The Crest Ink is a quarterly newsletter that celebrates the success of Crest Foods and our employees.
Crest Ink January, February & March 2022 Ashton, IL 61006
Volume 34 • Number 1
The View from the Eye of the Storm by Jeff Meiners
There is little doubt that the last several years have brought unprecedented challenges to all areas of Crest. It is possible that these challenges have been amongst the greatest for those that call our Purchasing Department home. The work of the purchasing group touches literally every area of Crest activity in some fashion or another. It would be easy to compile a list of hundreds, if not thousands, of items brought in by purchasing that would cause our facility to operate less effectively or even shut down if they were to be not available for our daily use. The machine we call Crest simply doesn’t run without our daily dose of items such as ingredients, packaging materials, glue, tape, parts, equipment, ink, pallets, toilet paper, hand sanitizer…you name it. Cory Morris, Ed Baylor, Maurice Millan, Matt Richardson & Evan Knack
The purchasing world has been turned upside down lately…lead times of up to nine months – price increases of up to four times normal – product on allocation – normal items not available at all – problems with domestic freight – nightmares with ocean bound freight – staff turnover from key suppliers - long time business relationships strained or even severed – many of our key contacts working from home. Through it all - and I hate to put these words in writing because it could all change in a moment - we have run out of nothing! How could that even be possible considering the environment we are in? It’s a complex puzzle, but it is worth tak- ing the time to paint the picture. We have wonderful suppliers that we have taken years to build relationships with who we know as individuals as well as companies and treat them with the respect they have earned. We are flexible in reacting to tight situations with substitute items and not afraid to build inventories when the situation is right to do so. We have established a team relationship between our purchasing group and our internal customers. As a result, everyone understands the situation we are facing and pitches in to work together. Most importantly, are blessed with a purchasing group that has risen to the demands of the situation. They have a great work ethic, are organized, communicate well, practice Crest Culture and are simply good people to be associated with. Ed Baylor has been with Crest for 35 years and came to us after being an insurance inspector. Matt Richardson has been with Crest for 21 years and came to us fresh from high school. Cory Morris has been with Crest for 3 years and was previously an athletic trainer for college athletics. Evan Knack has been with Crest for a year after having worked in the traffic safety equipment industry. Maurice Millan has been at Crest for 3 months after spending time as a college level student/athlete competing in volleyball. All wonderful people, but none of this group came to Crest with any purchasing experience and oddly enough that is just the way we like it. They have learned Crest – how we operate, who our people are and how to practice Crest culture. They have then used that base to make themselves into the professionals they are today. We’re proud of our purchasing staff and grateful for all they have done to lead us through a most challenging time. And Then There Were 8! by Garett Meiners Back in 2003 we built our state of the art blending facility and attached it to our West Facility Warehouse. Always thinking ahead it was built larger than we needed at the time. For many years we operated using 6 of the 8 blend rooms. The two idle rooms were used as wash bays, storage areas and even had a few production lines in them from time to time. In 2014 we installed the 7th blender and this April we will be starting up the final system in that building. Mixer 8 is a 125 cubic foot ribbon blender which can handle batches up from 1250-3500 lbs. It also has standalone dust collection system, new epoxy floors and a completely new mix stand design to free up more floor space. Looking forward to using our new toy!
2 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
My 10 Year Trip by Mandi Kersten, Ingredient Division QA Lab
In March, my mom (Teresa), my son (Zayne), my son’s friend (Chandler) and I enjoyed my 10 year trip in South Carolina. We stayed in a beach front condo in Garden City, which gave us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the beach and ocean. I willingly woke up early every morning on vacation just to watch the beautiful sunrise with my mom and enjoy the view – well that and the peace and quiet! We drove a couple hours south one day to spend the whole day in Charleston, where we were able to tour the city via carriage and take in the beautiful sites and hear about the amazing history of the city. The boys and I ventured out to sea on a half day deep sea fishing trip. We caught A LOT of sea bass that day. According to our guide, Captain Chuck, all of the big fish hadn’t moved in yet as it was still a bit too cold. We still had a great time and managed to catch about 30 fish each. Huge bonus – nobody got sea sick!
The weather was in the mid-70s during the day and cooled down to high-30s/low-40s almost every night We only had one rainy day while there and we used that as an opportunity to visit a car museum the boys wanted to go to near Myrtle Beach and we were able to stop at an outlet mall as well. There was so much to do; we never had a boring day!
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 3
SQF Audit 2022 by Karen Yardley
For those of you who don’t know, SQF stands for Safe Quality Food and is our annual certification audit. As a third-party audit (meaning it is not an in - ternal, customer or regulatory audit), the main goal of the SQF standard is to reduce the incidence of unsafe food products reaching the marketplace. SQF stands between Crest Foods and our customers to give an unbiased opinion on our ability to produce safe food.
The Packaging Division has been certified since 2010 so our most recent audit, conducted March 8-11, 2022 was a re-certification. Crest Foods’ Ingredient Division is also certified by SQF (and has been since 2010) as is the Kar- lin Foods’ Distribution Center (KFDC is staffed and supported by the Packaging Division and has been audited by SQF since 2011). Audits are scheduled each year in the February to April timeframe. Most years we schedule the audits and can request a certain auditor but cannot be audited by the same auditor more than three years in a row. Audits are unan- nounced every third year. Crest is due for an unannounced audit in 2023. February 6th – April 6th will be our “audit window.” SQF has been revised through the years and we are currently in Edition 9. We are audited under Module 2, the backbone of the Food Safety System and Module 11, which is industry specific. Some randomly chosen employees participated in a fun activity to help us prepare for the audit this year called “Traffic Light Trivia.” Placards with questions and photos were prepared with questions pertaining to information or practices that we should be aware of and practicing every day as we continue to improve our food safety policies, programs and practices. Correct answers earned employees “Crest Dollars” to be spent at the Crest Store. A lot of fun was had as we coached employees on these important topics. And it all paid off ! Congratulations to all three areas on tremendous scores this year. “EXCELLENT” scores actually, since all three areas scored between 96 - 100, which is the top category for SQF certified companies. Pack- aging Division scored a 96, tying our best score ever. Ingredient Division scored a perfect 100 this year and KFDC scored a 99. The auditor was very complimentary of all of our employees – those he interviewed during the audit and those he observed while touring the facilities. Your hard work earned these great scores! Keep it up!
Traffic Light Trivia
As mentioned above, Jon and Becca hit the production floor this February with Traffic Light Trivia/Crest Cash Cab in an effort to get everyone ready for our annual Safe Quality Food audit. Employees were randomly chosen and quizzed about safety and GMP’s, and if they answered correctly they won Crest Cash Cab Bucks to the Crest Store! Not wanting to limit the fun to SQF time only, these 2 have decided to let everyone play year-round. Questions and categories will change throughout the year, so feel free to play whenever you see the traffic cone and taxi driver on the pro- duction floor!
Jon Bakener, Kelsie White & Becca Dodd
4 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Burning Holes in the Soles of their Shoes by Jeff Meiners
What would you walk 500 hundred miles for? Better yet, could you walk 500 miles? Of course, not all at once, but eight people have recorded at least 500 miles of walking or run- ning in the last 7 months in our walking club chal- lenge to raise money for charity. In fact, some
Tom Balch
Matthias Kemmeren
Dan & Jared Stumpenhorst
people have put in substantially more than that amount and are still going strong. They have each earned $1000 to be contributed to their favorite local charity and more importantly, have taken some huge steps to improving or maintaining their own individual health. Congratulations to Tom Balch, Matthias Kemmeren, Joan Meiners, Randall Calvert, Anne Wege, Jared Stumpen- horst, Stephen Osborne and Jason Carter. Accumulating those numbers over that period of time required them to be quite devoted while being out in bad weather, walking in the dark, encountering a few sketchy people, fending off some less than friendly dogs or watching out for numerous wild critters while managing more than a few aches and pains. All have their own individual stories of pain and gain, but most would say it has been nothing less than an empowering experience that has turned into a part of their normal life. At the extreme end of long distance endurance, a recent event featured Crest employees Matthias Kemmeren running a 100 mile race and finishing in the 23 hour range, Jason Carter running a 50 mile race and Jared Stumpenhorst running a 40 mile race…yeah, they actually did that! Tom Balch has also taken the discipline of walking for one’s health to a whole new level while producing some amazing improvements in his health metrics by logging some impressive miles. If some are thinking that walking long distances is only for the young folks, know that while Tom’s not exactly ready for the nursing home, it’s prob- ably been some time since anyone has called him young man. In the past 7 months, he has walked over 1500 miles…yep, 1500 miles. That means that he has averaged over 7 miles a day during that stretch of time. He has devoted around two hours a day to health and fitness pounding the streets of Ashton or the hallways of the Mills and Petrie Building to accomplish his goal. If you know Tom, interesting things just seem to happen to him and that trend has continued during his long hours of walking. He’s a great story teller, you should ask him to share some of his adventures. Only Tom can do justice to the telling of his encounters…being chased by a skunk – hav- ing a van follow him on a deserted road only to realize that it was an older couple that thought he looked like he needed help – being scared by a statue of a fireman that had been moved to the hallway of the Mills that he was walking in while it was very dark. Take the time to pat Tom on the back for the work he has done, or better yet, join him for a walk around town. A total of 83 people have walked or biked for a combined 20,000 miles to earn $27,341 for their favorite charities so far this year and we still have five months to go! Even more important is the combined health benefit of all those steps it took to result in so many miles. Congratulations to all involved.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 5
Recent Retirements Nearly 40 years after starting at Crest Foods, Ken Kelley decided it was time to hand over the semi keys and quietly retire. He started here back in 1982 where he put fin- ished product away as well as picked stock before becoming one of the truck drivers for second shift. This means that unless you worked in one of the warehouses, there’s a good chance you did not have much interaction with Ken. Just know he was always hard at work transporting supplies between buildings. Being here for 40 years means Ken was a part of the many challenges and changes we’ve seen over the years as a company - from the warehouse flood to the building of a new warehouse on Rte 38 to that warehouse eventually being hit by a tornado - he’s seen it all! We wish him all the best in retirement, and thank him for spending his ca- reer at Crest Foods. We were lucky to have you as a part of the Crest Family. Con- gratulations, Ken! Cindy Reuter retired in April after 14 years with the company. She started with Crest in 2007 and worked in the Production Department as a Line Worker for 6 months before moving over to the Ingredient Division Research & Development Lab where she has been a Lab Technician since. Cindy is looking forward to spending time with her mom, camping and traveling to see her granddaughter in retirement We wish Cindy all the best in retirement, and thank her for all of her time at Crest Foods!
Ken Kelley
Cindy Reuter
Crest had a few employees quietly retire this fall. While we didn’t get to formally say good-bye, we would like to wish them all well in their retirements. Shawneen Arreguin worked in Production on the 2nd Shift as a Line Operator and retired after spending 13 years with the company. Juan Fernandez worked in Production on the 2nd Shift as a Stacker and retired after spending 13 years with the com- pany. Laverne Davis retired after spending 15 years with the company. For many years she worked in Production on the 2nd Shift as a Line Worker, and spent the last few years be- fore retirement working on the Karlin Production Crew. Terry Jacobs worked at the Karlin Warehouse as a Forklift Driver and the 2nd Shift Lead and retired after 7 years with the company. Thank you to Shawneen, Juan, Laverne, and Terry for their dedication and years as members of the Crest family.
Terry Jacobs
Juan Fernandez
Laverne Davis
Shawneen Arreguin
6 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Freezin’ For A Reason by Savannah Fagan
On Saturday, March 5th, Crest employees Jon Bakener, Brian Beckman, Becca Dodd, Tara Lifka and Jim Shuck donned their St. Paddy’s Day gear and headed to Rock Cut State Park just to jump in to a freezing cold lake. While it may sound crazy, it was all for a good reason. This group joined participants from the Village of Progress to participate in the annual Polar Plunge, which raises money for the Special Olympics. Each year, the Polar Plunge brings together thousands of individuals from across the state of Illinois, all in support of Special Olympics Illi- nois. All funds raised go to privide programing and events for more than 23,100 traditional athletes and 13,000 Young Athletes participating in Illinois. Anyone who wished to join in on the plunge had two options: Plunge in person at Rock Cut or get creative and plunge their own ways at home or another location. This year over $90,000 was raised - Way to go plungers! This was not the first plunge for Jim Shuck. He and his daughter joined 149 others and jumped in to Lake Mendota on February 26th for the 5th annual Polar Plunge in Mendota. This event raised $37,470 for the Special Olympics Illinois, contributing to the near $25 million that has been raised since the event started 23 years ago. We are proud of those from Crest Foods and Village of Progress who braved the cold to help make a difference for others in our community.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 7
Crest Happenings
Our Sympathy Our sympathy to Jeff Tompkins (Machine Shop) on the passing of his brother in January. Our sympathy to Rick Cox (Maintenance B) on the loss of his stepmother, Fonda, in February. Our sympathy to Justin Taylor (Production A) on the passing of his uncle in January. Our sympathy to Jeanna Harvey (Production A) on the passing of her brother in January. Our sympathy to Ray O’Dell (Warehouse A) on the passing of his sister in January. Our sympathy to Jeff Roop (Scheduling) on the loss of his mother in February. Our sympathy to Gerald Gibson (Maintenance A) on the loss of his father in December. Our sympathy to Shirley and Jeff Reif on the loss of Jeff ’s father in March. Our sympathy to Herb Wyckoff (R&D) on the loss of his father in March. Our sympathy to Sarah Clemons (Sales Manager) on the loss of her father in February. Our sympathy to Nurse Stephanie on the loss of her brother in April. Our sympathy to Jim (Mix A) and Lori (Production A) Nalley on the loss of Jim’s sister, Tammy in April.
Quality Assurance held a baby shower to celebrate the birth of Neli Coronel-Quintana’s (pictured above) son, Juan Ezequiel Lopez. Congratulations! Congratulations to Gage Mares, son of Laura Mares (Production A) on his marriage in January! Congratulations to Kyle O’Dell (Ingredient Production A) on his engagement this March! Congratulations to Alfonzo Alvarado (Machine Shop) and Stephanie Eich (Production A) on their engage- ment! Thank You Thank You to Crest Foods for the wonderful plant that was sent to me while recovering from my surgery. Brian Schafer (Building Maintenance Manager) Crest Foods: Thank you for your generous donation in honor of Jeff Capes who is celebrating his 30 Year An- niversary with Crest Foods. Thank you for thinking of the library. We appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. Flagg-Rochelle Public Library Staff & Board Crest Walking Club: We thank you for your recent con- tribution. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated by the animals here in the shelter. Your loving concern for the animals is to be commended and it also ensures the continuing proper care of the animal. Sincerely, Granny Rose Animal Shelter I just wanted to thank you for the lovely Easter lilly that came today. It really made my day, I miss you all! Laura Mares
Congratulations Congratulations to David (QA B) and Karen Henrikson on the birth of their granddaughter Lilly Emma, and parents Elizabeth and Eli Neufeld, on November 7th in Hawaii. She weighed in at 8lbs 5 oz., 20”. Aloha!
8 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Crest Happenings
Congratulations Jordon Smith! We would like to congratulate Jordon Smith on his promotion to B-Shift Produc- tion Supervisor effective March 1st, 2022. Jordon has been with Crest Foods for 6 years and has been a Senior Line Operator for the past 3 years. During his role as a Senior Line Operator, Jordon has been mentoring and substituting as the B-Shift Supervisor. Please support Jordon Smith as he encompasses his new lead- ership role at Crest Foods.
Congratulations to the following employees for obtaining new jobs at Crest Foods over the last few months!
Hannah Derksen Level 6/Sr. Line Op. Production B MP
Steve Hillman B-Shift Lead Karlin Warehouse
Congratulations Bart! Congratulations to Bartlomiej (Bart) Bardz- inski (Ingredient Production A) and his wife Dorota on becoming US Citizens! They and 64 people from 26 different countries took the US Citizenship oath on January 12 at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall in Rockford. Bart and Dorota moved here in 2003. They have two daughters, Joanna who still lives in Poland with her husband and two sons and is a stay at home mom.
Their younger daughter, Basia, lives in Roscoe with her husband and daughter and she is a Winnebago County Sheriff Deputy. Bart started working at Crest Foods in 2012 and is quickly approaching his 10th work anniversary! In his free time Bart enjoys gardening, little and big home improvement projects and traveling. His dream is to visit all 50 states when he retires.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 9
2022 1st Quarter CIP Winners
Natasha Pretzsch, Production A-Shift • 1st Place • $250.00 Natasha’s idea was to create a database of information and videos to help with correct threading of webs. This would be a way to share notes, videos, tips and details about specific products that may stump someone.
Becca Dodd, Production A-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00 Becca’s idea was to create data sheets in RedZone so that losses can be tracked on the line, Particularly for products that have larger loses. Once created we can set thresholds and prompt responses in RedZone.
Keith and Alfonzo added a drop tray to the bottom of Foxjet print heads. Without the tray, the ink can cover the belt in ink, which then ruins cases and makes a mess. This tray will help keep the belts clean if the printer drips. Keith Smith, Maintenance A-Shift & Alfonzo Alvarado, Machine Shop • Runners Up • $75.00 each
Crest Store Refresh The Crest Store has undergone a little refresh over the past few months. Many winter items are still in stock and spring items are on their way. Stop by the Main Plant Reception Area between 8am – 4:30pm to check out what we have in stock, or use one of the handy order forms and submit it to the Crest Store for your order to be filled. Items can be purchased by a payroll deduction or with Crest Bucks (CIP, Quality Hero, CARE, and Traffic Light Trivia awards). Matt Richardson, Corporate Purchasing Manager, will be working on keeping the store in stock with new items and can help employees with any questions.
Store
$20 S-XL • 2XL & 3XL ordered upon request CREST UNIFORM APPROVED Sweatpants
$20 Camp Chair
Light Heather Charcoal Heather Navy
Black Navy Red Green Blue
$30 Plush Blanket
Runner’s Gloves
Yeti Drinkware
$5
Contact Matt Richardson x7117 for current color options.
20 oz Tumbler $40
20 oz Travel Mug $40
26 oz Straw Cup $45
30 oz Travel Mug $50
10 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
MAIL ORDER FORMS TO CREST STORE OR VISIT MAIN PLANT RECEPTION FROM 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
2022 2nd Quarter CIP Winners Bob Ziankoski, Ingredient C-Shift • 1st Place • $250.00 Bob’s idea was to install a timed relay on the central vac system used in the Ingredient Division. By adding a timer, the machine doesn’t run all of the time and get overworked. Jacob Bergner, Production B-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00 Jacob’s idea was to help with hoppers running empty. He wanted to install a much taller light to it would be easier for dumpers to see instead of the light on the side of the hop- per which is currently short and on the opposite side. Al’s idea was to install a yellow safety cabinet by line 29 for food grade video jet cleaner. Lines 31 & 28 use food grade video jets, which often need to be cleaned. By installing a cabinet in that area, operators won’t have to go all the way to the Parts Room every time they need cleaning solution. Al Kvool, Maintenance A-Shift • Runner Up • $150.00
Store
Store CREST UNIFORM APPROVED APPAREL Some items may require custom order. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.
NON-UNIFORM APPAREL Some items may require custom order. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.
$15 Knit Beanie
$20 Knit Beanie with Fur Pom
Sport-Tek Long Sleeve Crew
Sport-Tek 1/4 Zip
Men’s and Ladies Styles
Men’s and Ladies Styles
$30 S-2XL
$35 3XL
$25 S-XL
$30 2XL-3XL
Iron Grey True Navy Dawn Blue (men’s only) Pink Raspberry (ladies’ only)
Dark Denim Heather Graphite Heather Hyacinth Heather (ladies’ only)
Burgundy
Blue
Green
Cream
Black
Navy
Heather Grey
Red
New-Era Full Zip Hoodie Sport-Tek Hoodie
Men’s and Ladies Styles
Men’s and Ladies Styles
$35 S-2XL $40 3XL
Cuffed Sweatpants
True Navy Heather
$20 S-3XL
Ogio 1/4 Zip
Shadow Grey Heather
True Navy Heather
Unisex
Deep Red Heather
$70 3XL Men’s Style
$65 S-2XL
Dark Silver Heather
$40 S-XL $45 2XL $50 3XL
Gear Grey
Blacktop
Charcoal Heather
Light
Navy
Heather
MAIL ORDER FORMS TO CREST STORE OR VISIT MAIN PLANT RECEPTION FROM 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
MAIL ORDER FORMS TO CREST STORE OR VISIT MAIN PLANT RECEPTION FROM 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 11
Getting to Know: Ingredient Division Trainers by Chris Mooney & Justin Guenther
Crest Foods has about 10 employees who are new employee trainers for the Ingredient Division over three shifts. Chosen for the role based on their patience, positive attitude, and understanding that not everyone learns the same way, these individuals are tasked with training new employees about the responsibilities of their job, as well as mak- ing them feel welcome and comfortable. We are continuing our highlight of trainers from the last Crest Ink. A typical day for a trainer in the Ingredient Division involves working side by side with new employees to show them everything from using the Strongarm bag lifters to stack 50 lb bags to calculating batch yields and using those calculators our teachers told us we couldn’t have. Our department does not have QA specific employees so our trainers are also teaching each and every new employee how to do their own quality checks including metal detector checks and first bag checks on every batch. We believe everyone is capable of succeeding here and we do our best to put everyone in a position to take on more responsibility as promotions come along. Thank you to the following individuals for the patience and guidance they provide to new employees as they start their career at Crest Foods. Helping others suceed is truly a talent, and we appreciate the work that they do to make new employees feel like a part of the Crest team.
Jason Smith , Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 4 Hobbies/Interests: Going to new places to eat 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I grew up in California. Bill Zacharias , Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 29 Hobbies/Interests: Music, fishing, and family time 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I have 23 grandchildren. Bob Ziankoski, Ingredient Production C Years at Crest Foods: 20 Hobbies/Interests: Golf, fishing, cooking, reading 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I am an aspiring writer.
12 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Jorge Ramirez, Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 24 Hobbies/Interests: Cooking, walking, reading and watching sports. I’m interested in learning new things and skills. 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I served in the Army when I was fourteen.
Bart Bardzinski, Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 10 Hobbies/Interests: Soccer and volleyball 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I like Subway.
Stephanie Millan, Ingredient Production C Years at Crest Foods: Almost 1 year Hobbies/Interests: Volleyball, movies/shows, languages, baking, traveling 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I’m bilingual and bicultural. I graduated with honors. I like to help others. I love dogs and cats. Jamie Bock, Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 25 Hobbies/Interests: Bike riding, walking, going to concerts, church 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I have 2 dogs: a pug named Gibson and a chihuahua named Baby G. Chris Renard, Ingredient Sanitation B Years at Crest Foods: 8 Hobbies/Interests: Working on cars, and trains 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I’ve been married for 18 years and have 2 kids.
James Long, Ingredient Sanitation B Years at Crest Foods: 27
Hobbies/Interests: Stock market, reading, taking my mom to lunch on Sundays 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I put blueberries and cheerios on my peanut butter sandwiches.
Jason Carter , Ingredient Production A Years at Crest Foods: 6 months
Hobbies/Interests: Ultra running, coaching baseball and football 1 Thing Most Wouldn’t Know About Me: I like Marvel over D.C.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 13
Home Buying in Today’s Market Buying a house can be very exciting, as well as very stressful! In the past the supply of homes for sale has gener- ally offered more than enough homes for buyers to buy. The market isn’t like that now. The number of houses on the market has drastically diminished. More and more often when a house comes on the market, if it isn’t al- ready sold, it will usually sell within a few days, if not hours. What can you do to improve your chances at getting your offer accepted? Get APPROVED – not prequalified, not preapproved – go through the steps to be totally approved. At First State Bank Shannon-Polo-Lake Carroll we have a program that will do exactly this. The Listing and Selling Realtor will know you have been approved financially, giving you an edge over those who still need to prove their income and assets. There are times with prequalification’s or preapprovals where the lender may run into some issues that could delay the closing. Having the work done before hand ensures your mortgage is many steps ahead of others and your information has been fully approved. Being approved will also tell you what your highest purchase price can be. Whether it is the highest according to your income and current debts – or if it is the highest payment, you feel comfortable with. This will be important as many homes are selling at list price or higher. Being prepared will help you know what homes to look at and where to stop in your negotiating. Give us a call for more information on this program! We will have more ideas and tips for you to help you buy the home of your dreams over the next few issues. Also, if you are lacking down payment funds, we may have some helpful ideas including our Down Payment Assistance Program (DPP). To see if you meet the qualifications for the Down Payment Assistance Program or would simply like to talk to one of our Mortgage Bankers feel free to call.
www.fsbshannon-polo.com
Michelle Berard (Production B) has been sketching scenes from the Main Plant Break Room while on break lately...
14 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Insurance Insights by Anne Noble, Benefits Manager
Four months into the new year and we have 50% of our employees enrolled in health insurance participating in HealthJoy! As a reminder, this tool is our new “Teledoc” and can also help you find a doctor, give you an estimate of how much a procedure will cost you, review a medical bill to determine if you were billed correctly and many more cost and time saving options. If you haven’t given it a try – please log in and see what HealthJoy has to offer. If you need assistance with the app or enrollment, contact Anne or Savannah in the Benefits Department. On-Site Health Changes One of the unique benefits of working at Crest Foods is that we have on-site health professionals that can help you with many health needs while you are at work. This saves you time, and also helps you address a health concern that you might otherwise ignore. We are constantly evaluating what is most beneficial to our employees. This is no small task, especially with the Covid waves that we can’t predict! Starting April 4th, the Nurse schedule has changed. We will still have a nurse available every day. Ann Lee, Nurse Practitioner, has taken a full-time position in the Hospital Medicine department at KSB. She will be available to our Crest employees twice a month, which requires that you schedule an appointment through one of the nurses, Heidi, Billie or Stephanie. Lab services also remain available one day each week. Please utilize our health services that free and convenient! Remembering Reggie by Jeff Meiners
One of the charms of living in a very small Midwest town is that the community itself has a tendency to adopt those that might need a lit- tle extra support. Thus was the relationship between the village of Ashton and Reggie Kooistra. Reggie recently passed away at the age of 84. He spent most of entire life in Ashton with some brief time away to attend college along with a stint in the Army. Reggie was a bright, kind man who battled personal demons that made it difficult to interact in social settings that many of us would consider normal. He worked at Crest as a draftsman for a number of years until the pressure of interacting with a large group of
people became too much for him to tolerate. When the reality of a typical work life no longer was a possibility for Reggie…he spent his time walking the streets of Ashton and surrounding towns chatting with anyone who would give him an opening. He loved a good joke, to share some philosophy and usually had some type of quote for anyone he bumped into. He wrote – he sang – he philosophized – he waved to everybody and seemingly knew everyone as everyone seemed to know Reggie. Sometimes Reggie would get to be a little overwhelming and he didn’t always have a feel for personal boundaries. Most people in town understood and dealt with that because he was simply one of our own. In his living his life in the only way he knew how…he reminded us all that we don’t always get to choose the cards we get dealt in life and the best we can do is make the most of the situation that is uniquely our own. Reggie made the best of the hand he was dealt and the community embraced him because of that. May he rest in peace.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 15
Starting this past July, we have been featuring groups of employees in our Weekly Information Communication who have been nominated by Manag- ers because they embraced cooperation & teamwork to accomplish some- thing. Just a small way to say Thank You & help celebrate all of the “tri- umphs” that go on at Crest on a daily basis! Check out the last few months worth of triumphs at Crest Foods! Way to go Maria Ellis (Production A)! “Shout out to Maria Ellis for having immaculate documentation on dump paperwork. It makes QA’s job much easier when they need to find information. Thank you!” Way to go Jason Breeden (Sanitation B)! “Thanks to Jason Breeden for staying over into the C-Shift to help us finish a changeover while we had crews elsewhere. We appreciate the help!” Shout Out to our IT Department! “Accounting appreciates each and every one of you!” Kerry: Always makes sure we have an accurate and best print on our government filings! Not to mention handling any AS400 problems we have in our financial modules. Larry: Wrote and re-worked a query and image retrieval program for Accounting that will make reconciling accounts much easier! Andy: Maintains and re-calculates formulas as necessary in our Sales Data Warehouse to ensure our record keeping is accurate! Dan: Wrote a program to summarize and report potential future variances for Accounting & Purchasing to review ahead of entries posting to our system! Jonathan: Springs into action when the printer starts eating our checks and paper! Or when our PC just won’t work right! Mark: Helps us troubleshoot odd inventory discrepancies and other system issues. Way to Go Randy Otten, Austin Schimitto and Danielle Schmitto (Sanitation)! “Randy has been very de- pendable every day while Sanitation was short-staffed over the last month. Austin and Danielle came in on a Sun- day for a last minute allergen changeover so that the line was clean for a Monday start up!” Way to Go Anne Castro and Justin Lugo (Production B)! “Thanks for helping empty seasoning cones on line 85 after the line ran out of cartons at the end of the shift!” Way to Go Jon Harrison, Mike Spencer and Bevan Clark (Mix A)! “Thanks to Jon for helping us mix and fill boxes of shortening and chips! Thanks to Mike and Bevan for staying caught up while being short 1 person in their department!” Way to Go Mix Department! “Shout-out to the entire Mix Department for being able to keep up with mixing while having some of the crew help out in Production. Thanks for being so flexible when we have to blend with limited crews!” Way to Go Chris Pfoutz (North Plant)! “Thanks to Chris for staying late on a Friday to wait for FedEx to deliver new project samples and for also getting them stored properly. It’s appreciated!” Way to go Line 15 (Production B)! “Thanks to Cameron Thomas, Jesus Garcia, Kenneth Sturgeon, and Osi Ful- gencio! This crew has worked together (with many different stackers) for months on end on line 15, which is where we run heavy Bisquick and Angel Food products. Thanks for working so well together!” Way to Go Scheduling Department! “This team has really stepped up while we are experiencing supply issues like we’ve never seen before. Trying to stay on top of supplies, what can and can’t be run, and moving items around to prevent downtime has been a huge task, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. Through it all they keep their sense of humor and positive attitudes! Way to go, you are all a pleasure to work with!” Team Triumphs
16 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Crest Fitness Center is Back Open! After a long shut down due to COVID, we are happy to have the Crest Fitness Center back open for employees. Located in the basement of the North Plant on Main Street, employees have access to treadmills, ellliptical machines, free weights, other various equipment. Same rules as before: employees must sign a waiver with Payroll to get your keyfob activated for access. Crest employees can bring 1 guest with them, and they must also sign a waiver. Enjoy and please contact Matt Richardson with any questions.
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 17
Anxiety Symptoms and COVID by Counselor Ashley Koza, LCSW
I would expect that a lot of people are tired of thinking and talking about COVID. It has been two years, things seem to be getting back to “normal”. However, since the start of the pandemic there has been a 25% increase in anxiety and depression (World Health Organization). Women and children have been effected the most. The factors that caused the increase are social isolation, loneliness, feer of infection, suffering and death for oneself and for loved ones, grief, and financial worries. Due to work force shortages, people are ex- hausted, and this increases risk for mental health symptoms. Anxiety symptoms have increased, even leading to increased cases of panic attacks. Here are some symptoms of anxiety that you or a loved one may be experiencing: • Panic, fear, and uneasiness • Feelings of panic, doom, or danger • Sleep problems • Not being able to stay calm and still • Cold, sweaty, numb, or tingling hands or feet • Shortness of breath • Breathing faster and more quickly than normal (hyperventilation) • Heart palpitations These symptoms can be managed through therapy, reaching out to supports and living a healthy lifestyle. Panic attacks can also occur due to increase in stress factors. These are more intense and often is described as having a heart attack or other somatic symptoms. Here are some symptoms of panic attacks: • Pounding or racing heart • Difficulty breathing • Sweating • Weakness or dizziness • Chills • Tingly or numb hands • Trembling • Chest pain If you are struggling you can reach to me at (815)732-3157 to set up an appointment. Crest Foods has a FREE and CONFIDENTIAL EAP counseling service available to employees on Mondays from 12pm - 4pm. Ashley Koza works for Sinnissippi Centers and has been our “onsite” counselor for the past few years.
February
Day Years
Wedding Anniversaries January Day Years Joe & Jenny Loomis 4 31 Kody & James Rude 13 5 Zygmunt & Ela Cichosz 20 32
Steve & Mary Meiners Pam & Russell Kelley
10 14 15 12 26 31
44 47 36
Gerald & Stephanie Gibson
March
Day Years
Tom & Lou Ann Balch Sue & Jeff Larson
28 34
Natasha & Kameron Pretzsch
4
18 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Why Are Dairy Products Important? by Al Duthie If you happen to read too much of the wrong press, or listen to the wrong people, you might start to believe that all dairy products are bad. Opponents of dairy claim cows are bad, butterfat is bad, and dairy in general is bad. Often these claims are made to promote non-dairy products, which do have their niche markets, and a need for some of the consuming population, those of which have intolerances, or allergies, or medical issues. But, there is room for both dairy and non-dairy. There is no reason to attempt to eliminate or ban dairy products. Dairy products are safe and affordable. Dairy products are nutritionally a great part of a person’s diet and promote good health. An 8 ounce glass of whole milk can provide a 6 year old child with about half of the daily protein requirement. And this same glass of whole milk provides key micro-nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, seleni- um, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and vitamin B5. About 73% of calcium available in the food supply is provided by milk and dairy products. In fact, to get the same amount of calcium from drinking 8 oz. of milk you have to eat ¼ cup of broccoli, or 7 oranges, or 6 slices of wheat bread. The dairy industry is a big part of the United States economy. This includes dairy farms, equipment suppliers, cooperatives, dairy ingredient suppliers, dairy manufacturing plants, etc. The industry actually is about 1% of our country’s gross domestic product (GDP), which includes about $628 Billion, about 3 million jobs, and $159 Billion in wages. And, besides the health importance and business importance of dairy products, there is the personal aspect of the pure drinking and eating enjoyment. We like milk, or we like yogurt, or we like sour cream, or we like cottage cheese, or we like ice cream. And then when you add all the recipes of today (more and more) that include a dairy product as an ingredient the consumption and enjoyment is enhanced. And this is the biggest part of why we keep the cows working to produce their 6-8 gallons of milk per day. The rest (health and business aspects) simply follows. So, raise your glass of ice cold milk, or raise your large spoonful of yogurt or ice cream; to a “toast” of DAIRY! DO DAIRY! It was a dreary April 1, at 12:00 in the afternoon, when a certain R&D Lab Technician made her way quietly to the Pilot Plant basement. Her target, Jeff Hacaga, had gone to the Fitness Center during his lunch break, so it was the time to strike. Earlier that day, (not so) Secret Agent Emily Plapp had delivered balloons for the Lab Technician’s mission. Deep in the basement, where no one could see or hear her, the Technician was quickly blowing up the balloons; her mission: sabotage Jeff ’s office. By 12:30 the balloons were all blown up, the office floor covered in a mess of pink and purple. A mission success, as the target came back to find his work space had been disrupted.
April Fools
The target quickly figured out that the Lab Techni- cian had taken part in the Crest Catastrophe, and questioned her, making her give up her accomplice – (not so) Secret Agent Emily, and thus enacted his revenge against her. Now Agent Emily’s office had been compromised, not only was the floor covered, but shoved on shelves, hanging from the ceiling, and even pinned to the wall – balloons. Balloons everywhere. The Lab Technician knew she would take the fall for divulging the identity of her accomplice, but it was well worth it to go down in history as an April Fool’s Day to remember. Signed, Lab Technician Deven
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 19
Employee Birthdays
January
Day
ALIYAH STINNETT ERIKA MEINERS 7 ROMEO ATANASIO MARTINEZ 7 TOMMY BALCH 8 JENNIFER LOOMIS 8 MATTHEW RICHARDSON 8 TAMMY ANGEL 8 AMANDA BAKER 11 CASEY JONES 11 LINDSEY BEASLEY 12 LILIANA LOPEZ 13 LONNY BRIGGS 15 SALENA STERLING 16 WILLIAM HUSSEY 17 ANDREW MC CANNON 18 ROBERT PITTMAN 18 PEYTON BROWN 18 JAMES RUCH 20 ANDREA SVELA 20 SHANNON GUNNON 21 ANNE NOBLE 21 DORON DOUGLAS 22 KATRINA BEROGAN 23 JADE CLIFTON 23 EVAN KNACK 24 JAMES LONG 26 LORI SHINABARGER 26 STEVEN HILLMAN 26 ALEXANDER JIMINEZ 26 MARIA MAGANA 27 TAMMY WILLIAMS 28 DANIEL ESTRELLA 28 JOE BUCKNER 28 March Day TARA LIFKA 2 LILJANA REFATLLARI 2 JANET SUTTON 3 JAKE WARREN 3 5
APRIL COVER JEAN ARMSTRONG MARIA ESCATEL ANN WEGE JEFFERY FRIDAY JAMES KETTLEY MAGDALENA GARCIA EMILY SMITH MARY MC WETHY DUSTIN KOCH GLENN WHITE STEVEN STARKE RUSSELL NOYES KIMBERLY YOUNGE JOHN DERR CRYSTAL WHITE DEVLEN BUH DEBRA WORLEY MICHAEL BOATWRIGHT JOSHUA ASBURY CALVIN BENNETT BEN KINN JAMIE COOPER PENNY ELLIS JORGE RAMIREZ MATHEW REYNOLDS MARTIN VAN BEEK VIRGINIA SANCHEZ ALANNA THOMAS SAMUEL FEARING PAMELA KELLEY ANDREA HESS JONATHAN BAKENER RANDALL CALVERT BART BARDZINSKI BENJAMIN HENRIKSON KATHERINE HENRIKSON
8 8 9
BERNARD IWEMA RANDALL BERGMAN HEATHER THOMASSON JUSTIN GUENTHER SHELLEY SCHOPP DARRELL ELLIOTT KAMERON PRETZSCH STEVEN MEINERS WALTER WILLSTEAD EUSEBIO MARQUEZ CONSUELO NAMBO ROBERT CARON NATHAN SCHUBERT KENNETH HELFRICH KENNETH GAPINSKI SAMANTHA BREEDEN MARK SMITH KELSIE WHITE ROBERT VANRADEN MARTHA HOLDER ROBERT KNIGHT WILLIAM STROHL ALFONZO ALVARADO JENNIFER MEIERHOFF JACOB MC KNIGHT JOHN LOOMIS MARIA HERRERA MARK POWERS LISA O’CONNOR TERRENCE JACOBS HEIDI TOPPING JAIME SCHAFER
1 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8
10 11 12 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 16 17 18 18 20 20 20 20 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 27 28 28 30 30 31
10 10 11 11 12 12 13 15 15 16 18 19 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 31 31
EDWARD BAYLOR DAVID BUSHMAN VALERIE SMITH BOBBI MORGAN KYLE LAWRENCE
February
Day
JEFFREY KARAS
1 2 4
DOMINGO MANCILLA KATHLEEN SMITH
20 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 2022
Employment Anniversaries
January
Day Years
CORY MORRIS ERIC DROEGE
24
3
JONATHAN MOYE MARTIN VEGA CARYNN HOWELL
24
2
25 15 25 12
25 14
PAMELA KELLEY JAMES NALLEY SUSAN LARSON
1 3 3 4 6 9
45 27 27 23 18
NATHAN SCHUBERT MARIA MAGANA
26
4
27 7 CARMEN QUINTANA 28 20 JAMIE COOPER 29 15 JOSEPH GOMEZ 31 18 February Day Years ZYGMUNT CICHOSZ 1 15 CRAIG FRIDAY 3 30 EVAN KNACK 3 2 JOSHUA HOWARD 8 1 PHILIP BLYTHE 9 7 REGINA BONNELL 10 1 LONNY BRIGGS 11 9 KYLE O’DELL 12 15 JESUS GARCIA 12 15 JACQUELINE FURMAN 13 10 MICHELLE GRIES 14 17 KYLE LAWRENCE 15 22 JASON BREEDEN 15 1 JESUS CASTILLO 15 4 ANA BUTCHER 15 1 SANJUANA HERNANDEZ CORTES 15 1 KATRINA NELSON 15 1 MILTON WILCOX 15 1 ANNE CASTRO 15 1 STEVEN SMAIL 16 7 BRIANA STOMBERG 16 7 SARAH CLEMONS 16 7 CHRISTOPHER RENARD 17 8 JACOB BERGNER 17 2 WILLIAM STROHL 17 2 BOBBI MORGAN 18 3 NICHOLAS STERLING 18 3 CYNTHIA LOPEZ 18 1 RONALD COIL 19 4 LAURA HUBER 19 4 LAURA MARES 21 28 STEPHEN OSBORNE 22 12 KYLE HASSLER 24 30
March
Day Years
JOSEPH MARONDE
JARED STUMPENHORST 5
JAMES SMITH
1 6 7
12 33 17 13
JEFFREY KARAS HOLLY GLEISSNER JACKIE FRANSEN REBECCA SCHULTZ
8
DAVID BRANSCUM LISA O’CONNOR
10
DANIEL STUMPENHORST 9
3 1 2 2 2 2
ROBERT SCHWABENLAND 9
11 12 12 13 13
SHERRY JOOS
12 15 12 15
JOSHUA PETERSON
JAMES CURRY JAMIE BOCK JAIME SCHAFER JAKE WARREN LORI TALLEY
NICHOLAS WORKMAN 12
5
13 25
LINDA HOLLEWELL
13 16
RANCE BARDO
14 14
6 6
HANNAH DERKSEN JOSEPH LOOMIS GARETT MEINERS
14 31
15 29 15 18
WILLIAM HUSSEY 14 14 DELNORA MARTINEZ 14 14 AMANDA BAKER 14 3 BEVAN CLARK 14 3 CHRISTOPHER BUHLER 14 3 HANNAH HODGES 14 3 KENNETH GAPINSKI 15 4 CASEY WARD 16 10 RACHEL SALTZ 16 5 AMY BANISTER 18 6 DARRELL ELLIOTT 18 6 CARMEN LOPEZ 18 6 STEVEN HILLMAN 18 6 CORY LAMBERT 18 1 JUSTIN TAYLOR 18 1 SAMUEL FEARING 18 1 PAYTON SIPES 18 1 CATHERINE LARSON 19 7 ROGER WOLBER 20 30 ROBERT ROATH 21 26 JAMES SHUCK 22 26 HOLLY ADAMS 22 15 MARIA HERRERA 23 16 MARIA HERNANDEZ 23 16 JOHN MONT 24 17 JORDON SMITH 24 4
ALEXANDER JIMINEZ 15 16 13 MAGDALENA GARCIA 16 13 RYAN BURGER 17 8 DUSTIN CRAWFORD 17 8 ARMANDO MACIAS 18 20 MATHEW REYNOLDS 18 3 JOHN LEFFELMAN 18 3 YOLANDA FUENTES 18 3 RANDALL CALVERT 18 3 ROMEO ATANASIO MARTINEZ 19 10 TRAVIS CAMPBELL 19 4 RUSSELL NOYES 19 4 BRIAN DVORAK 23 34 GERALD GIBSON 23 30 RICKY HILLEMAN 25 20 DELORA NALLEY 26 38 KELLY STEVENS 26 38 SHAD HEWITT 26 21 1 MARTHA HOLDER SERVANDO CADENAS 28 14 MICHAEL BOATWRIGHT 28 11
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 21
Crest Culture: Have Some Fun
22 Crest Ink Januiary, February & March 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
January, February & March 2022 Crest Ink 23
CREST FOODS., INC.
ASHTON, IL 61006
PO Box 371
815-453-7411
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
SHARING IS OPTIONAL Sit back, relax and get ready to snack! 815Eats Microwave Dips come in four delicious flavors that are easy to make, hard to resist and only 100 calories per container. Grab your favorite chips or veggies and dip into something good.
USE CODE 20OFFCREST TO SAVE 20% ON YOUR NEXT ORDER AT 815EATS.COM!
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker