Lisa Moorhouse 2016-09-05 00:39:22
What today’s college students are seeking for their first jobs stretches far beyond compensation and benefits. “Each year, we talk to hundreds of students with different types of degrees and backgrounds,” says Tina Dorner, who leads CHS campus and military recruiting programs. “They share a common desire to work somewhere they can make a difference while doing something they love.”
During annual career fairs at nearly 30 college campuses, Dorner connects with many students who have grown up in agriculture and are familiar with the co-op system. She meets even more who aren’t familiar with agriculture, but are amazed by the industry’s career opportunities.
“It’s like a lightbulb goes on when they realize their degrees could apply to the ag industry and they could make a difference in their careers and in their communities for our farmer-owners,” says Dorner.
Meet CHS employees — with and without farm backgrounds — and learn how they’ve built rewarding careers. Through their experiences, you’ll see the diverse range of opportunities within CHS and the cooperative system and see how shared values and deep commitment to owners and customers set CHS apart.
Helping Our Owners Succeed ADDIE SPOLYAR, agronomy sales representative, CHS, Hamilton, Mich.
Corn & Soybean Digest and The Good Fruit Grower top Addie Spolyar’s reading list these days. That’s just one way she keeps pace with the latest agronomic data and trends as an agronomy sales representative for CHS. With a list of crops that includes cherries, apples, hops, vegetables and row crops, she has a lot to keep track of.
Being an agronomic resource for western Michigan producers wasn’t in Spolyar’s plan when she first stepped onto the Michigan State University campus. She was familiar with agriculture through FFA and 4-H, but was focused on another career until she began exploring crop and soil sciences and realized agriculture offered many opportunities.
“I appreciate how CHS is committed to helping our owners suceed,” she says.
Without an ag background, Spolyar looks at the industry with fresh eyes. “I don’t hide the fact that I’m still a novice, but I think that being new in the industry also means I ask questions differently. I look at everything with a fresh perspective and I’m not afraid to make suggestions to ensure we’re getting the most efficiency out of every acre.”
Collaborating with Customers BRANDON LYTLE, credit and lending manager, CHS Capital
As a farm kid growing up in western Kansas, Brandon Lytle dreamt of going into finance and landing a fast- paced, high-profile career on Wall Street.
But after a couple of years of college, he realized he missed being part of the ag industry. His dad encouraged him to check out CHS.
“I grew up with the co-op, but I was really surprised by CHS. There was — and continues to be — a lot of opportunity with CHS,” says Lytle.
He joined the company as a trainee about five years ago. Today, he works at the Inver Grove Heights, Minn., offices, maintaining daily contact with farmers and ranchers in Kansas, Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas, providing solutions to make their operations stronger. He collaborates with them to identify their financial needs, determining how to address those needs and helping them expand their operations and increase profitability.
“I may be thousands of miles from my customers,” says Lytle, “but because we’re focused on building relationships based on common goals, I feel like I’m right there with them.”
Improving the Process BROOKS DAGEN, plant engineer, CHS, Hallock, Minn.
He doesn’t carry around a magnifying glass or quote Sherlock Holmes, but Brooks Dagen is on the hunt for better safety, quality and efficiency.
“I’m always looking for ways to improve processes and operations,” says Dagen.
As the plant engineer at the CHS Processing and Food Ingredients facility at Hallock, Minn., Dagen manages capital projects, such as construction of an oil loading building and other projects that ensure food and personnel safety or reduce costs. From project concept to commissioning, he develops plans, sources materials, manages contractors and oversees the process. Other times, Dagen can be found analyzing data from the control system to identify possible improvements or walking the plant looking for ways to protect employees from potential safety hazards.
As a kid, Dagen says he was always thinking about how to fix things on his family’s potato, sugar beet and grain farm in northwestern Minnesota. He applied that curiosity while earning a degree in mechanical engineering at North Dakota State University.
“A job like mine has a large range of possibilities for identifying things that can be improved. There’s a lot to explore — making the most out of that process is a lot of fun,” says Dagen.
Focusing on the End Game AHMAD CLOFER, vessel production supervisor, CHS, Myrtle Grove, La.
Ahmad Clofer loves a challenge.
Need to get the best grain blend into a vessel and maximize the grade? He’s on it. Have to track multiple pieces of loading and unloading equipment while monitoring grade levels? He’s your guy. Need to move 5,000 bushels of grain? Been there, done that.
As vessel production supervisor at the CHS grain export facility at Myrtle Grove, La., Clofer maintains grain inventory quality and ensures incoming and outgoing commodities at the CHS terminal meet federal grain inspection standards.
He holds what’s called “first chair” at the terminal, but started his career at CHS shoveling grain, an opportunity he found in an online want ad. Clofer quickly moved up to catching canisters of grain for grading and then into his current role. He credits those early experiences with helping him understand grain and the terminal.
The self-described numbers guy is constantly applying his degree in business from Mississippi College. “So much math, science and logic play into my job every day,” says Clofer. “What I — and all of us — do here impacts profit margins for our farmer- owners. There’s no room for error.”
Signing on for a Career
Flip Ulrich is no stranger to big rigs. Long before he started his career as a driver for CHS and then a dispatcher, he was a combat heavy equipment operator in the United States Marine Corps. “My military experience prepared me to make informed decisions quickly under pressure and manage multiple demands at once,” says Ulrich, one of many vets who are putting their military experience to work in agriculture. Ulrich works in logistics at the CHS Transportation terminal in Rosemount, Minn.
“The ag industry offers a vast number of opportunities that align with the skills veterans have to offer, as well as the values of integrity, commitment and teamwork they carry with them from their military experience,” says Adam Holton, senior vice president, CHS Human Resources.
That’s why CHS supports the Hiring Our Heroes Agriculture FastTrack website (fasttrackforheroes.org). Hiring Our Heroes is a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to help veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses find meaningful employment.
The site helps veterans research in-demand jobs in trucking and transportation, manufacturing, oil and gas, insurance, manufacturing, financial services, and agriculture.
SEE MORE
Find a video about career opportunities at chsinc.com/c.
Making It Local
CODY DIDIER, intern, CHS South Central, Napoleon, N.D.
It’s clear that Cody Didier feels at home stepping into the sample room at CHS South Central in Napoleon, N.D., population 784. He’s a small-town kid at heart with deep admiration for the farmers who rely on the elevator to move their grain.
“I spent a lot of my time working for area farmers as I was growing up, and I know how hard they work,” says Didier, whose family farmed until he was 13 years old. He worked in the fields, driving tractors and repairing equipment.
When Didier applied for an internship with CHS South Central, he was looking forward to applying what he had learned through his business degree program at Valley City State University in Valley City, N.D. With his internship, he’s gaining insight into all aspects of the business, starting when a loaded truck pulls into the elevator. He collects grain samples and works with the grain merchandiser.
Of gaining experience as a merchandiser, working with farmers and getting to stay in rural America, Didier says, “I can’t imagine being any place but here.”
Keeping the Fuel Flowing
KENDRA ANDERSON, operator, CHS Refinery, McPherson, Kan.
As Kendra Anderson finishes her shift in the Terminal Control Center (TCC) at the CHS Refinery in McPherson, Kan., she takes pride in knowing that crude oil has successfully flowed into the refinery while finished products successfully flowed out.
Anderson began her career at the refinery in 2006. At the pumphouse, Anderson and the rest of the team are responsible for bringing crude oil into the refinery tank farm; feeding it into the refinery; receiving and pumping intermediate streams to and from the units; and shipping out finished gasoline, distillates and propane for CHS member-owners.
Finished products are supplied to truck terminals at McPherson and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and to an underground storage facility that holds nearly 4 million barrels at nearby Conway, Kan.
“We have a lot of responsibility at the TCC,” says Anderson. “We communicate with all the units and have more opportunity to move around than some of the other process units do. Since we coordinate movements in and around the refinery, I like to say we are where it all begins and ends.” — Dan Kliewer
ABUNDANT OPPORTUNITY
There’s no denying the incredible opportunities within agriculture.
During the next five years, U.S. college graduates will find good employment opportunities if they have expertise in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources or the environment.
Between 2015 and 2020, an annual average of 57,900 openings will be available for graduates with bachelor’s or higher degrees in those areas. But new graduates and others with expertise in the field will be able to fill only 35,400 of those positions each year, leaving nearly 40 percent of the positions vacant.
Published by CHS Inc. View All Articles.
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