The Crest Ink is a quarterly newsletter that celebrates the success of Crest Foods and our employees.
Crest Ink
Volume 31 • Number 04 October, November & December 2019 Ashton, IL 61006
2019 Year End Celebration by Gaven Meiners
Herb Wyckoff, Mitch Karlin, Cory Morris, Brandon Meiners, Ed Baylor, Andra Tremble, Gaven Meiners, Mike Meiners & Jeff Meiners on the grill
Put it in the books! Crest Foods’ fiscal year was just wrapped up with our “Year End Celebration,” which is our day dedicated and devoted to recognizing all Crest employees. Tight deadlines, extended hours, weekend work, and rush orders were all common scenarios this year and without the loyalty and dedication of our group of people we would have not come out on top. All three divisions had impact on our success and continue to raise the expec- tation bar each year. How does Crest celebrate? With food, music, and giveaways! The grilling team kept the charcoal hot from 3:30 in the morning until 5:30 that night. All gathered under the “big top” we ate, socialized, and celebrated each other. It’s a humbling day for us, getting to see each division, each shift, and each department all in one spot. We have become a big group and while some of our day to day work creates narrow vision, this day opens our eyes to how many people it takes to run Crest Foods.
In This Issue Getting to Know the Lucy Crew page 7
New Crest Culture Statement page 3
Supplier of the Year page 14
A big thank you goes out to our vendors whom donated door prizes and visited Ashton to share the day with us. While it is a long day, it continues to be one of the Meiners family’s favorite days at the office. Thank you to each and every one of our employees for all you do and with any luck we’ll all be back together next year to listen to Mike’s jokes. Let’s have another great year.
Paul Simons, Bart Bardzinski, Jason Smith & Justin Mackey
Trish Carter & Candy Koch
Connie Karper, Donna Ankney, Linda Stark, Carol Richardson, Linda Hollewell & Kathy Smith
Shannon Gunnon & Pauline Mireles
C-Shift Breakfast
Kyle Hassler, Jason Rowl, Luke Burnette & Matt Drew
B-Shift Dinner
Kyle Lawrence, Justin Guenther, Bill Zacharias, Adam Drew & Kyle O’Dell
Kameron & Natasha Pretzsch, Aaron Shinabarger, Michael Zurich & Ashley McCoy
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New Look for Crest Culture Statement by Jeff Meiners In our seventy-two years of existence as a company, Crest has accumulated quite a few assets. While the list on the accounting ledger is quite significant, one asset that holds no balance sheet value has a far greater value to Crest than all other assets combined…that is quite simply our culture as an organization. Crest Culture has evolved over the years since we were founded in 1947. It was first put into writing in 1992 because as we grew and welcomed many new employees, we thought it was important that everyone understood the basis for how we wanted to operate as a company and how they might be part of that process. The old saying rings true…the hymn always sounds better if all singing are on the same page, singing the same words at the same time. The same posters defining Crest Culture have hung in offices, meeting areas and breakrooms for over twenty years. While the culture re- mains the same, we decided it was time to freshen-up our presentation of it by cleaning up the wording some and making new posters utilizing Crest employees to help illustrate each of the defined points of our culture statements. We hope you enjoy seeing these around the plant and we heartily welcome and encourage everyone to be a part of Crest Culture. (To the left are the 2 old versions of the culture statements.)
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Crest Foods Commitment
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to CULTURE
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We Heard that Train a Comin’... by Savannah Fagan
History rolled through our little town of Ashton on July 30th. Big Boy No. 4014, one of the Union Pacific Rail road’s original steam engines and the last working of its kind, came out of a nearly 58 year retirement and made its way through town as part of its transcontinental tour. Train enthusiasts, families, Crest employees, and even a day care group gathered near the crossings and on top of buildings to catch a glimpse. Big Boy No. 4014 and its 24 siblings were the largest steam locomotives in the world and built exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1941. They earned the title “Big Boy” because they were and remain just that, BIG. Weighing in at a whopping 1.2 million pounds and stretching out 132 feet, the frames had to be hinged to allow them to negotiate curves. They primarily ran between Ogden, UT and Cheyenne, WY, where the steep terrain made it near impossible for any other train to handle loads. Out of the 25 originally built, only 8 remain and are on display across the country. In its 20 years of service, No.4014 traveled 1,031,205 miles before settling in to the Rail Giants Museum in Pomona, CA. It was relocated to Cheyenne, WY in 2013 to begin a restoration project to get it ready to participate in the “Great Race across the Midwest” in honor of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental rail road on May 10, 1869. As part of the restoration project, the fuel system was converted to burn fuel oil rather than the coal. This allowed the trip to be more cost effective as well as environmentally friendly and required less fuel stops. If you missed Big Boy when he rolled through town, it’s recommended that you plan a trip to see him at his next stop if you can whether you’re a train fanatic or not. It was quite the experience going back in time just a bit and seeing the old steam engine in action.
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Getting to Know The Lucy Crew
The Lucy Crew was started nearly 20 years ago to fill the need for a crew who would as- semble consumer products items and be will- ing to work on a part time – as needed basis. Most of the original crew consisted of family members of Crest employees that were willing to work an undefined schedule. The original group decided they reminded them- selves of Lucy and Ethel from an episode of the I Love Lucy show when they worked on an assembly line and immediately fell behind and tried to eat the candy they were packing to keep it from falling on the floor. While the members of the Lucy Crew have changed many times over the years, the name has stuck.
Today’s version of the seven member Lucy Crew sees action one to two times a week and spends time doing assembly work for product lines such as Uncle Wiley’s and Chex Mix sea- sonings. While we may not see them every day, they play a vital role in making sure our Consumer Products customers receive the best care possible from Crest Foods. (The photo above is a rare day that ALL 7 of the Lucy Crew were available to work together.) Connie Karper, Mardelle Kennay, Linda Stark, Linda Hollewell, Carol Richardson, Kathy Smith & Donna Ankney
Carol Richardson - 4 Years Interests: Spending time with my grandchildren. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin. Mardelle Kennay - 4 Years Interests: Spending time with my grandchildren and walking. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I love selling sweet corn with my grandchildren. Kathy Smith - 6 Years Interests: I like to play in the snow and go zip lining. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I am a retired machinist. Linda Hollewell - 13 Years Interests: I love to take care of my animals on the farm which include cows, horses and chickens. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I used to do demolition derbies.
Connie Karper - 2 Years Interests: Reading and spending time with my 5 grandsons. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I love to ride motorcycles. Linda Stark - 3 Years Interests: Cooking and spending time with my 18 grandchildren. 1 thing most don’t know about me: I was a manager at McDonalds for 20 years and that the Lucy Crew is my happy place! Donna Ankney - 3 Years Interests: Going out to dinner and taking trips (espec- ially to Hawaii). 1 thing most don’t know about me: 56 years ago I married a farmer and helped on the farm.
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Crest Happenings
Our Sympathy Our condolences to Stephanie Eich (Production A) and Alfonzo Alvarado (Maintenance A) on the passing of Stephanie’s grandmother, June Eich. Babies Welcome to Logan Andrew Karper, grandson of Rick Karper (Maintenance C). Logan was born August 9, 2019. Proud parents are Sean and Colleen Karper. Big sister Ellie is very excited to have a little brother. James Stuckey (Production C) and Jordan Shank (Pro- duction A) welcomed their firework baby, Brynnlea Rae Stuckey on July 4th. Brynnlea was 7 LBS and 19.75” long. Congratulations to everyone! Congratulations to Jon (Maintenance C) and Nikki Lar- son on the arrival of their son, Creed Elijah Larson. Creed was born July 26th and was 8 LBS 1 OZ and 20 ½” long. He is welcomed home by 3 big sisters. Con- gratulations to the Larson family! (The 3rd shift crew threw a baby shower for Jon and Nikki Larson, who
Congratulations to Nurse Heidi on her newest grand- daughter, Isabelle Jean McGlown, who arrived Au- gust 27th! Isabelle was born to Nurse Heidi’s son, Xander, and Katy Bell, and was 8 LBS 11 OZ. She is welcomed home by her big siblings Naomi and Mason. Congratulations to the entire family! Thank You Thank you for the plant that was sent to me. It’s really pretty! Thanks again for all your calls, visits and prayers. I and my family appreciate everything you have done for us. Can’t wait to get back to work! Love, Georgia Tem- men (Production A) & family Thank you Crest Team! Our homes look beautiful thanks to all of your help! The clients and staff appreciate your time and landscaping. –Kreider Services Thank you Crest Foods for all of the sponsorships you do throughout the year! Jim Lyles (Mix A)
were unable to make it as baby boy Creed Larson decided to make his arrival that night! We heard the party was still enjoyed even without the guests of honor!)
Thank you for co-sponsoring our softball team along with Wausau Homes. We played in a co-ed League on Friday nights in Dixon, and ended the season in 2nd place! To my Crest Foods family & friends: I wish to thank each of you for all the well wishes, words of encouragement & remembering me at my retirement party on August 2nd. I truly loved my job and enjoyed helping employees navi- gate their benefits. I also do not know how nearly 33 years transpired so quickly. I will miss my job and each and ev- ery one of you. I wish you all the best in your futures. Sincerely, Cheri Kemp
First shift production hosted a baby shower in June for the arrival of Val Maldonado’s daughter. There was plenty of food for everyone to enjoy and a lot of gifts for mom and baby! Congratulations to Val and her family on the arrival of her daughter!
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Crest Happenings
Congratulations Congratulations to Susan (Payroll) and Jeff Larson on the engagement of their son, Patrick, to Megan Moran. John Howell (Maintenance B) and Carynn Puentes (Accounting) are pleased to announce their engagement. They met in early 2014 and are planning a February 2020 wedding in Deer Grove, IL. The QA Department showered the soon-to-be Mrs. Guenther with gifts and treats before her July wedding. Congratulations to the new Mr. (Justin Guenther, In- gredient Division Production Supervisor)and Mrs. (Jessica Guenther, QA Supervisor)!
Congratulations to Alyssa Carter (West Warehouse) for making Honor Roll last semes- ter. The West Warehouse crew threw her a “Well Done” cel- ebration, and her mother, Jeannie Carter (QA A) and stepfather showed up for pizza and cake.
Congratulations to the AFC Sandy Koufax summer league team! This summer, the AFC Sandy Koufax summer league, coached by Dave Bushman (Schedul- ing), Kyle Near, and Mandi Kersten (QA Lab Tech) went 13-1 during their regular season and won the championship during the tournament. Both Dave’s son Griffin and Mandi’s son Zayne play on the team, as well as Cheryl Sanderson’s (Production A) grandson, Ben. Job well done to the team and coaches!
Congratulations to Tessa Hall, daughter of Lee (Tech Service) and Julie Hall, on her marriage to Phillip Combs in June.
Being successful in a small high school football program does not guarantee success at the next level. Rahveon Valentine, son of Dan Brown (Ing. Div. QA), brother of Peyton Brown (Building Maintenance), had plenty of memorable times at Lena-Winslow, being a part of state championship teams, in both football and wrestling, as well as trips to state for track. With these accomplishments came offers to colleges and universities, primarily at the Divi- sion II and III levels.While these were great schools and opportunities, Rahveon had always dreamed of and set his
goal on being on a Division I team. “I’ll never get this chance unless I take it,” he told me after deciding to attend NIU. The only problem was that NIU didn’t offer him a scholarship and he would have to “try out” for the team as a walk-on. He worked his tail off and made the team and was red-shirted his freshman season. Following the 2018 season, NIU hired a new coaching staff and Rahveon thinks the world of the newcomers. He continued working hard throughout the summer and was awarded a full-ride scholarship in August! We get the best of both worlds: high quality football and close proximity. We are very proud of him for what he does on and off the field. While his playing time is limited, he is a great teammate and knows his days are on their way.
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Cheri Kemp Retires by Jeff Meiners
Just before Christmas nearly thirty-three years ago Cheri Kemp walked through the doors of Crest to start a new job. The position of benefits administrator was just a concept when Cheri started, in fact, we didn’t even have a job description for it… we just knew we had an area that we needed lots of attention and Cheri was our person to do the job. More than three decades later, we can undoubtedly say that it was our lucky day when she decided to take that undefined position at Crest. Cheri was the perfect fit for her role as benefits administrator. She built her job from the ground up and developed just the right touch for translating the often confusing details of health and workers compensation insurance to our employees. Most important, she fulfilled her job responsibilities with genuine empathy and car- ing for people who were often dealing with difficult moments in their lives. There is no doubt that Cheri has held more hands and cried more tears with all of us than anyone in the history of Crest.
We will always be thankful for everything that Cheri has done for Crest and wish her happiness in her well-earned retirement and hope she gets to spend countless hours hugging on her grandkids. Since she totally couldn’t cut ties with all of us still working every day, we are happy to say that you might hear Cheri’s voice on an occasional page when she is filling in at the receptionist position.
Tom Saunders Retires by Tom Balch
It all started June 1st, 1989. Tom was hired to work in the Ingredient Division Production Plant. His job task was shipping finished products to customers and receiving raw ingredients from our suppliers. He was responsible for stocking the upstairs with our raw ingredients for production. At this time most of the ingredi- ents were stored in the production plant, as well as all finished product. Only a few select ingredients were storied at the warehouse. In time we outgrew the storage of materials as well as finished products at the pro- duction plant. Tom moved to the west warehouse, were all the finished and many of the raw ingredients were storied at the back of the building. During his thirty years with us, Tom lived through three warehouse additions and the building of the latest construction of the current Ingredient Warehouse, Building #1.
Tom recently retired, July 31st. 2019. We thank Tom for his years of dedication to his job and to the people he worked with. He was very instrumental in making our operations successful. All of us at Crest wish him the best with his retirement.
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United for Good by Kristina McWethy Summer Eats Crest Foods employees volunteered time over the summer to hand out lunches as part of the UWLC Summer Eats program. In Lee County, an estimated 21% of children don’t know where their next meal is coming from. When school is out of session, the children who rely on school meals are not getting
Jenny Drew, Jared Stumpenhorst & Jamie Cooper
the help they need. That’s where Summer Eats comes in. The Summer Eats program provides free sack lunches to kids 18 and under, three days a week during the summer break. It was the first year the program expanded to serve Ashton, as well as several other smaller communities in Lee County. Over the course of 10 weeks, Crest’s Summer Eats volunteers were able to serve nearly 200 free lunches to area youth! In total, UWLC was able to provide over 2,000 meals at 10 different Lee County sites throughout the sum mer! That’s a lot of difference for a lot of area families! Thank you to all Crest Foods employees who volunteered their time to United Way programs this summer!
Day of Caring Saturday, June 22 marked the United Way of Lee County’s 2019 Day of Caring. This event joins volunteers across Lee County together to help non-profit organizations with a wide variety of projects including painting, landscaping, cleaning gutters, simple construction and general upkeep. It is a day where the United Way mantra, LIVE UNITED, is put into action.
This year, Day of Caring drew 150 volunteers who worked on al- most 40 projects for 12 different nonprofit agencies in 5 towns across Lee County! Crest Foods had a group of 9 volunteers that participated, and the group visited four different Kreider Services homes for individuals with varying degrees of developmental dis- abilities. Each Kreider group home received fresh landscaping in cluding new mulch, plants and some good old fashioned weeding. It was a beautiful day to get outside, give back and make a positive difference in the community! Jeff Stauter (Kreider Services), Erika Meiners, Steve Meiners, Jeff Meiners, Gary Guenther, Steve Crook, Shirley Reif, Lisa Guenther & Steve Starke
Welcome Kreider Services! This July, Crest Foods welcomed 15 residents and 2 supervisors from Kreider Services in Dixon to help out in our Production Department at the Karlin Warehouse. Monday - Friday our Kar- lin Crew has the addition of 5 residents and 2 supervisors from Kreider Services to run their own assembly line. While this helps us out in a time where we are very busy and short-staffed, our hope is that this can provide meaningful jobs and some hard- earned spending cash for all 15 residents for many years to come!
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2019 CIP Annual Winners Announced!
The Crest Foods Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) successfully completed its 27th year on July 31, 2019. With 115 suggestions to choose from, the Suggestion Committee had a tough task of choosing this year’s annual winners. Many suggestions have been implemented throughout the year, and some proved to be great suggestions and ideas from our employees. Thank you to everyone who partici- pated in the program this year! At the Year End Celebreation, we were happy to announce that this year’s Grand Prize Winners are Jim Smith & Adam Giese from B-Shift Maintenance . Jim and Adam came up with a very creative time-saver that increased
productivity and decreased labor by figuring out how to pack and stack 3-count Great Value Mac & Cheese on line 87 online instead of in the warehouse. They split $1000.00 for their suggestion. Congratulations, and thank you!
Becca Dodd, Production C-Shift, Adam Giese & Jim Smith, Maintenance B-Shift Runners Up • $200 each Line 87 takes a lot of people to run and was difficult to pack with flimsy boxes. Becca, Jim and Adam came up with a rail to hold the boxes in place to make it easier for the packer. It ended up eliminating the need for a box maker and made the job easier.
Jim Smith, Becca Dodd & Adam Giese
Larry Shipman, Mix B-Shift Runner Up • $500.00
We were having a problem with product getting caught in the hinged areas of totes, which is a food safety issue. Larry’s idea was to use a hooked end painter’s scraper to clean out the hinged areas of the totes. He also made a check list for the Mix Depart- ment to ensure that all hinges are inspected and cleaned out. This is a great improvement and the impace on the allergen program is significant.
Larry Shipman
Hannah Derksen, Production B-Shift Runner Up • $250.00
Hannah designed a new style heater-head drop bar for the cup line. This prevents heaters from dropping while the light curtain is broken and prevents web snaps. This is a great safety suggestion that has been implemented.
Hannah Derksen
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CIP 2019 4th Quarter Winners The Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) is a program where employees submit suggestions on ways they think we can improve Crest Foods. These suggestions may help improve overall efficiency, employee safety, sanita- tion, record keeping, maintenance and various other areas around Crest Foods. We received 24 suggestions from employees for the 4th quarter. Thank you to everyone for participating! Adam Giese & Jim Smith, Maintenance B-Shift 4th Quarter 1st Place • $250 each
Jim and Adam came up with a very creative time-saver that increas- ed productivity and decreased labor by figuring out how to pack and stack 3-count Great Value Mac & Cheese on line 87 online instead of in the warehouse.
Keith Smith, Maintenance A-Shift 4th Quarter Runner Up • $150
Keith’s idea was to add a web limit switch to the bartelt on line 13. He took what we do with the hayssen and applied it to the machine. This idea is a real time-saver and has made a significant impact on downtime on this line. Typically the machine shut down 1-3 times per shift because of the web and takes 45 minutes to get it up and going again each time.
Hannah Hodges, Production C-Shift 4th Quarter Runner Up • $150
Hannah came up with a way to re-organize the lines at the Karlin Warehouse so that we would be able to double their production. This was done by adding a 3rd skate track to split their existing line. This suggestion that was easy to implement and provided a great outcome.
Walking Club Update The Crest Foods Walking Club participated as a group in 2 more races since the last update. We had 52 em- ployees walk or run in the Ashton Community Walk this June and 40 employees participate in the Reagan Run 5K This leaves us with 3 more events to go this fall: The Autumn on Parade 5k, the Haunted 5K and the Turkey Trot. A full wrap-up will be included in the next issue, but we are on track to be able to give a large donation to the PADS Homeless Shelter in Dixon this year!
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Supplier of the Year
by Steve Zera Our annual Supplier of the Year banquet was held September 13th at Prairie View Golf Course in Byron. As always, the day started out with golf and comradery, followed by introduc- tions, dinner, and a message from Jeff. The evening ended with the presentation of the Supplier of the Year award. This year’s winner was Quality Electric Co., represented by Perry Altensy who also accepted the award on behalf of John Green. Perry is easily recognizable as most people here have seen him in our facilities and know him by name. Careful, he knows most of your names as well. Generally speaking, most would just consider Quality Electric a contractor, and you’d be right, but a supplier? Absolutely. Unlike a typical supplier who is selling their wares in the form of something you can
Perry Altensy (Quality Electric) & Steve Zera
see and touch, they sell us service. Service is a very important commodity and extremely valuable to us. We’re essen- tially buying labor, but more importantly their ability to provide the highest level of expertise that we don’t have internally and their ability to react to our immediate and long term needs. Quality Electric has been involved in every major project we’ve had in the last 20 years. They know as much about our facility electrical systems as we do, and probably more. They’ve never failed to react to emergencies and immedi- ate needs even if they need to in the middle of the night. They were here immediately after the tornado hit our warehouse, no questions asked. When we decide on the spur of the moment to build a new building or start a major renovation, the only thing we hear from them is “what do you need us to do?” There’s never a doubt that they’re going to deliver a level of service and commitment second to none. They give us peace of mind, which is probably the most important by-product of our relationship with them. When we talk about the Crest family, we certainly include John, Perry, and the rest of their crew in that group. They’ve become a very important asset to us and play a big part in helping us achieve our goals. And just as important, they practice the same culture that we do. The choice for Supplier of the Year is always a hard one. The quality of all of our top suppliers is outstanding. There was no uncertainty in our choice this year and it was probably long overdue. Thanks to Quality Electric for years of outstanding service and congratulations on being a well-deserved recipient of our Supplier of the Year award.
Thank you to the 54 suppliers who came out to our Supplier Appreciation golf & dinner banquet on September 13th! It’s always great to get everyone together to simply say thank you for being a part of Crest Foods.
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Here We Grow Again by Jeff Meiners In an effort to keep the national economy going, combat Chinese tariffs, generate tax revenue to pay for space ex- ploration, encourage a drop in the interest rate, help reduce global warming, stop the burning of the rain forests and to save the polar bears…we have decided to enter into a new construction project for our contract packaging division. OK, so it’s possible that what Crest does doesn’t have much of an impact on the world outside of a twen- ty mile radius of Ashton, but to us our construction projects seem like a pretty big deal and we are in the middle of starting a substantial one for contract packaging that will have a big impact on the future of this division. Construction has already started on three new production rooms, a mechanical room, a washroom and a mainte- nance area to the East of our current production area in the West warehouse. In addition, plans for purchasing new equipment to run and support the lines that will be moved to these rooms are being made. The impact of this addi- tion will be great. The lines will be automated for long running, existing business. The space created by moving lines will also help us to automate other areas allowing us to eliminate some of our more physically demanding jobs. The new automation will help us reduce our labor demands and we, like many other companies, are struggling to find enough labor in this economy. No positions will be cut as a result of this automation – it will simply help us to better match our demand for output with available labor. The new lines will also be segregated to better facilitate the running of various allergens…and we do certainly run a lot of allergens. The addition of an adjacent wash room to our production area will improve our ability to handle change-overs and getting the maintenance area out of the middle of the warehouse will fix a wrong that has been long overdue. So far this all sounds…unless one considers actually paying for it or you happen to work in the warehouse and are more than aware of the impact of losing much needed warehouse space to the new construction. The paying part has been addressed through a combination of longer-term commitments on business and payback through efficien- cy and cost gains associated with the new lines. The loss of storage space issue is a tough situation to resolve, but through a combination of some creative thinking, the elimination of some product lines, better control of raw side supplies and some help from our customers on moving finished product quicker while we are in our construction phase…there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We have a very aggressive time-line for this project, but what else is new for Crest. Much thought and hard work will go into making this all happen, but we’re confident that by the time the April showers are making May flowers next year…we will be enjoying all the benefits of this new area and the lines that will be running in it. 2019 Magic Waters
On July 27th, Crest Foods employees, along with their families and friends made it up to Magic Waters Waterpark in Rock- ford for our annual outing. It was a record year for us, as we DOUBLED our normal sales and sold 1186 tickets! We hope everyone enjoyed the great weather and short lines. Thanks to Crest employees, family and friends who came out for a nice night at the waterpark!
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Going the Distance by Savannah Fagan
It’s pretty easy to sign up for a race. You pay your fee, read the rules, and sign your name. Actually going to it? Well that takes a bit of discipline and dedication, especially if the race consists of running for 13.1 miles, biking for 56 miles, and swimming 1.2 miles for a total of 70.3 miles. That distance didn’t deter Jessica Guenther or Matthias Kemmeren from participating in and completing a Half Ironman in Muncie, IN this July. I had to ask them, “What made you want to participate in this event”? Jessica said that when she attended a swim camp at the age of 12, her coach shared stories and pictures of when he and his wife completed both a full Ironman and a Half Ironman. She thought that was amazing and made it one of her life goals, and 17 years later she was able to check it off her bucket list. This was a second Half Ironman for Matthias, who has also been competing in local short triathlons for a couple of years. Last year he completed his first Half Ironman in Madison, WI, and his overall goal is to complete a full Ironman (which is 140.6 miles!) in 2021. For something this physically enduring, I pictured months of grueling training and
Matthias Kemmeren & Jessica Guenther
eating right. For Jessica, that was not necessarily the case. She had a plan to start seriously training in January, but if anyone remembers the winter we had who can blame her for not wanting to go outdoors. January turned in to May before she started training one time per week. When race day rolled around, she did say while she wish she would have trained harder, she’d be happy if she finished in under 8:29:00. The bit of training Jessica did plus her determi- nation brought her in at 7:54:27. Matthias’s training schedule was more along the lines of what I pictured as he tries to maintain his base training the entire year, but he pushes himself and ramps it up in January. Both Jessica and Matthias were fans of the biking portion of the race. Matthias said it was his favorite portion of this particular race because the course was flat and fast which allowed him to average 21.5 mph for the full 56 miles. Despite being a naturally strong swimmer, Jessica said that she favored the run portion, which was Matthias’ least favorite as it was hot, humid, and sunny during the run. I asked them if they planned on doing another Half Ironman in the future. At this time, neither of them is sure whether or not they’ll do another. Matthias is training to get in to the Leadville 100TR, which is a 100-mile run across the Colorado Rockies terrain, and Jessica is hoping to compete in another body building show. Whatever they do decide, it’s clear that they will do it with pure determination! Crest Foods sponsored 4 out of the 16 foursome’s who participated in the 3rd Annual Hack, Whack, and Whiff Ashton Golf Outing this August. All proceeds benefit the Village of Ashton, and this year they were able to raise $1,800! Players voted on where to use the money, and it was decided that $1,000 of that money would be awarded to an AFC High School student for a scholarship and the remainder of the money will be used for a project in our community that is yet to be determined. Thanks to these 4 groups for representing Crest Foods! Crest employees were Keith Larson, Jim Lyles, Randy Reuter, Jon Harrison, Steve Zera, and Jamie Cooper. Hack, Whack, & Whiff Ashton Golf Outing
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CrestFoods.com Website Refresh by Kristina McWethy
Crest Foods is pleased to announce the launch of our newly redesigned corporate website. With thousands of visits every month from a wide audience…customers and prospects, sup- pliers, freight companies, employees and pro- spective employees…it was important for us to make sure the website was well-aligned with the needs of all visitor types and demograph- ics. To begin, we got to work defining our goals: • Convert to a responsive design that is eas- ily viewed on any internet-ready device • Update visual presence to be more clean, modern and engaging to all website visitors • Add more content to better serve our multiple audiences while simultaneously making it easier to locate • Shine a brighter spotlight on Crest culture throughout all areas of the website We were able to meet these goals by updating our back-end platform, revamping the overall navigation and adding fresh colors, photos, videos and engaging content.
The refreshed website, still located at Crest Foods.com, was launched in early August and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re not done though! Check back regularly for updates on key areas of the company, more videos, new photos and even some fun holiday features. Have you visited CrestFoods.com lately? Check it out and let us know what you think!
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This September, Crest Foods was happy to welcome Shelly Rogers as our new Onsite Manpower Supervisor! In this role, Shelly is responsible for making sure our tempo- New Manpower Onsite Supervisor Shelly Rogers
rary Manpower employees succeed in their new positions at Crest Foods. As a general resource for all Manpower employees, she can help with such things as any HR or Payroll-related questions, get them where they need to go on their first day, or be a listening and empathetic ear. Our hope continues to be, as it always has been with this posi- tion, that the Onsite Manpower Supervisor helps new employees succeed, embrace the company culture, and ulti- mately get hired in as a full time employee at Crest Foods. Shelly currently checks in on about 120 Manpower employees at Crest Foods and is working to recruit us many more. We welcome her to the team and hope to heep her busy for the forseeable future! To learn more about Shelly, continue reading: Tell us a little about yourself: I was born and raised in this area, just down the road in Sterling. I graduated from Sterling High School, and then went to Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, IL., majoring in Business Administration. After college, I moved around a few times before going out to Colorado, where I lived for 23 years. I have 2 grown sons, one in Colorado, the other currently in Montana, who truly embrace the outdoor, mountain lifestyle. I, however, prefer NOT to sleep outside in a tent. I moved back to be near my parents, and have 2 sisters, one in Loves Park, the other in St Louis. I have a very large, extended, family, most of them in this area. Being away from everyone is one regret I have about Colorado, and missing out on so much family time. For 3 years before coming to Crest Foods through Manpower, I was a Manpower Onsite Manager at a wind turbine manufacturer in Northern Colorado. Prior to joining the MP team in CO, I was a training branch manager for 10 years with another staffing firm. Actually, my first job in CO was in staffing, and I guess the HR bug bit me. I’ve loved it ever since. I was fortunate enough to stay at home with my boys when they were young, many years ago. I’ll never take that time for granted. There are a lot of things to love about working in this field, and from a staffing perspective, seeing someone get converted to a full time employee is probably one of the best feelings. Each day, knowing that we make a difference in someone’s life, whether big or small, is a very satisfying feeling. Yes, we all have bad days, and bad experiences, but the good outweighs all the bad. My areas of interest and strengths are compliance and safety. I like to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s. Additionally, I’ve been a member or chairperson on a safety committee with every HR role I’ve held. I’m committed to making sure I do everything I can get my associates home safe to their families each day. Ideally I’d like to pursue a degree in Environmental Health and Safety, and transition to an HSE role. Away from work, I love having projects. The last 8 years in CO I lived in a condo, so it’s really nice to be back in a house, where I can make changes. This summer I rebuilt 2 of the 3 decks at my parents house, and painted several interior rooms. This winter will hopefully be a bathroom remodel. I love to go to antique stores, flea markets, and estate sales. I’ve refinished/refurbished a few furniture pieces, and it seems like every couple of weeks my sister has a new sewing project for me. As a single mom, I’m definitely the do-it-yourself kind of gal, and love shopping for bargains and hidden treasures.
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Packaging Bird Vitamins by Jeff Meiners One of the stranger packaging opportunities that has been presented to Crest over the years was the project of packaging bird vitamins. We should have just declined the opportunity based on the fact that there probably wasn’t much of a demand for bird vitamins, but in 1985 any business was good business, so we regrettably said yes. Short- ly after having agreed to do the business, we came to the conclusion that we simply did not have a good place to isolate these products well enough to run them in the plant because they smelled pretty bad and we were concerned about having bird vitamin flavored products. What happened next should lead you all to question the ability of some of your now senior management staff to exercise any form of good judgement when making a business deci- sion. In a weak moment, the decision was made that Steve, myself and our very understanding wives would package bird vitamins in the basement of my house. Remember that we couldn’t run them at Crest because they stunk so bad and add to the circumstances that Erika and Garett were both around 2 years old at the time. Despite the obvious obstacles, we were solely motivated by greed…we individually could keep all of the profits associated with pack- aging bird vitamins! We moved an old, foot operated volumetric filler to my house – ran empty pouches of the two flavors (Ornabac and Vitaflight) – brought home a couple of drums of each product – set up a couple of hand seal- ers on a card table and were ready for business – no doubt an SQF approved facility if there ever was one! The plan was in place, what could go wrong? Our bird vitamin line would start up around 6 after work and often run until midnight. We quickly discovered that leaving Erika and Garett unattended for any length of time while we were working in the basement lead to prob- lems, but we couldn’t afford to lose one of our line members to dealing with kid disputes so we did the only reason- able thing...we moved our production line to the living room where we could keep an eye on the kids. Did I men- tion that this stuff smelled really bad? Several weeks of this set up left a smell that might still be in the carpet and the distinct possibility that I might have to learn to cook because I would be living on my own, so we made they only possible decision…we moved our operation to the laundry room at Steve’s house. Now that we had our production line in a somewhat isolated area that could be washed down as well as in an area where we could keep an eye on the kids until they fell asleep, we were in a position to do some serious packaging of bird vitamins. It took us about three months to complete the project. The smell seemed to get worse every day – to say that we were tired was an understatement – Erika and Garett took to biting each other to solve disputes – heck, I started to worry that we might start to sprout feathers, but thankfully we finally filled our last pouch of Vi- taflight. When all the vitamin dust settled, we had made enough to take the kids on a trip to Florida that we enjoyed very much. Was it worth it? Oh – heck no, but we had a story to tell and an experience that we would never forget. Shortly after the last pouch shipped we let the customer know that we were out of the bird vitamin business and learned the valuable lesson the hard way that not all business is good business.
Coming Soon! What does Christmas mean to Crest Foods? Our new holiday video will reveal it all! Sign up for email communications online at crest foods.com/news/ and the fun will be delivered straight to your inbox. You don’t want to miss this!
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Money Matters & Reminders from the Payroll Office by Susan Larson Here are some helpful tips for all Crest Foods employees, beginners and veterans of the Crest Foods family. DIRECT DEPOSITS Did you know that Crest employees can have up to four(4) different direct deposits out of your paycheck? Up to two(2) can be flat amounts (example $10.00) Up to two(2) can be a percent based deduction (example is 50%) ***Your net pay counts as one of these Please note that if you are planning on closing an existing account that you currently direct deposit into, do not close this account until after you check with someone in the payroll department (Myself or Lynn Burnette). We process payroll typically on Wednesday, so please do not close or change accounts until your payroll deposit is posted on that Friday. Some examples of why people use multiple direct deposits are: car payments, real estate taxes, mortgage payments, and vacation funds Any questions please stop by or call me at extension 235. Update your address, phone number & marital status Please keep the Payroll Department informed of your current address, phone number and marital status changes. This is very important information to keep up to date with our department. All areas within our department use this information, whether it’s to mail your Crest Ink issue, W-2’s, contact you during an emergency situation and to keep insurance carriers up to date. Update your paperless pay If you change your phone number, cell phone carrier or change your email address please remember to update your paperless pay (my-estub) account so that you continue to receive your text messages and pay stub notifica tions. Tax Season Looking forward into the new year, tax season is a good time to talk to your tax preparer about whether you need to update your Federal and State withholding exemptions. If you need new W-4’s for this purpose please stop by the payroll office. New Communication System Crest Foods has a new communication system in place which makes it easy and quick to communicate with all employees about things such as Weather-related Plant Closures, Snow Days and Emergencies (remember the tor- nado?). PLEASE make sure we have your updated cell phone number so we can easily contact you.
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Effective Communication by Ashley Koza, LCSW, EAP Counselor, Sinnissippi Centers
Financial Wellbeing During the Holidays by Kaylene Reynolds, Personal Banker III, First State Bank, Shannon-Polo-Lake Carroll The holiday season is right around the corner, and unfortunately this time of year can bring stress to your bank ac- count and your financial wellness. Financial wellbeing is important to your overall health so simply follow the 4 steps below to ensure a happier, healthier you during the holidays! 1. Budget Setting an actual budget is the best way to avoid overspending. Decide what you are able to afford and stick with it. 2. Make a list (and check it twice!) Have you ever gone grocery shopping while you are hungry and without a shopping list? More than likely you end up buying way more than what you intended to. Holiday shopping is the same. Making a list will help you stay focused and will deter you from impulse buying. 3. Shop all at once A little shopping here and there could result in a lot of money spent because every time you venture out to the store or begin browsing around online, you run the risk of finding another good deal or sale that you can’t refuse. This year, try to do all of your shopping all at once. 4. DIY gifts Not all great gifts have to be store bought. Homemade gifts are great for our budget and for adding that extra spe- cial touch to let our loved ones know you care. This time of year can be stressful, so do yourself a favor and decrease the worry by prioritizing your financial well being for the holiday season. As humans, we communicate on a daily basis. We communicate verbal communication, written communication and through body language. According to Stevenson University, body language is one of the most important factors in communication. Some examples of non-verbal communication are gestures, expressions and vocal inflection. Even while listening the individual may be communicating non-verbally by nodding their head or lean- ing forward. When communication is effective, both individuals will leave feeling accomplished and satisfied. When communicating clearly there is less of a change of being misunderstood. Some tips for improving communi- cation are: 1. Make communication a priority. 5. Make sure you are understood. 2. Simplify and stay on message. 6. Develop your listening skills. 3. Engage your listeners or readers. 7. Maintain eye contact. 4. Take your time to respond. 8. Respect your audience. * Ashley Koza is our On-site EAP Counselor at Crest Foods. This confidential service is FREE to employees on Mondays from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at the Ashton Clinic on Rte. 38. To set up an appointment with Ashley, please call 815-732-3157.
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Employment Anniversaries
October Day Years Debra A Beran 1 18 Ethan M Veglio 1 1 Tommy L Balch 3 36 Jeffery C Friday 3 31 Donna L Long 3 25 Jennifer L Loomis 3 25 Jerry Maronde 4 20 Kathleen A Smith 7 6 Silvia Magana 10 12 Lona N Berkeley 12 32 Jerry R Lawrence 12 38 Allan L Kvool 13 16 Jessica M Frieberg 14 6 Thomas E Baeza 15 7 Michael P Oncken 15 2 Jennifer Lally 16 13 Brad M Lawyer 16 3 Davane D Hines 17 3 Arielle S Johnston 17 3 Christopher M Mooney 17 3 Erik J Morales 17 3 Charles G Nichols 17 3 Jean Armstrong 18 9 Christina Kanaris 18 9 Cheryl L Sanderson 18 25 Shauna M Currier 19 4 William L Hand Iii 19 4 Randy A Otten 19 4 Kelly A Rains 20 5 Karla Rivera 20 5 Marvin T Somerville 20 5 Marianne Cox 22 18 Benjamin G Esgar 22 7 Timothy J Eshleman 22 7 Timothy P Liston 22 18 Brian Loescher 22 18 James D Rhodes 22 7 Matthew L Decker 24 3 Cassandra M Askegaard 25 8 Gay Huber 26 24 Lynn D Burnette 27 16 Matthias P Kemmeren 29 9
Pam J Furman Dennis H Horton Steven Zellers
30 25 31 8 31 18
David L Gudgel Heidi L Topping Laverne E Davis Alma Hernandez
18 6 19 12 20 13 20 6 20 13 20 21 20 41 20 11 20 11 20 35 21 25 27 1 28 3 28 8 28 25 29 12 30 12
Katherine L Lansford
November Day Years Shawneen Arreguin 3 11 Anne E Noble 5 1 Nathan D Troye 5 1 Daniel B Schlaf 7 18 Henry R Bunger 10 22 John W Van Dyke 11 5 Victoria M Garcia 12 1 Evening R Kennedy 12 1 Amy J Love 12 1 Michael R Miller 12 1 Samantha K Pretzsch 12 1 Anita Rodriguez 12 1 Shayne E Smith 12 1 Dawn M Summers 12 24 Tina S Withers 12 1 Abdelnaser S Alfarraj 13 2 Neveen S Alfarraj 13 2 Joel Canas 13 2 Neli E Coronel-Quintana 13 2 Anthony M Escatel 13 2 Zachary H Hoffman 13 2 Scott Johnson 13 2 Robert L Jones 13 2 Truptiben K Patel 13 2 Janet A Sutton 13 35 Travis J Day 14 3 Mandi N Kersten 14 8 Kameron A Pretzsch 14 3 Kody S Rude 14 3 Terry L Spires 14 3 Deven R Sterbenz 14 3 Daniel B Whipple 14 14 Elysha N Wright 14 3 Maria E Ellis 16 10 Matthew R Harazin 16 10 Steven K Harrell 16 4 Daniel F Shipyor 16 4 Shayne O Zientek 16 1
Todd S Lorenc
Andrew G Mc Cannon
Helen J Mead Carol L Murphy Rodney L Paul Rodney E Bunger Maria R Pope Donna I Ankney Daniel E Brown James A Long Lucinda L Reuter Brandon Meiners
December Day Years Alyssa M Carter 3 1 Morgan Rains 3 1 Wallace R Karper 6 37 Mark W Smith 6 15 Alison Kennedy 7 4 Elizabeth A Verhulst 7 4 Susan R Wilcox 7 4 Amber Y Lockrem 11 2 Ryan J Smith 11 2 Francisco J Herrera 12 3 Robert C Knight 12 3 Joyce J Manzano 12 3 Kena Rivera 12 8 Madison E Tomblin 12 3 Joe N Neal 13 9 Kristina B Kempton 14 10 Tammy S Williams 14 42 Samuel J Haight 15 22 Caitlin J Refatllari 15 5 Trevor R Winkler 15 5 Jackie S Ayling 16 21 Jeannie M Carter 16 6 Savannah D Fagan 16 6 Marisa B Lopez 16 6
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Employment Anniversaries
December Day Years Justin L Lugo 16 6 Jessenia J Lara 17 1
Skyler C Foss Jessie J Rolen Julie G Pitchford
19 8 19 8 28 21
Javier Munoz-Alvarez Mark J Powers Natasha I Pretzsch
17 1 17 7 17 12
Maintaining a Diversified 401(k) Account by Kris Lichak, Mass Mutual Even if you are getting closer to retirement, be sure to include diversification in your investment strategy. In the years approaching retirement, diversification should still be an important part of your overall retirement strategy, even if you expect to use some of your money in the next few years. Why is diversification important? Diversifica tion is spreading your money out over different at different types of investments to help reduce risk. Consider the following – When you will actually need the money – at retirement, you may not need all of your retirement savings at once. Retirement can last many years and diversification can help you with the portion of your money you want to keep invested for growth. The key is to find balance between preservation – for the money you need sooner rather than later- and growth, for money you don’t need for years later in life. Longevity risk – While you can’t predict how long you will live, it’s important to plan so you don’t run out of money at some point during your retirement. For example, there is a 50% chance that one member of a healthy 65-year-old couple will live to be 93 years of age. That means if you retire at age 65, you could potentially need 30 of retirement income, or even more if you retire early. Your risk tolerance – Most people think of investment risk as the risk that an investment won’t bring the return you hoped for. But how do you feel about inflation risk? Inflation risk is when inflation outpaces the return on your investment. Conservative money market and bond investments are higher in inflation risk than equities. Again be sure to take both a short-and long-term view. Then – how to diversify? Your retirement plan offers a range of investment options, making it easy to find a good mix of a few different types of investments. Remember that mutual funds, which pool the money many investors, help you diversify by investing in a variety of different companies and industries. A good way to determine you diversification strategy is to use the Asset Allocation Questionnaire Calculator on www.retirement.com You can learn more about diversification at www.retiresmart.com and if you have questions call 1-800-743-5274.
Go Cubs Go! Dear Friends at Crest Foods: Thank you for the tickets to the Cubs game against the Mariners (September 2nd). Two of our staff accompanied two of our folks who attend the Village of Progress. They all had a blast. Perfect weather and our Cubbies won their game! The tickets were very generous of you. Thank you for caring about the men and women we serve. And thank you for part- nering with us. Brion Brooks (Village of Progress, Oregon, IL) (Pictured are Karen, Dee and John from the Village of Progress)
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