with product development and documentation review in our Consumer Products Lab. She has a variety of experience from cooking for food-sensitive children, to serving as Acting Pastry Chef, and even assisting a local school district through the COVID shut down. Outside of work Allison enjoys baking and recipe testing along with playing the upright bass! Her curiosity and creative insights are great additions to our ever-growing Consumer Products Division. We’re delighted Allison is part of our Crest Foods family!
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Crest Happenings
Congratulations to the following employees for obtaining new jobs at Crest Foods over the last few months!
Yolanda Cadenas Level 6 West B-Shift
Stephanie Milan Consumer Products Coordinator
Charles Jaworski Ing. Sanitation B-Shift
Aaron Shinabarger Karlin Forklift B-Shift
Tim Wittenauer Warehouse Sanitation A-Shift
Kelsey Bergsieker QA Line Tech A-Shift
Joseph Williams Warehouse Forklift A-Shift
Milton Wilcox Karlin Forklift A-Shift
Mike McPeak QA Line Tech B-Shift
Jacklynn Koch Ing. Division Weigher
Welcome Amanda Hering We are excited to introduce our new Benefits Manager, Amanda Hering! Amanda comes to use from West Liberty Foods where she worked for 7 years. She has a lot of great experience she will be bringing to Crest Foods. In her spare time, she enjoys being on the farm with her horses – a draft horse named Ford and a paint named Maverick, spending time with her family and friends, especially her significant other Joe and their daughter Emma. This time of year if she’s not at work or the softball field with Emma, you’ll catch her in a tree stand – bet her bucks are bigger than yours!
Amanda would love to hear what employees want to see from the Benefits department! She’s looking for employee engagement ideas, what benefits would you like and any ideas you may have. She loves bringing fun to the work place – which means she’ll fit in just fine!
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2022 4th Quarter CIP Winners
Becca Dodd, Production A-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00 Her suggestion was to come up with a way to safely lift magnets out of hoppers, which is a human safety concern. She worked with maintenance and the machine shop to create hooks to lift magnets out much easier. Jerry Maronde, Maintenance B-Shift • 1st Place • $250.00 Jerry’s suggestion was to try a new dancing bar design and use proximity sensors instead of micro switches. Dancing bar assembly has been an issue for years, and Jerry’s idea will save a lot of downtime. He worked with the machine shop and we were able to design and make these internally. Ken’s idea was to help improve part of the new employee training process. He wanted to have a tape roll set up for trainees to use (either during orientation or when with trainer), which would allow trainees to get hands on experience with the tape roller while avoiding pressure from the line getting backed up and feeling rushed. This is a great idea that will add a lot of value during the new employee training process. We are working on putting some- thing off-line for people to train with. Ken Franchino, Production A-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00 Will’s idea was to try to make it easier to see between the chain vey rooms of 91 & 83 without having to leave the room and run back and forth between rooms through a hall- way with heavy forklift traffic. This is a great idea, and we are looking at how we can install a door with a window between the rooms. Will Hand, Production C-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00 Christian’s idea was to label the weigh-up drums on the plastic cap of the pallets in the Ingredient Division. He wanted to make it easier to know what is in each drum, which would eliminate the guessing game of which pallet of weigh-ups are for which products. This is a great suggestion that has already been implemented! Christian Maltby, Ing. Production A-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00
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2022 CIP Annual Winners Announced! The Crest Foods Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) successfully completed its 30th year on July 31, 2022. Thank you to everyone who participated in the program this year! This summer, we were happy to announce that this year’s winner was Jerry Maronde from Maintenance B-Shift! He had a lot of great competition this year, but ultimately we were impressed with the reduction of downtime and solu- tion. Congratulations and thank you for the great sugges- tion, Jerry!
Jerry Maronde, Maintenance B-Shift • $1000.00! Jerry’s suggestion was to try a new dancing bar design and use proximity sensors instead of micro switches. Dancing bar assembly has been an issue for years, and Jerry’s idea will save a lot of downtime. He worked with the machine shop and we were able to design and make these internally.
Natasha Pretzsch, Production A-Shift • 2nd Place • $500.00
Her suggestion was to create a database of information and videos to help with issues on lines. She wanted a way to share notes, videos and tips about specific products. Natasha put a lot of work into documentation well before we had this capability in Redzone.
Becca Dodd, Production A-Shift • Runner Up • $250.00
Her suggestion was to come up with a way to safely lift magnets out of hop- pers, which is a human safety concern. She worked with maintenance and the machine shop to create hooks to lift magnets out much easier. While she origi- nally also had a cart to help with mobility to go along with this idea, we are going to go in another direction due to the size of the cart. We appreciate the creativity and focus on trying to make this process better.
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Promoting Employee Safety at Crest Foods by Karen Yardley, Safety & Sanitation Manager The last few months have been a very busy time at Crest Foods – and we’re not just talking making batches or run- ning lines – but also for promoting employee safety! We launched Safety Audits in Redzone earlier this summer and will continue to develop this initiative. To kick the program off, we put together a team of Supervisors who have been auditing assigned Production lines each week. Additional teams will be comprised of department heads who will be auditing on a monthly schedule and an ownership team who will be out on the floor quarterly. These auditors will be looking for feedback from you about any hazards on your line so be sure to share any concerns with them! Each September we observe National Preparedness Month and focus on raising awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. We remind employees about our Emer- gency Response Guidelines here at work and remind them of the importance of having plans at home as well. We conducted our annual fire extinguisher training during the latter part of September and early October. We also conducted fire drills on all three shifts, at all locations. During the fire extinguisher training we talked about the importance of fire prevention as we prepared to observe Fire Prevention Week (October 9 - 15) 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week, which is ob- served each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land. Again, not only is it important to know the plan at work but to have and know the plan for home. Have an escape route, test your smoke alarms, establish a meeting place and practice! We made an employee safety video to add to the more than 100 “Plays” in Redzone that Crest employees have submitted. This video focuses on what to do in an emergency, like a fire, tornado or injury/illness. Check it out! There are also employee safety videos pertaining to yellow walkways and handling rare earth magnets safely. Speak- ing of “Plays” – we celebrated 100 Plays and 100 Days without a lost time accident in October with treats for ev- eryone! While we continue to encourage employees to report NEAR MISSES and NOTICE ONLYs as a way to prevent future injuries and accidents, the fact that we haven’t had a LOST TIME accident in more than 100 days is a trend worth celebrating! Let’s keep it going to 200! Annual hearing tests were completed the first week in October. We had a different vendor this year and, while this required testing will probably always present some challenges, we had a lot of positive feedback. Crest is also offering First Aid/CPR/AED training for employees in November. We had seventeen employees from all three shifts express interest in participating in this free training. In September we completed a responsible sourcing audit for Amazon. Unlike most of our other audits (SQF, for example) that focuses on FOOD safety, these audits focus on whether or not we are providing a lawful, safe and ethical working environment for our employees. A group of management began training to understand how Crest can be a Recovery Friendly Workplace . A recovery friendly workplace supports the health, wellness and safety of its employees by educating about substance use disorder and addiction, creating an environment conducive to the journey of recovery, and working to reduce the stigma often associated with the disease of addiction, SUDs, and recovery. As Crest strives to keep employees
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safe here at work and promote safety at home as well, we encourage all employees to reach out for help and sup- port, whether for themselves or a loved one. If you have questions about or what to learn more about any of our employee safety programs or projects, please contact Karen Yardley at ext. 7219 anytime.
2022 Walking Club Wrap Up by Savannah Fagan
As another year of the Crest Foods Walking Club has come to an end and together 86 employees raised a grand total of $39,531.95 for local charities ! From September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022, participants of the walking club earned $2.00/mile walked or ran and $0.50/mile biked. This year, the top 5 donations were to Happy Tails Animal Shelter, Hope Life Center, Granny Rose Animal Shelter, Goodfellows and the Jack Mabley Developmental Center. Altogether 39 local charities received a contribution. Thank you to everyone who participated this year and we can’t wait to see how much is raised for next year. Remember, every mile counts! Crest Foods Employees: Than you for your generous donation to the Dixon Park District! Congrats on all your hard work and thank you for choosing us! Crest Foods Walking Club: Thank you, thank you so much for your generous and kind donation to Buddy Bags of Dixon. We apre- ciate it very much. We could not accomplish our mission without wonderful and supportive people such as your team. The goal of the Buddy Bags program is to make a difference for the children in Dixon. With the help of donations like yours, this program will provide weekend brown bag meals for identified youngsters in need. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Crest Foods Walking Club: Thank you so much for your generous donation to Dixon Habitat for Humanity. We will make every effort to use your contribution as effectively as possible in providing decent, affordable homes for families in need here in the Dixon area. Crest Foods Walking Club: Thank you for your generous gift to the Village of Progress. I was so happy to see that you have remem- bered the Vilage in your list of charities to support. The combination of fitness routines with raising money for charities is wonderful. It’s a chance to feel good and do good at the same time. Our friendship with Crest Foods means a lot fo the peole who attend here. Members of the Walking Club: Thank you so much for your very generous donation to Serenity Hospice and Home. It is truly amazi- ng that your walking team has been in existence for 11 years and that in addition to improving your own health, you are helping with the health of your local communities by supporting non profits. It has indeed been a challenging year and we truly appreciate your sup- port during these times and always. Walking Club Members: We appreciate your donation and your friendship of Franklin Creek Conservation Association. The gift supports our work to protect this beautiful place for the plants and animals that live here, the people who restore their peace-of-mind here, and the children whose sense of wonder and love of nature are nurtured here. We sincerly appreciate your recent contribution Your thoughtfulness is very appreciated by the staff and animals at the Granny Rose Animal Shelter! Your loving concern for the animals ensures that our animals continue to receive proper and adequate love and care.
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Crest Champion is our new employee recogntion program itended to acknowledge employees that perform above and beyond their normal job duties and those that identify and prevent mistakes from happening. It is replac - ing Quality Hero and CARE’s. It’s a combination of the two previous programs built into one. The program is designed to be a quick reinforcement to employees, letting
them know that our employees do make the difference to our success and that their efforts are appreciated. Peers can recognize each other, or Managers/Supervisors can recognize employees. We want employees to know they make the difference to our success and that their efforts are recognized. Employees nominated have either : Gone above & beyond (anything outside of normal job duties), Prevented or Minimized a problem, or Demon- strated creativity (creatively solves problems or improves procedures).
Congratulations to all employees nominated for as Crest Champions! Steve Harrell, Olgert Refatllari, Spider Dan and Aaron Yocum were the official winners over the past few months.
Steve Harrell (Ingredient Production C) Our FIRST Crest Champion! Steve was driving home when he saw a new employee walking towards work. It turns out, it was that employee’s first day and his car had broken down. Steve stopped to pick him up and brought him the rest of the way. This is a great example of how awesome Crest employees are!
Aaron Yocum & Spider Dan (Warehouse B) These two stepped up and took care of business when the majority of their shift was off sick. They went above and beyond to make sure product and supplies got where it needed to go and prevented a lot of downtime. Noth- ing would have run as smoothly as it did if it weren’t for these two!
Olgert Refatllari (Maintenance B) Olgert noticed the clean on a line was for a plain seasoning but it should have been for an allergen. He was able to notify the sanitation department and prevent a potential large recall! Great attention to detail!
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Local Spotlight: Sinnissippi Centers by Savannah Fagan
In recent years, the importance of prioritizing an individual’s mental health has been recognized more so than ever before. In the past, discussing this subject was seen as negative and seeking services could be difficult, which is when Sinnissippi Centers stepped up. Establishing in the 1960’s, Sinnis - sippi Centers had an initiative to change the stigma and make mental health services more accessible to individuals. There are several types of services available to children, adolescents and adults, including mental health and substance use services. There are several groups open to clients and they offer family and couple counseling as well, and have psychiatrists that are able to prescribe medication as well.
Ashley Koza
Nikki Principato
A benefit of being a Crest Foods employee is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which means employees can utilize the benefits of Sinnissippi Centers at no cost. Currently, employees are able to set up a phone, video or in person visit with Ashley Koza. Ashley started with Sinnissippi Centers in 2012 as an intern and was hired full time in 2014 as a family and adolescent therapist which morphed into a blended clinician. With an expected leave coming up, Nikki Principato will be covering her absence. Nikki started as an intern in 2019 and was hired on after that. She has experience with both adolescents and adults with mental health concerns and will be offering virtual sessions via phone or video during Ashley’s leave. If a current Crest employee is interested in scheduling an appointment, please call the Oregon office at (815) 732- 3157 and inform clerical that they are a Crest employee. The initial appointment typically explains how EAP ser- vices work and identifies some goals that the individual would like to work on.
NOW HIRING! Spread the word! Crest is now hiring directly! No waiting for 500 hours to get hired on!
We are hiring all shifts in multiple departments. You can earn a referral bonus. Just share with your friends and family, tell them to use you as a referral. If we are able to hire them full time, you both can earn $500 for the referral. (Some restrictions do apply). Applying is easy! They can stop in and fill out an application, you can take an application to them or they can apply on line. Use this QR code to direct them to our website to see our open positions and apply. If you have any questions just see Michelle Lowe-Sterba (x7199).
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WIFR News Visits Crest Foods What does it take to get 23 News WIFR’s weatherman, Aaron Wilson, to take a trip to Ashton, IL? As it turns out, a chance meeting with Crest Foods employees Susan Larson and Martha Holder will do the trick! They recently ran into Aaron at an event in Chicago, and he was sold the minute they mentioned Hamburger Helper. A couple of short weeks later, Aaron was broadcasting live from Crest Foods, interviewing employees and eating homemade Kuchen with Mayor Henert! We had a blast hanging out with Aaron and his cameraman, Erik, and can’t wait to welcome him back in the future! If you missed the broadcast, you can view it online at www.facebook.com/CrestFoodsCo.
Crest Foods Co., Inc. is officially considered a Recovery Friendly Workplace! We have been working with Recovery Friendly Workplace Illinois and Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery to understand how we can better support our employees. Our Employer Declaration is as follows: Crest Foods Co., Inc. is committed to creating a healthy, safe, and stigma-free work environment through our participa - tion in the Illinois Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative (RFW). The RFW Ini - tiative encourages environments where employers, employees, and communities can collaborate to create positive change and eliminate barriers for those impacted by substance use disorders. It is our goal to create a culture of caring and support by providing employees access to tools, information and resources that support their physical and emotional well-being. We encourage all employees to reach out for help and support, whether for themselves or a loved one. Please reach out to Erika Meiners (x7201), Jon Bakener (x8429), Jared Stumpenhorst (x7239), Karen Yardley (x7219), Michelle Lowe-Sterba (x7199) or your supervisor if you need help or resources.
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Home Maintenance Fall is right around the corner, for many of us that brings thoughts of apple cider, colorful trees, and cool (cold) crisp air. It also means winter is right around the corner! Fall is a good time to do home maintenance checks in order to make sure that your house is prepared for the cold, snowy winter ahead. Keeping our homes in tip top shape is important. It can help avoid surprises such as your furnace deciding not to work in the middle of a cold night or a leak in the roof when the snow starts to melt. Both of these fixes could be very costly by themselves. They also could cause problems throughout your home. Frozen pipes and sagging ceil ings are just two examples of additional issues you could face. Below is a quick “Check List” that will help you with your fall maintenance. The list contains some of the major items you should look at: • Check chimneys for deteriorated chimney caps, loose and missing mortar. • Maintain grading, it should be sloped away from foundation walls. • Check for damaged, loose or missing shingles, blisters. • Check for leaking, misaligned or damaged gutters, downspouts, hangers and gutter guards. • Clean gutters, strainers, window wells and drains. • Make sure downspouts direct water away from your foundation (and sidewalks). • Check flashings around roof stacks, vents, skylights, chimneys and antenna supports for leakage. • Check vents, louvers and chimneys for birds’ nests, squirrels and insects. • Cut back tree limbs growing on or over your root. • Cut back and trim shrubbery against sidewalls. • Check caulking and check for decay around doors, windows, corner boards, joints; recaulk as needed. • Check glazing putty around windows. • Check weather stripping. • Have an HVAC expert check your furnace. • Replace furnace filters. • Clean and service your humidifier. • Close crawl vents for the winter. Drain exterior waterlines, hose bibbs, sprinklers and pool equipment. • To prevent freezing, keep garage doors closed in the winter; wrap exposed waterlines and drains with insulation. • Make sure you have a good snow shovel, salt for ice on the sidewalk and good working flashlights. Have maintenance done on your snow blower. These are several items that when checked and maintained will help keep you warm and safe when the snow is blowing outside
July, August & September 2022 Crest Ink 17
Employment Anniversaries
July
Day Years
ANNE HARRIS
27 24
JESSICA GUENTHER
30 10 31 41 31 15
DARRELL MERRIMAN
28
1
JON HARRISON
MICHAEL MEINERS JOSEPH LOQUASTO
1 1 3 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9
38
DANIEL YATES
29 26 31 22
JENNIFER BENFORD
8
MARIA JERONIMO
MICHELLE KEMMERER 2
10 21 23
RAYMOND VAN DREW
September
Day Years
August
Day Years
GLORIA MASON
STEVEN MEINERS
1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 9
45 33 36 11 19 19
MARIA PEDROZA JEANNA HARVEY LAURA TEWNION NICHOLAS HAYE MARIA ESCATEL DUSTIN KOCH JEFFREY ROOP ADAM GIESE JEFFREY TOMPKINS PATRICK RIENSTRA IRENE ROBERTS CONSUELO NAMBO JAMES KETTLEY NICOLASA RAMOS LINDSEY BEASLEY CARLOS BUELVAS
1 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 6 7 7 9
17 11 16 16 16 30 2 11 21 22 16 23 1 1
KRISTINA MC WETHY DEBRA WORLEY ALONZO HALL III DOUGLAS CAROLUS DAVID HENRIKSON MICHAEL SPENCER
6
ANN WEGE
23
EDWARD BAYLOR SOCORRO PALAFOX BEN IGNASZAK KEITH LARSON JAMES REINDEL KATHRYN DWYER JENNIFER PITTMAN ROBERT ZIANKOSKI CAROL RICHARDSON ADAM DREW SHIRLEY REIF WILLIAM HENRY MARK FICHTER GERRY TEMMEN CONNIE KARPER MARTHA NAMBO JORGE RAMIREZ SHELLEY SCHOPP COLLEEN HUNT JOAQUIN VILLA ELZBIETA CICHOSZ MARLA SHANER
7 7
25 19 31 26 38 21 8
KATHERINE HENRIKSON 2
2 9
THOMAS WINDELBORN 7
JEFF CAPES
37 28
ALEXANDER DUTHIE CANDY HARTSELL
9
DALE LIPPENS NINA SIMS DAVID SMITH
21
11 28
7
12 12 12 12 12
1 1 1 1 1
39 34 34 34 24 24 23 37 5
RUBEN HERRERA STEVE BELLOWS JOSEPH KELLER ERIC DEADMOND ROBERT PITTMAN
15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17
6 6 6 2 2 1 2 2 2
RUBEN RODRIGUEZ LOUIS SHINABARGER
16 12
13 40 13 16
JULIE BERGMAN KIP VINCENT CODY KING AMY WILCOX
GARY ROGDE
DOMENICO MOSCATO
15 15
3 2
JASEY MOORE PENNY ELLIS
17 24
16 38 16 29
10 21 10 15
NORMA WILLIAMS KELLY SCHREIBER KIMBERLY YOUNGE
J PETER BULLOCK LEANNA SMITH CODY MC CALLISTER RANDALL REUTER
16 16 18 18 18 18
4 4 6 6 6 6
10
1
STEVEN STARKE 12 11 TIMOTHY WITTENAUER 13 40 KAREN YARDLEY 14 30 GUADALUPE CADENAS 14 15 PEGGY REINEKE 14 15 MARK BEASLEY 14 7 SUSAN POHL 14 7 JASON ELLER 15 8 VIRGINIA SANCHEZ 15 8 STEPHANIE ROE QUINTON 16 37 ELI RILEY 16 3 KENNETH STURGEON 16 3 AMY WILLIAMS 16 3 SUSAN MILLER 17 32 TAMMY TOTH 17 15
BEN KINN
18 24 18 14
17 28
DENNIS HURD JASON ROWL LISA ROBERTS
ROBERT LOGAN ALICIA NELSON CARL REINEKE BESSIE WHITE LISA WINKLER
18 18
8 8 1
JONATHON ALDRIDGE 18
JEFFREY HACAGA MATEO DOMINGUEZ TAMMIE LISTON KATHLEEN CONANT MARY MC WETHY JOE BUCKNER WILLIAM COVER JORGE MANDUJANO YOLANDA CADENAS BRENT WARNER
19 20
19 37 19 12
19
3
ALFONZO ALVARADO JACOB MC KNIGHT KIMBERLY STREET AURORA ABARCA MATTHEW GORZELA ANDREA HESS
20 40 20 21 22 17
19
1
20 13
20
2
23
1
21 16
26 31
21
1
26 28
1 4
TRISHA CARTER VALERIE SMITH MARC SMITH
22 20 22 20 25 28
29 34
18 Crest Ink July, August & September 2022
Employment Anniversaries
September
Day Years
KATRINA BEROGAN JAMIE TAYLOR MAURICE MILLAN ISAIAH DOMINGUEZ OSVALDO FULGENCIO CHAD REED
19 19 19 20 20 20 20 21 21
6 6 1 2 1 1 1 2 2
CALEB HENSON MARK GEORGE MARCIA BREEDEN MICHELLE BERARD WILLIAM ZACHARIAS MARIA GRANADOS
21 22
2 1
IMELDA GONZALEZ RUBEN RAMIREZ TIM WITTENAUER JR PEYTON BROWN
17
4
23 43 24 21 27 29
18 16
20 12
18 18
5 4
27 15 VERONICA MALDONADO 29 1
TERI WOLBER
19 34 19 34 19 28 19 11 19 11
PATRICK MILLER BILLY WILLCUTT JADE CLIFTON
REBECCA HENSON
CANDY KOCH
ROSA HERNANDEZ EUSEBIO MARQUEZ
KENNETH HELFRICH
Happy Birthday 815Eats! Four lessons learned from our first year as a retail brand.
1. Everyone wants free shipping. Amazon has tainted us all. It doesn’t matter how large of a discount you offer, the people still want free shipping. 2. Innovation is a double-edged sword. We launched 100 calorie, microwaveable dips as our first product line because we recognized a hole in the market place. Nobody has seen a dip like ours before! But the thing is, nobody has seen a dip like ours before. There is a lot of education that comes along with being the first in your category, but if you do it well the rewards will be plentiful. 3. Trending flavors do not guarantee success. We launched 815Eats Microwave Dips with four flavors: Chili Con Queso, Black Bean and Jalapeno, Tuscan Bean and Curried Chickpea. Global-inspired flavors may be trending, but we quickly learned that they can also be quite polarizing. That’s especially true when you live in the rural Midwest with locally focused business. What’s a brand to do? Pivot. We polled our fans, and they voted overwhelmingly for more classic flavors. The number one request – Bacon Cheddar - is launching in November. 4. Our Crest Foods employees are the very best cheerleaders! Over the past year, our Crest Foods family has shown endless enthusiasm for 815Eats. They’ve bought our prod- ucts, recommended them to friends and family, shared our social media posts and continue to ask about what is next. We literally could not have done this without them!
July, August & September 2022 Crest Ink 19
Employee Birthdays
July
Day
LISA ROBERTS LAURA HUBER
28 29 29 30 31 31 31 31
RUBEN HERRERA JACQUELINE FURMAN CALEB HENSON ROMEO RANDLE REBECCA SCHULTZ THOMAS BAEZA ARMANDO MACIAS LARRY SHIPMAN KELLY STEVENS RUBEN RAMIREZ DAVID SMITH MICHAEL JACOBS ISAIAH DOMINGUEZ JONATHON ALDRIDGE PEGGY BENFORD MATTHEW GORZELA JOHN THOMPSON JENNIFER DREW RICHARD RICE ROMAN KOZAK II GREGORY NOBLE AUDRA REINDEL CHRISTIAN MALTBEY ASHLEY CADENAS CATHY MEADER September
20 21 22 23 24 25 27 27 28 28 28 29 30 30 30
REGINA BONNELL
1 1 2 2 3 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 8
KENNETH STURGEON HANNAH HODGES JAMES HOUGHTALING MATTHEW HOELZER MICHAEL MEADER AMY WILCOX
JULIO CRUZ
RICKY HILLEMAN MARY BUTLER MARK JOHNSON MARK MC WETHY NOAH LAFLEUR CAROL MURPHY ANA BUTCHER WILLIAM COVER TIMOTHY WITTENAUER MATTHEW DREW JASON BREEDEN DARREON SHUCK ALYSSA CARTER GLORIA MASON ELYSHA WRIGHT JASON ELLER MARIA HERNANDEZ ERIC DEADMOND CRAIG FRIDAY TRAVIS CAMPBELL ANNE CASTRO JOHN MONT JOHN DAVIS MICHELLE BERARD MARISOL LARA JOHN HOWELL JR. MARTHA NAMBO MARIA GRANADOS MARVIN SOMERVILLE HELEN MEAD
August
Day
RAYMOND O’DELL WALLACE KARPER
2 4 4 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 9
LORI TALLEY
WILLIAM ZACHARIAS TRUDY WHALEN RICHARD DREW JOHN LEFFELMAN CANDY HARTSELL TREVOR FERRY STACIE VOGELER RICHARD VULLO FRANCISCO HERRERA DALLAS HODGES LOUIS SHINABARGER CHRISTINE PFOUTZ AURORA ABARCA LLOYD DROEGE JEFFREY MEINERS DEVEN STERBENZ ADAM DREW JOAQUIN VILLA JOSEPH LOQUASTO CARL REINEKE YOLANDA CADENAS PATRICK MILLER ELI RILEY TRUPTIBEN PATEL BRIAN DVORAK BESSIE WHITE BEVAN CLARK PAMELA GINGRICH JESSE MORRIS
Day
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 9
10 10 11 12 13 14 15 15 16 17 19 19 21 23 23 24 24 25 27 27 27 27 28 28 28
10 10 12 12 13 13 14 15 15 16 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 19
JAMES REINDEL TRISHA CARTER KEITH SMITH JAMES SMITH DESIRAE MOORE MARK GEORGE
TRENTON THOMASSON DOUGLAS CAROLUS
JOSEPH KELLER KELLY RAINS BENJAMIN YATES
RICKEY LEWIS CODY KING BRIAN SCHAFER
ELIZABETH VERHULST VALERIE SERRANO
CODY MC CALLISTER RODNEY BUNGER
10 11 11 12
AMY LOVE
COLLEEN HUNT KYLE O’DELL PEGGY REINEKE
GAY HUBER
LARRY STEVENS
20 Crest Ink July, August & September 2022
Employee Birthdays
September
Day
JUSTIN LUGO
19 20 20 21 21 21 22 22 22 23 23
RACHEL SALTZ MARC SMITH TYLER EWENS TODD DISCH
24 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 30
MICHAEL JENKINS GREG HUNT NINA SIMS SUSAN LARSON MARIA ELLIS RUBEN RODRIGUEZ BILLY WILLCUTT AMY GOLDMAN ROGER WOLBER
CHARLES NICHOLS JACOB BERGNER MARIA TORRES GOMEZ DOMENICO MOSCATO ROBERT ZIANKOSKI SERVANDO CADENAS
13 13 14 14 15 15 16 17
JOSEPH RAINES MISTY GREENWALT OSVALDO FULGENCIO
ANDRE RUFFIN JAMES SHUCK
TAMMY TOTH DEBRA BERAN
SANJUANA HERNANDEZ
CHRISTOPHER BUHLER 17 CASSANDRA ASKEGAARD 18
APRIL FICHTER
JUSTIN TAYLOR
Wedding Anniversaries
August
Day Years
July
Day Years
Al & Holli Duthie Irene & Mike Roberts Kelly & Garner Stevens Shelley & Marlen Schopp Jerry & Lynnette Lawrence Bill & April Cover Audra & Jim Reindel Kyle & Lauri Hassler Mark & Mary McWethy
1 3
41
Dave & Anne Noble Lisa & Brian Winkler
3 4 7 8
14 24 38 30 35 14 27 5 36 42 36 43 18 7
7
14 15 16 30 31 31 31
25
Stephanie & Jerry Quinton Bill & JoCinda Zacharias Craig & Teresa Friday Laura & James Mares Lori & Louie Shinabarger David & Karen Henrikson Steve & Kristy Starke Brent & Amy Warner Kerry & Maureen Tumleson Joe & Cathy Gomez Henry & Cheryl Bunger Jeff & Diane Roop
8 8
11 11 13 16 18 26 26 26 28 31
42 10
9
42
September
Day Years
Cheri & Terry Kemp Keith & Catherine Larson Dave & Kathy Branscum
4 6
51
8
15 25
34 23
Jim & Trisha Shuck
July, August & September 2022 Crest Ink 21
Crest Culture: Have Some Fun
22 Crest Ink July, August & September 2022
A publication of Crest Foods Co., Inc. PO Box 371 • Ashton, IL 61006 • Phone: (815) 453-7411 • Fax: (815) 453-2646 Jeff Meiners, President • Steve Meiners, V.P. Corporate Sales Mike Meiners, V.P. General Mgr Contract Mfg. Savannah Fagan, Erika Meiners, Jeff Meiners, Kristina McWethy, Gaven Meiners: Editors “Crest sells quality products and service – at a profit when we can, at a loss if we must – but always quality.” Copyright 2022
July, August & September 2022 Crest Ink 23
CREST FOODS., INC.
ASHTON, IL 61006
PO Box 371
815-453-7411
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Upcoming Events at Crest Foods: November 8th & 9th: Thanksgiving Turkey Give-Away (We will be handing out turkeys to all employees this year.) Thursday, November 24th & Friday, November 25th - Holiday (Thanksgiving) Friday December 23rd & Monday, December 26th - Holiday (Christmas) Friday, December 30th & Monday, January 2nd - Holiday (New Years)
24 Crest Ink July, August & September 2022
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