Carrie Celebrates 15 Years with Iowa Select Farms
posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Congratulations to Carrie for celebrating 15 years with Iowa Select Farms!
Although she doesn’t shower into and out of farms every day, Carrie plays an instrumental role in our farms’ success as IT Communications Administrator. From alarms to phone systems, she helps our farms, employees and contractors effectively communicate, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“While I’ve technically had the same job for the past fifteen years, it’s safe to say things have changed substantially,” she chuckled. “Things that used to take me weeks I can now get done remotely in a matter of hours. It’s really amazing how the company has embraced technology and used it to become more efficient in all departments.”
Perhaps the biggest implementation of technology throughout Carrie’s career was in 2013 when the IT department unveiled Tools, the company’s internal web platform that streamlines many processes and serves as a “hub” for all farms.
“When we launched Tools, I had to switch the processes for basically everything I did,” she recalled. “It was hard in the moment, but it’s really awesome now. Without Tools, I don’t think anyone could do what they do, or at least not as efficiently as we do things now.”
In her current role, Carrie programs all farm alarms, makes sure they’re all connecting properly, manages all company phones (including the *few* landlines we’ve got left!) among a slew of other responsibilities. The kicker is that while she still works on relatively the same types of projects, the number of farms she supports has tripled since 2006.
“In addition to implementing a lot more technology on our farms, we’ve also just grown a lot as a company,” she said. “It’s been fun to meet all of our employees and contractors, even if it is just phone or email conversations. I enjoy the people that I get to work with.”
Like everyone, Carrie and her husband, Chad, are excited for life to resume back to normal and hopeful for company events like Adventureland and the Iowa State Fair, which are highlights for their three children, Zander, Emerson and Sawyer, but also a great opportunity for them to connect with the employees and farms Carrie supports daily.
“It’s always fun to see how people’s kids have grown over the years and just put a face to a name,” she said. “We’ve got a really great team, and many of them have worked here just as many, if not more, years as I have.”
Outside of work, Carrie jokes that COVID has forced her family to appreciate the little things. “Going to Wal-Mart is the highlight of our week anymore,” she laughed. “We’ve also enjoyed time on my family’s farm near New Providence and giving my kids a glimpse into farm life. In fact, we’re headed there this weekend to help with lambing!”
COVID has also impacted Carrie’s job, but if anything, it has made it even more clear how much the company has embraced technology. “I just feel like we’ve made such huge strides as a company that make a huge difference in not only how we do things, but also how fast we can do them,” she said. “That makes me excited for all that the future has in store, because if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that we always continue to get better and I have no doubt the next fifteen years will be equally as exciting.”
Congrats on 15 years, Carrie! We appreciate the enthusiasm you bring to work every single day and are grateful to have you on our team.
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