Dean Feikes is the Q3 SelectPride Partner Award Winner
posted on Tuesday, November 5, 2019
“Dean goes above and beyond to have a positive attitude and always has a smile on his face,” said an Iowa Select Farms employee. “In addition to all of his daily responsibilities, he gets stuck with a lot of odd jobs but never complains. He does whatever it takes to make things better for the office and production teams.”
Congratulations to Dean Feikes for receiving the Q3 SelectPride Partner Award. The award, which was started earlier this year, recognizes individuals that support production teams. Every quarter, farm teams are encouraged to nominate support department employees or contractors that go above and beyond the duties of their job—something Dean does daily.
“Dean is always willing to help me when I stop for supplies,” echoed another employee and farm manager. “He always asks, ‘What else can I do for you?’. He is accurate and timely. Our jobs can be stressful, and it’s nice to have a person that you can always rely on.”
Dean joined the Iowa Select Farms Warehouse team in 2010; however, he had worked with the company indirectly for several years’ prior at veterinary supply companies, IVESCO, and PVP, so he was no stranger to pig farming.
In his current role, Dean hits the ground running before the sun rises and finds himself busiest between 6:30 and 8:30 A.M. when maintenance and finishing supervisors are stopping through the warehouse for their daily supplies. On average, he and warehouse assistant Jennifer McMullen prepare 5000 items for about 1150 orders per month.
“We are some of the few people in this company that get to work with everyone,” said Dean. “And that’s probably one of my favorite things about this job. We get to work with and see a lot of different employees on a daily basis, many of whom have become good friends.”
In addition to the people, Dean loves that no two days are the same.
“Even when we try to follow a set plan, it never seems to go accordingly,” chuckled Dean. “But that’s just the nature of the job. We are here to support production and it’s our responsibility to make sure they have what they need to keep things moving.”
Jennifer, who started in 2016, says that she’d be lost without him.
“Dean is the man,” she smirked. “I’ve learned so much just by watching what and how he does things on a daily basis. He’s been super helpful and taught me the ins and outs of this job. He's one of those nice guys that walks around whistling all day that just makes you smile."
Outside of work, Dean is equally as helpful and involved in his community. As Commander of the Ackley Son’s of the American Legion, Dean helps organize events for the local Legion to honor the service and sacrifices of Veterans, like his late father, Henry, who joined the U.S. Army in 1951 and served in Korea, where he was a P.O.W.
“Dean is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. I swear he is always on the go,” laughed Julie Mulford, warehouse and purchasing supervisor. “In the nine years I’ve worked with him he’s never said, ‘That’s not my job.’ Dean takes on any challenge you give him and goes above and beyond to help out where he is needed.”
Congratulations on being named the Q3 SelectPride Partner, Dean. We are lucky to have someone like you on our team.
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