Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building Safety Culture: Kelly Wadding on Transforming Quality Pork Processors | Manufacturing Series

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Building Safety Culture: Kelly Wadding on Transforming Quality Pork Processors | Manufacturing Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:03
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:07
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:10
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:13
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspoti and
0:16
today's guest is Kelly Wadding, who was President and owner at
0:20
Quality Pork Processors, Inc for 30 years and is presently
0:24
serving as a senior advisor. Founded in 1989 in Austin, MN,
0:30
Quality Pork Processors is a leading food manufacturing
0:33
company that processes 19,000 hogs each day.
0:38
They employ over 1300 dedicated team members and even offer free
0:43
on site primary care for employees and their families.
0:46
Under Kelly's leadership, the company has maintained a strong
0:49
position in meat processing, providing essential products
0:53
across the country. Kelly has been instrumental in
0:56
various leadership roles within the industry, showcasing his
0:59
expertise in strategy and operations.
1:02
And before joining Quality Pork Processors, he gained valuable
1:05
experience influencing business growth at other meat processing
1:09
firms. Since taking the helm, he has
1:11
helped the company expand its operations and remain a key
1:15
market player. His achievements include shaping
1:18
effective policies and driving operational improvements.
1:22
Together with his team, Kelly continues to uphold rigorous
1:25
quality standards by creating a positive workplace environment.
1:29
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2:00
All right now back to our guest today, senior advisor, former
2:04
owner and president at Quality Pork Processors, Kelly Wadding.
2:07
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:10
Oh, thank you. Happy to be with you.
2:13
OK, Kelly, so you've been involved in the meat processing
2:16
industry for quite some time. What initially drew you to this
2:19
field? Well, a job I started when I was
2:25
18 years old. Fact October 8th of 1970 is my
2:29
original seniority date and that was a company called Wilson's
2:34
Meatpacking is one of the, I think it was a third or fourth
2:37
large meatpacking in the country.
2:39
And I started as I said, 18 years old.
2:42
I started in a gang. The first job I had was pushing
2:46
hogs in a hog cooler and there I, I, I stayed on the labor
2:51
force for two years and then I had an opportunity to be a
2:55
supervisor with Wilson. So I, I then took a supervisor
2:59
job. I was 20 years old, youngest
3:01
supervisor Wilson's ever hired. They were a little concerned
3:04
about hiring somebody that young, but they I got the job
3:06
so. So what were you doing at such a
3:08
young age that they saw and you? Hey, let's promote this guy as a
3:12
20 year old kid. Well, quick story of it is
3:18
actually I went to when I was working as labor, I there was an
3:22
ad in our local paper about for supervisors in Madison, NE and I
3:27
went there to interview. Actually, I was interviewed by
3:31
Bob Peterson, who end up being the president of Iowa or Iowa,
3:37
Iowa in Iowa industries. Anyway, he told me that he would
3:45
hire me as a gang leader, but I have experienced a supervisor.
3:47
So I said, OK, thank you very much.
3:49
And I went back and I mentioned it to the my supervisor and he
3:54
went down there. He took the job.
3:56
The the his boss come to me and said, I hear you're looking for
4:01
a supervisor. And, and I said Yep.
4:04
And, and I, I was a good worker. I've I worked a lot overtime.
4:09
I tried to do everything. So I had a pretty good record
4:14
with the employer. So they hired me as a supervisor
4:16
and and that's kind of starting me on the road to management,
4:19
so. And what is a gang leader?
4:21
I have a feeling that means something different to you than
4:24
it does to the average A gang. Leader is actually a lead man,
4:27
you're still in the labor force, you still work on the line and
4:32
but your utility guy, you can fill in for a lot of jobs.
4:35
You have to learn all that. And so so it you know, it's a
4:39
step towards supervision. So and Mr. Peterson said that
4:43
would I would follow that, but I I decided to stay with Wilson's
4:46
what worked out good so. How long did you stay at
4:51
Wilson's altogether? OK, All the quick history there
4:53
is, I stayed as a supervisor for another six years and then six
4:58
years I was promoted to the division Superintendent over the
5:04
pork division, over the Superintendent down Oklahoma
5:07
City and I transferred down there.
5:10
I spent two miserable years down there.
5:14
It was the management was very poorly run.
5:17
The union dictated everything. I, I've every morning I walked
5:24
in and it was just like putting my boxing gloves on and going
5:27
going to town. So, so it but, but I, I stuck in
5:33
there for two years and then a lot of consequences with Wilson.
5:39
They will offer to transfer me, but just one place.
5:42
And I, I, so I turned my reservation in.
5:45
I went to Iowa Pork Industries in South Saint Paul and there I
5:52
went there as a plant Superintendent and there was a,
5:59
it was a new, new startup plant by Harry, Harry Weinstein.
6:07
But anyway, the plant was built on a shoestring budget, lots of
6:14
breakdowns, a lots of, and we had a, we had to replace our,
6:18
our workforce. And I gained the reason I'm
6:20
saying that I gained so much knowledge in the five and six
6:24
years I was at that plant that I went through a walk out strikes.
6:29
I had several machine breakdowns.
6:35
I in fact, we were breaking down and having so much trouble in
6:38
our, our maintenance areas. I actually took some engineer
6:41
courses. I, I did get an associated
6:43
degree down the road by by the way.
6:45
But anyway, I took some engineering courses and learn
6:50
refrigeration and things like that, that we're having so much
6:53
trouble with and that comes into play in just a little bit.
6:55
But anyway, I spent 5-6 years there.
6:59
They promoted me, give me the plant manager job when I was 31.
7:05
And I did that for about a year and a half.
7:08
Then a strike, strike took us down and we were working.
7:13
I mean, it was pretty tough. And the, the, the owner, he
7:17
wanted to sell the company. And I kind of saw the, the
7:20
writing on the wall. And so I made good friends in
7:24
the industry. I go to the conferences every
7:27
year. And so a guy told me if I ever
7:29
wanted a job to just pick up the phone.
7:30
And I called up Dale Dan and he was a vice president with John
7:33
Morrell Company in Sioux Falls. And Dale said you start in two
7:40
weeks. So then, so I went to John
7:43
Morrell, Sioux Falls for two years as a commercial pork
7:47
manager. But before you get into that,
7:50
Kelly, I want to hear so I understand why you first took
7:53
the job, right? You're a young kid, you're
7:55
looking for work. You need a paycheck, but you
7:58
continue to stay in the industry for a number of years and you
8:01
moved around to different locations.
8:02
There was something about this that drew you in and kept you
8:07
there. What?
8:07
What was it that that you liked so much about this industry?
8:10
Well, I felt I was good at it. I just, you know, I, I got
8:17
married young. I didn't have a college
8:19
education. The the beat packing industry
8:23
back at the 1970 was the best paying job in overly Minnesota.
8:28
And so the money was good, benefits were good.
8:33
So, you know, and then as I worked on the line, I looked
8:38
around and watched these managers walk around and say,
8:40
you know, I don't want to be tied down the line.
8:42
I want to try to advance and so I took a opportunity, got the
8:46
opportunity and you know, and it's just in my career, I think
8:49
the based on a lot of luck, I took some chances at some other
8:56
opportunities and they all worked out fine.
8:58
I had some great mentors through I mean, I could I won't be here
9:01
today if it wasn't for four or five guys that mentored me and
9:05
brought me along like the like the Dale Dannon.
9:08
I picked up the phone, called him, he broke, took me to work.
9:11
And, you know, so I've been blessed to have people in my
9:15
life really, really help me. Well, it's nice to hear sort of
9:19
the the positive memories that you have of these experiences.
9:23
But there were also challenging times, right?
9:25
Like you were talking about miserable two years that you
9:28
spent at the one plant. And so certainly there were
9:31
sometimes where you just kind of soldiered on and we're like,
9:35
man, I, you know, this is a job. I got to do it, you know, I got
9:40
to make ends meet. But, you know, we learned from
9:44
those experiences, sometimes as much or more than we learned
9:48
from, you know, some of the positive role models and mentors
9:50
that you had. Exactly, exactly.
9:53
I, I, you know, the, you know, there, there were nights that I
9:58
sat down and just just didn't know what I was going to do to
10:00
go on and stuff. But as I look back, they really
10:04
built me and built, helped me deal with as and when I got to
10:08
QPP, I was ready for the challenges there.
10:12
And it it really they may be stronger.
10:17
I mean, it's just a corny old saying, but it was it
10:20
definitely. Got some thicker skin by going
10:22
through them and you learn how to work through tough times and
10:25
how to interact and deal with people through those difficult
10:28
times so that when you did land at some really good future
10:32
opportunities, you were well seasoned and even better
10:34
prepared to handle those right. Absolutely, absolutely.
10:37
And then, you know, and, and the fact that people give me the
10:41
mentors give me the opportunity my I wanted to repay that.
10:45
So I, I brought, I have several people that I've helped in the
10:48
industry and come up through the world.
10:49
So I mean, it's a, it's a kind of a payback thing.
10:52
But you know, everybody said, man, you worked in the media
10:56
industry, our life. What you know, that what kind of
10:59
career is that? That's it couldn't have been
11:00
better. I mean, I, I, I'm just so happy
11:03
that I stayed in the industry and things worked out as they
11:06
did. Oh, it's great to hear that.
11:08
Gratitude. OK, so before I interrupted, you
11:10
were starting to talk about the opportunity at the John Morrell
11:13
Company. Yeah.
11:14
And I, I was a commercial park manager there.
11:18
I, I stayed there for about two years.
11:22
You know, I learned so much about yields and meat costs and
11:26
stuff like that of guy by the name of Doug Howell, another one
11:29
of my mentors. He a brilliant man and he took
11:33
me under his wing and him and I had many discussions, arguments
11:36
on, on how to process a hog. And, you know, it sounds like it
11:40
might be an easy thing, but it's complicated when you look at
11:42
values and things like that. But anyway, I got a great deal
11:46
of knowledge of that, but be quite honest, it, it was kind of
11:50
boring. I just, I, I wasn't in actual
11:52
operations where I was running things, I would just doing meat
11:56
cost tests and stuff like that. And, and you know, it was a, a
12:00
good job. Well, Long story short, I had a
12:04
gentleman from Des Moines, IA, Iowa, packing company guy by
12:07
name Edelhilski come flying in. He, he had heard about me and
12:16
through a mutual friend and we met for dinner one night and he
12:21
was building a second plant. He had one plant and right side
12:25
by it, he was building a retrofit in another plant.
12:28
Plus he's going to build an engine room for his
12:30
refrigeration. And he had heard I had some
12:33
experience in that. That's that's what I was saying
12:35
earlier when I had the engineering courses and I love
12:39
the idea of building a plant and building an engineer
12:45
refrigeration room. And so anyway, I accepted that.
12:49
One, do it from scratch. Like you.
12:51
You took all the things that you've learned from all your
12:53
different positions with these different companies along the
12:55
way, and now I know the right way to do it.
12:58
I can fix all these problems that we ran into before.
13:01
Right. And then not only that, Edel
13:02
Hilsky himself was a very brilliant man as far as coming
13:05
to that stuff. So I learned from him as well.
13:07
So I went there as vice president of operations and I
13:13
and we we got the second plant built.
13:16
We run 2 plants. We got the compressor and it was
13:19
a boring sow kill plant. So we only killed like 300 an
13:22
hour and it was, you know, not not with the big boys, but it's
13:28
just a small, unique little ditch that we had in the
13:32
industry. And so I did that for nearly ten
13:36
years and Ello Hillski become like my my my second dad and we
13:42
grew real tight. I just so so in there was a non
13:49
union. I was the safety guy there.
13:53
I was just part of HR and a Jack of all trades and was small
13:59
company like that. And there I really got to
14:03
understand that the employees were not employees.
14:08
They're part of your family. And we really Edel Hilski was
14:12
great on immigrants. We'd bring him in, we'd set up
14:14
housing. We would take care of him that
14:16
way. He was Ed was obviously Polish
14:21
and a lot of Polish immigrants. And they are the best workers
14:24
guys. And they play hard and they work
14:27
hard. And there's I've, I can't tell
14:30
you the number of times I went down and bailed some out of jail
14:33
and, and, you know, got some housing for them and went, and,
14:37
you know, they always argued among themselves who worked
14:39
harder. And so I'd have to be referee.
14:40
So it was quite an experience. But Ello Hills, he expects you
14:44
to work 1214 hours a day. That was a typical day.
14:47
So, so we worked 6-7 days a week, worked hard and but it was
14:54
a satisfying time. And then I in 93 I got a call
15:02
from a headhunter that asked if I'd like to go up to quality
15:08
pork where the guy by the name of Richard Knight and be a
15:11
general manager there. And I'll tell you the quick
15:15
story on it is that I told him. He said, no, I said, I'm happy
15:19
where I'm at. I said, but you know, someday I
15:21
might want to go South. I don't want I'm I've been from
15:24
Minnesota. I don't want to go back N then
15:26
he said OK. And and so that was a a
15:30
Wednesday and I went home that night and my wife's wife told me
15:36
her grandma had passed and she lived up in right next to Austin
15:41
where QP is AT. And so the funeral was on that
15:45
Friday. So I called the head on her back
15:47
the next day and I said, you know, I said I'd like to meet
15:49
Dick Knight. I've heard about him in the
15:51
industry and I said I wouldn't mind meeting have dinner with
15:53
him. I says I no guarantees I said,
15:56
but I'm going to be up there anyway.
15:57
So so we did and Dick Knight and I sat and had dinner and I bet
16:04
you we sat for two hours and just seemed like a nice fit.
16:09
He liked he has had terrible work comp problems, terrible
16:13
safety issues. I mean, he's, it was and when I,
16:16
I, I to back up a little bit up in Iowa park industries and
16:22
dealing in Minnesota, work comp was the son of a gun and they,
16:25
they, you know, you're getting sued.
16:27
And it was just so I, I dealt with all that and I got to learn
16:30
a lot about work comp. So anyway, back to so and, you
16:35
know, I kind of missed running a high speed plant.
16:38
Oh, I had just my close buddies were captaining the industry and
16:42
they were, you know, slaughtering 1012 thousand hogs
16:47
a day and though and they say why you got a butcher shop
16:51
you're running there. So so a little bit of eagle
16:54
there. I wanted but but I I really Dick
16:56
night and I really hit it off well.
16:58
And so I one of the hardest things I ever did in my life was
17:03
turn my oldest into Edo Hillski. And so we both he offered a
17:10
blank check for me to stay and everything, and I said, I'm I'm
17:13
going to take this opportunity. And as another rather lucky
17:17
breaks in life that I I come this close to not going, but
17:21
because in fact, we both sat down and had a little cry about
17:24
it and and we moved on. And so I went up to Quality Pork
17:29
Industries as a general manager. And real quick, Kelly, the thing
17:32
that really drew you to this new opportunity at QPP was just sort
17:36
of the size and scale of what they were doing.
17:38
Exactly. It was to be a bigger player in
17:41
the industry. Yeah.
17:42
And you know, and, you know, I I had a nice little niche down in
17:45
Des Moines and we were going along just fine.
17:48
But it was, you know, I would go to the, the, the AMI in Chicago
17:54
and meet all my friends. A lot of my friends that I'd
17:57
come up with, they've, they grew in the industry too.
18:00
So they were vice presidents and they were movers and shakers as
18:05
well. So, you know, one time I think I
18:07
knew about every plant manager in industry.
18:09
So it's a small family. So, so, yeah, I wanted to be a
18:13
player in that. And that's one of the bigger
18:16
reasons I went to quality pork Processors.
18:20
OK, so you get there in 93. 93 correct.
18:24
And So what was it like? It was the I've 2.
18:31
My biggest thing was the work comp we spent the year before
18:35
they spent nearly 1,000,000 half in work comp claims.
18:40
The following year that I took over, we got it down to 400,000.
18:44
So, but, and I did that two ways and basically number one is to
18:51
our, my famous slogan is still up on the wall of this day.
18:56
If it's not safe, don't do it. And I, I told all my
19:01
supervisors, anybody that gets reprimanded for refusing to do a
19:04
job because it's unsafe, they're going to be in trouble.
19:07
Not the not the employee and but the the supervisor.
19:11
Everybody got the message and and we really it it, you know,
19:17
I'll just say one of my prouder accomplishment is our safety
19:20
record at Quality Pork Processors.
19:21
We, we took it seriously. Our people took it seriously and
19:25
we really, and you know, if somebody and I just work comp,
19:31
it's, it can be a game. You got somebody that can come
19:34
up with the oh, I got a sore back.
19:36
Oh, I got a sore arm. And, you know, so OK, we'll,
19:39
we'll accommodate the, you play a game and yeah, you recognize
19:43
it for what it is. And you just, you work through
19:46
it. But at the same time, you got
19:48
somebody that cuts her finger off or somebody that has a fall
19:52
and hurts herself. You know, you recognize that
19:55
injury and you do everything you can to get him better, to give
19:59
him time off or whatever he needs, because, you know, that
20:03
employee needs help. You know, and I can say you got
20:06
to, you got to recognize that. And so I, and I've and our
20:11
employees got the message. It took a couple years, but they
20:14
got the message that, hey, if I'm going to play games, we're
20:16
going to play games. If I got an issue, they're going
20:19
to take care of me. So I want to better understand
20:22
though, some of the, I don't know, the brass tacks of what
20:25
you changed. I mean, to go from a million and
20:28
a half in work comp to $400,000 the next year, that's a
20:32
significant reduction. You don't get there by just
20:36
putting a slogan up on the wall. If it's not safe, don't do it.
20:40
Like what? What were some more of the like
20:42
practical things that had to change that you introduced?
20:45
Well, the couple three things now, you know, the reason for
20:49
that, the big turn around was the IT was an easy target
20:53
because when I went in there just settled a bunch of claims
20:56
around the books and just settle them and pay them.
20:58
And you know, the Dick Knight was a I'm not going to pay these
21:02
guys 1 dime. Well, you ain't going to win
21:04
that game. And so we went in, we settled.
21:07
So we wiped out a lot of claims there and then.
21:12
And then, you know, the biggest thing is we, we looked at worked
21:16
with cause of the accidents, what was going on, what we
21:19
needed to do and have everybody be part.
21:23
We, we had a safety team. They'll go around once a week
21:27
and they would put down issues of safety.
21:30
And it's just like I say it, it just evolved.
21:33
But in the big thing too is I also settled claims smartly.
21:43
Mr. Knight, he's the God rest his soul.
21:45
Wonderful man, wonderful man, but he would fight people.
21:49
They would take on the court. He would he would somebody come
21:51
in and said, oh, he's hurt and and if I ain't got any work for
21:54
you, send them home. And and he just he got in the
22:00
the biggest reason that it wasn't that the safety record so
22:03
much of the million half. It was the fact that the
22:05
lawsuits he was getting killed in them and he wasn't handing
22:08
them properly. And so I changed lawyers and
22:12
that's that's where that was at. From your past experiences, you
22:15
understood sort of the game that goes behind all this and, and
22:20
you said, hey, listen, there's there's a different way to
22:22
approach this. I know that we're going to end
22:24
up, you know, probably paying some folks that, you know,
22:27
they're sort of faking it or maybe this isn't totally legit,
22:30
but this is going to be a much more efficient path forward for
22:33
everybody. Yeah, when they when I first I
22:37
my second weekend, I told Dick bring me all the work comp files
22:40
because he was handling it. I said bring me and my deck, my
22:44
desk was stacked up this high with these files.
22:48
And so, so, so the, the turn around is a little bit, you
22:53
know, I, I'm taking a lot of credit for something that really
22:56
was just needed to be sorted out and then get them off the books.
23:00
So. But I I know that safety is a a
23:04
huge priority for. You.
23:06
Oh, absolutely. Even continuing today, so talk,
23:09
talk more about that. It wasn't yes, I understand sort
23:11
of like administratively there were just you took a different
23:15
approach to kind of cleaning these things up.
23:17
But then talk more about the how the safety component is such a
23:21
big priority for you today. Well, it the the, the real key
23:25
to it is culture. You have to establish a safety
23:29
culture and you have to have people have to believe that you
23:34
really do care for for their health and well-being and you
23:38
know, and they're not and then I'm, I'm just not trying to keep
23:41
them safe. So I save money at work comp.
23:44
I mean, you know, and I, that's another thing is I by HR people,
23:48
as we went on, I said, now, you know, we want to reduce our work
23:52
comp costs. I said, but that is not what
23:54
drives safety. I say we drive safety.
23:58
Work comp costs will be there's an offshoot of it.
24:01
So I say our priority is to be safe and take care of people and
24:05
don't worry about the work comp costs.
24:07
I said, we've, we've got a program in place.
24:09
So, but people got to understand that we are going to take care
24:14
of them and people understand that, you know, we're going to
24:17
provide work for them. The biggest thing I did was
24:20
somebody had a bad arm instead of sending them home until their
24:24
arm got better, I said, OK, we got one arm work for he's come
24:27
on over here and we'll, you know, accommodate whatever hours
24:30
you can and you know, and that helped the person that wanted to
24:33
work and that helped them. But the person that wanted to go
24:37
home realized, you know, no sense didn't mess around with
24:39
it. They're going to make it work
24:40
anyway. I mean, you know, so like I say,
24:43
is, is gaming ship in a way, but like I say, people ought to
24:48
recognize what you're doing and why you're doing it.
24:51
And if you really, really, truly is for the for their safety and
24:56
well-being, people will respond. So talk us through how you got
25:01
from sort of those beginning days to ownership opportunity.
25:05
That that's kind of a funny story too, but a year after year
25:10
after I was there in 94 Edel Hilsky's son Danny, who was the
25:16
vice president of sale. Danny and I worked together.
25:18
I was anyway, he come up and said Ed wanted to sell part of
25:25
the company to him and I and and I would be president of the
25:29
company and he made that proposal and you know, and here
25:35
again it was one of the tougher things.
25:38
I did a great opportunity to go back and own half of the company
25:44
and da, da, da and Mr. Knight, I told him I was talking to him
25:48
and he said, what can I do to? I said, no, this is not a
25:51
bidding war. This is something I got to
25:53
decide what I want to do. And and I this, this is, I've
25:57
told a story 100 times to my kids and everybody.
26:00
And I don't know if everybody believes it or not, but I, I
26:03
play golf and I went out and played eighteen holes of golf
26:07
and decided I've got to make a decision because I, I promised
26:10
Ed I would do that. And I got to the 18th hole and I
26:13
said, if I make par, I stay. If I bogey, I go to Des Moines
26:19
and I birdied the whole so. Put it on your golf show.
26:23
Yep. So so I stayed and and then I
26:27
went in and I told Mr. Knight Dick.
26:31
I said Dick, I said I'm gonna I'm gonna stay here.
26:34
I said I like, I like it here. And I said we're we're just
26:37
starting and we were just Dick give me free reign.
26:41
I mean, he really did. He just let me walk in and and I
26:45
had made some management changes and I met some others.
26:48
I was just starting to build a team and I really wanted to see
26:50
it through. So so I stayed.
26:54
And then Dick turned to me. He said, you know, he said, I'm
26:56
I'm going to start thinking about succession.
26:59
He said, why don't we figure out how to set you up as a partner?
27:01
And so about six months later, 95 I become a a partner in the
27:06
business and we worked through some things and in 97 Dick
27:13
decided to Dick lost a daughter and to cancer and it really took
27:21
the wind out of a sails basically.
27:23
And Dick was he said, you know, I'm he Dick had he was a vice
27:28
president with Swift. He had plenty, you know, plenty
27:30
of resources to retire on. He says he basically I chip
27:36
chair and chance they give us some things that we worked out
27:38
through and I took ownership of the company till 2009 so.
27:44
OK. And what is maybe the thing
27:48
you're most proud of that you put in place during that time?
27:51
Well, it's, it's going to be the safety program and our safety
27:54
culture there. And but the the other thing we
27:58
when I first come, we were struggling to kill 12,000 hogs a
28:01
day and we and I told the Hormel company who we supplied material
28:08
to. I said, I know you guys invest X
28:11
dollars. I said, I'll guarantee you we'll
28:13
go to 16. And and the I had a, he turned
28:21
out to be one of my best friends, but he was a vice
28:25
president over at Hormel. He said OK, and he got that
28:28
through. And they and we, we made our
28:31
number to 16 run as smooth as heck.
28:33
And a few years later I said, let's you do this and we'll go
28:37
to 20,000. And we did.
28:39
And we're capable of killing 22,000 right now.
28:42
They the market share they want us, the sales department feels
28:47
comfortable at 19-6 and that's what we've processed today.
28:50
So but but we we're we could kill 20,000 easily and 22 is a
28:55
stretch but it can be done so. OK, so I'm an outsider to the
28:58
industry. I love pork products.
29:01
I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.
29:03
Kind of walk us through it. You guys are buying hogs from
29:07
farms that are raising them. They come to you live and the
29:11
the slaughter and everything, all the processing takes place
29:15
there at your location. That's correct.
29:17
We, we actually, Hormel has, they buy the hogs and they
29:23
deliver it to the, to the livestock.
29:26
And at that, at that point we take possession of them and we
29:30
process the hogs we through the slaughter floor and we, they
29:36
then go into a cooler where they're chilled overnight down
29:39
to 40°. And then the next day they are
29:45
cut into primal cuts. Pull the loins, bellies, ribs,
29:53
all the various parts of the, of the hog.
29:55
And what we'll do there. If it's fresh pork, we will put
29:59
it in a Hormel box and ship it and ship it to their dock and
30:03
they'll take it right to the customer if it's processed like
30:06
they got to take a belly and, and smoke it for bacon.
30:09
They do sausage, do spam, those type things.
30:14
We'll ship the raw material through across the wall to them
30:17
and to their plant and they'll and then they'll take it on for
30:20
further processing. Across the wall so they're right
30:23
next door. They're right next door to your
30:25
plant. Yep.
30:25
OK, see, I don't know if you want the quick history on that
30:29
is Hormel built this beautiful slaughter floor, processing
30:33
floor in 1985. Two years later they went on a
30:39
major strike and it's it's it's well chronicled in history.
30:44
But anyway, they they settled a strike finally they got and they
30:50
decided not to open up their slaughter floor again.
30:53
They shut it down and just a processing side.
30:56
Well Dick, another fellow with Hormel, knew Dick Knight very
31:02
well and they got together and decided to leased the facility
31:08
to him and he could put together a a labor crew and a team and
31:13
they would run it and sell the material back to Hormel.
31:18
So that's how that come into being.
31:22
OK, talk to me about spam. I see you've got the the hat on.
31:27
We were joking a little bit before we went live that that
31:31
word means something different to some folks, especially
31:34
younger folks who think it's junk mail.
31:36
But tell us. Tell us about the spam product.
31:39
Well, it's actually, it's a shoulder.
31:41
Shoulder ham is what the raw material that goes into it was.
31:46
Now they've taken other other trimmings in it, but they're all
31:49
lean cuts. They're all quality cuts.
31:52
You know, people think, oh, it's all the all fault or head meat
31:56
and all that stuff that they throw into it.
31:58
Oh, no, not it's it's quality cut meat.
32:00
It's a very, I mean, their reputation is on spam and they
32:08
go to to great length to to to keep the quality levels.
32:14
I mean, we have to deliver the meat at a certain temperature.
32:18
We have to deliver that certain lean requirements.
32:23
I mean, there's several quality issues that we have to meet in
32:27
order for them to accept the problem or accept the product.
32:30
If that if it's not at that quality level, they'll reject it
32:34
and they'll claim us for it. So, so they're they're very
32:38
strict on that. I would, you know, they're
32:40
strict. They have good quality
32:42
requirements for all they're probably, I believe me, I'm not
32:46
saying this for self satisfying, but it's Hormel company is
32:49
probably one of the top quality companies that in the meat
32:52
industry that there is. And you can ask many people in
32:56
the industry that and I think they'll echo the same, but spam
33:00
is their, it's, it's their top deal.
33:04
They they they know that their reputation would live and die on
33:08
spam. It's a good quality product or
33:10
good quality meats that go into it.
33:13
It's shelf stable, which I think is probably a big part of the
33:16
appeal, especially in some of the locations where it's
33:19
popular. Right.
33:20
It's, you know, in Guam is the highest per capita consumer,
33:28
Yeah of Spam. Hawaii is right behind it.
33:32
Philippines, all that whole Asian area is a big on Spam.
33:36
And in in England we have Spam museum in Austin, MN has a
33:42
letter from Dwight Eisauer thanking Hormel for helping send
33:48
Spam over to England. It to help people survive
33:51
through the through the blackouts and everything.
33:54
That's cool. You've talked about how Hormel
33:59
probably has the the highest quality standards in the
34:02
industry, which obviously being a major supplier for them, you
34:08
guys have to make sure that your quality standards match or
34:12
exceed theirs. Talk to me more about the
34:16
importance of quality there at QPP.
34:20
Yeah, it, you know, and that's, that's another thing that was,
34:23
you know, as I said when I first comment, we were making
34:26
struggling to make 12,000 process 12,000 hogs a day.
34:29
We were also struggling to maintain a reputation in the
34:33
community and with Hormel, as far as you know, if there's
34:37
something went wrong, it was QPP's fault.
34:39
And we weren't doing the quality standards.
34:42
And, and you know, well, the first thing I did was replace
34:47
the QC manager when I come aboard.
34:51
And then we made some, some changes when I, when I first
34:56
come there, it was Carmel's quality people and our quality
35:01
people. And it was like this, you know,
35:04
and it was never good enough. And they were, they were too
35:08
tough. I mean, this is and so, so in
35:12
that, that took not months, but years to, to try to, you know,
35:18
get that coordinate because you know, the, the, the Austin guy
35:25
over the, if he weren't making his yield in his plan, it was
35:28
because the quality of the, the raw material was not
35:33
satisfactory. So, so we had to fight that a
35:35
little bit. And we, So what we did is just
35:38
do good record keeping. We did good quality checks.
35:41
And if we had, we had a conflict with our customers for over
35:45
quality. We we showed them what we
35:48
demonstrated our QC checks, we demonstrated what the their
35:51
checks were. So I mean, it's hard to to
35:55
explain the whole process, but the qual Hormel have a high
36:00
quality standards forced us to do to do the same and forced us
36:05
to try to figure out how we can how we can deliver that on a
36:10
consistent. Basis can be good partners with
36:12
each other and improve that communication so that they
36:15
understand that hey, here are the things that we've been doing
36:19
and did we miss anything? No.
36:21
OK, then you know, let's revisit the process and so you can kind
36:25
of work collaboratively. Right in that way, yeah, Yeah.
36:28
So it is a battle and you know and I will segue into another
36:32
little part that I'd like to mention is when I come there and
36:36
this one like I said I put together a good management team
36:40
and. But the Austin community, if
36:43
there we had a lot of immigrants, a lot of Hispanics
36:45
and everything. And if there was something wrong
36:48
in town, well as the QP people and that was their mindset
36:51
there. And so we had to change that.
36:54
And and I and we have, I mean the we were the large our
37:00
planet. We're the largest giver to
37:02
United Way, our employees. We beat the Hormel plant and and
37:05
I can we set up daycare centers. And so we did a lot of stuff
37:12
that the community started to realize, Hey, this is a good
37:16
company. They have good people and that
37:19
that was a turn around. So but that took that took some
37:22
years too. So but.
37:24
So the daycare centers that you set up, was that specifically
37:26
for employees or was that for the community at?
37:29
Large no for for employees. OK.
37:34
And I, I know that there was another initiative that you're
37:37
really proud of where you offer free primary care on site to
37:42
your employees. Is that right?
37:43
Tell me more about that. We were the the 1st in the
37:46
industry to do that. We, it's it, you know, it made a
37:53
lot of sense and we're, it's, I'm, I'm pretty proud of that
37:56
too. But we were, we were leaders in
37:58
that. And it's worked out well and
38:00
continues to work out well. And our people get some, you
38:03
know, the benefit by it is the, the our, our employees get good
38:09
care and they come to work and, and they're appreciative of it
38:12
and so. Is that just for the employees?
38:16
Does it extend? To the family too.
38:18
Family. Too.
38:20
And when did you initiate that? Oh boy.
38:25
It's been a while, huh? Been a while.
38:27
Oh yeah, I'm gonna guess 15, 2015.
38:33
I I really, I really lost track. So yeah.
38:37
That's great. Kelly, I know that you place a
38:41
strong emphasis on both operational improvements and it
38:44
kind of goes hand in hand with, you know automation.
38:47
Can you maybe talk through a specific innovation that you
38:52
introduced and how it impacted daily operations?
39:03
Well, it really, you know, I think some of the things we, I
39:11
can tell you the, the biggest thing that we did, the biggest
39:14
influence we've had an industry from automation or from a
39:18
efficiency standpoint is I, I, we, they had a hemp program that
39:27
come out, the government did and a hemp program is where you kind
39:31
of do they. A traditional slaughter floor
39:37
has I think 245, I think 6 USDA inspectors online.
39:47
And what we did is streamlined. They, they offered us to, to be
39:53
a pilot to be streamlined or inspection process where we
39:56
trained our own people to go online with like one or two
40:00
inspectors oversight. And from that we were able to
40:05
take our line speed up from 1100 an hour to 1325 an hour.
40:09
And I was the a lot of the industry.
40:15
Stayed awake. They didn't want to take any
40:17
chance on it because, you know, hey, so something gets through
40:20
and our inspectors don't catch it and it gets to the consumer,
40:24
then they're going to blame us and that we were trying to get
40:27
by government inspection and that type of scenario.
40:30
But we, we put our own people in.
40:33
We did it. I hired 2 veterinarians, did
40:36
extensive training and they do a better job than it than the
40:40
government did it quite honestly.
40:41
But anyway, it allowed us to ramp up our speeds.
40:45
We we got the program through and that's 2000.
40:52
It started in the year of 2000 is when we 1st and we were the
40:57
first plant to do it. I made several trips to
40:59
Washington and a lot of the criteria that is in the program
41:05
right now is what we put in and it's, and right now it's under
41:12
scrutiny. The about two years ago, the
41:15
union say, hey, they can't go that high speed, just da, da,
41:18
da. And so the, the USDA stepped in
41:22
and now they're doing a big study.
41:23
We're we're leading that study. We had them in and they had a
41:27
team from California come in and look at the ergonomic side of
41:30
it. And and so that's, that's an
41:33
ongoing thing right now. So the they haven't the hemp
41:37
program has not been through the final rule stage yet for 25
41:42
years it's been going on, but that's a government program.
41:45
So but. Why is it called hemp?
41:48
I knew you'd say that, and I meant.
41:50
To it's an. Acronym for you.
41:51
It's an acronym, Yeah. Doesn't.
41:52
Have to do with the. Hazardous.
41:54
Yeah. It's, it's, it's it's you look
41:56
it up, It'll it'll tell you. But it's an acronym, yes.
42:00
OK. And then I believe it was 2009,
42:02
Kelly, that you transitioned into a different kind of role
42:05
with QPP. Well, not really.
42:08
I took on some three other partners and my Vice president
42:13
of finance, him and I, we were, we're still best of friends and
42:19
I just wanted to have him have part of the, the action and then
42:23
our plant manager and then our our QC kid that I brought along
42:28
that was the right age to be poised for to take that at some
42:32
point. So I brought him on board here
42:35
again, it was just is, you know, I wanted them to stay as long as
42:42
as I stay and I wanted to encourage him and, and he was a
42:45
team building thing. And so, you know, I, so I
42:48
brought him in his partner and it was a great move and I, it
42:55
worked. It worked out well.
42:58
And so at what point did you kind of transition from being
43:02
day-to-day president to now your role as senior advisor?
43:06
Well, I, I stepped down as president, I think in 19, I
43:10
think it was, and, but I was still chairman.
43:14
I don't know. We give ourselves titles, but I
43:18
was still the boss. But I stepped down as president
43:22
and I still, I cut back a little bit on work, but I, I was still
43:27
pretty full time and right up to this last July.
43:32
And I, I decided I had a good discussion with the, the
43:40
president then. And you know, I said, you know,
43:45
I'm going to be around if we have issues and stuff, I'll be
43:47
around to help problem solve and things like that.
43:50
I said, but you know, I just don't feel right to sit back and
43:54
be the owner and, and not have any input.
43:57
So I said, Auntie, let's and, and I should back up a little
44:01
bit. The president, he actually was
44:03
saying, you know, I'd sure like to be an or the owner someday.
44:07
He said, is it going to happen? He's he was getting a little
44:09
impatient. But anyway, I thought it was a
44:11
good time. So I, this last July, I stepped
44:13
back from that and we're still transitioning how my role in it
44:17
and how, how it's all going to work.
44:20
They we have some bargaining union truck contracts come.
44:26
I'm a pretty good bargainer. So he, I'll probably be involved
44:29
with that and I don't know, we'll see how, we'll see how it
44:31
works. OK, what do you think the future
44:37
looks like for QPP? Well, I think it's very good.
44:40
I mean, Hormel has, they used to have a slaughter plant in
44:46
Fremont that they no longer have.
44:50
They, they, Oh God, I'm not going to think of the name now,
44:54
but they're the company that that bought it.
44:56
They had a contract with Hormel to supply raw material.
44:59
That's not going very well. I don't know how it's going.
45:04
I should. But anyway, we we're getting the
45:07
bulk of that, the raw material to supply.
45:10
So we're the biggest source that Hormel has got for raw material
45:14
for pork. So I think that's going to be a
45:18
forever thing because Hormel is a very large company and they
45:21
need pork products or one of their main main roles.
45:26
So, so I think from that standpoint and I think our
45:29
management team is strong. I, you know, I hope that the
45:34
president continues to we got you got to look at succession
45:38
and all that. But in our labor force, we have
45:41
a great labor force. We have our management team very
45:44
little. The only turnover we have any it
45:46
really is retirement. So I mean, we have a strong
45:50
management team in we're very well respected in the community.
45:58
Now everything, everything is good.
46:00
I don't have any, you know, or you got to deal, deal with the
46:04
unions and the government and we have a good relationship with
46:07
both, so. It sounds like you guys are able
46:10
to process just a tremendous amount of pork there.
46:14
Has there ever been any consideration to either expand
46:18
the current facility footprint or to look at opening up another
46:22
facility an additional 1? Well, actually we have and back
46:26
in 2005, we have another plant in the Albert Lea, MN that's 20
46:31
miles away that I talked Hormel into.
46:36
They wanted to expand. And anyway, I won't go on the
46:40
long story there, but we got some government programs, we
46:43
built the plant there. And there we, we do custom
46:49
packaging, we do boning, we make special cuts and we employ about
46:55
500 people there. So, and now Nate, Nate the
47:00
Dupret, the president, not the new, but the president he was.
47:04
We just had a discussion and quite honestly, I kind of oh,
47:10
2015, I kind of turned that over to Nate and said, OK, you run
47:13
this part of the business. I wanted to see kind of look how
47:15
he, how he rolls. So I didn't pay a lot of
47:19
attention to select foods. I went over there quite often.
47:22
But anyway, Long story short is that Nate tells me now their
47:28
their capacity is there or their they want to build on or he
47:33
really wants to a new location or another location.
47:36
So he's discussing that with Hormel.
47:39
Wherever that goes, he'll take that.
47:40
I'm I'm not. That's not my bailiwick.
47:44
Fun stuff, Kelly. I'd like to hear about a serious
47:48
challenge that you've experienced in life, either
47:51
personal, professional, maybe a combination of the two, how you
47:54
got through that and some lessons that you learned going.
47:57
Through well, I, I got it, I got a great, great one. 2009 our
48:07
nursing staff, we had employees come up to the nurses office.
48:14
And that's another thing about our safety program.
48:16
Our nurses were there for the employees.
48:19
They, they didn't, I mean, they just, they took care of the
48:22
employees. So anyway, our employees were
48:24
coming up and they're complaining about their leg pain
48:26
being heavy in the legs. And so, and, and these symptoms,
48:31
they seem to be running through the plant or, you know, several
48:35
people were coming up and, and the nurse said there's something
48:39
going on here and come to me. And I said, well, I says we
48:46
called our our local clinic and a doctor, I respect Doctor
48:51
Johnson and trying to explain things to him.
48:55
And he really didn't have any good answers.
48:58
And so he suggested we call IT department of Health.
49:01
And so and everybody, oh God, we can't bring in Department of
49:06
Health. And they're good, you know, and
49:08
I say, yeah, we are. And so we did.
49:10
We brought in Department of Health and they, they come in
49:15
with a team. They went through everything.
49:18
We couldn't figure out what was going on.
49:20
And so we, I'm trying to think of the sequence of events.
49:29
But anyway, we, they, they wanted to take everybody's blood
49:37
test and test their blood and do all that.
49:40
And and then there was one particular area, the head bench
49:43
area was were seemed the most the bulk of the employees were
49:47
coming from that had had these symptoms.
49:50
And so we, and so before we brought the Department of Health
49:57
in, I, I said, we're going to have employee meetings and we're
50:00
going to leave every employee in the plant, tell them what's
50:03
going on. So we did every lunch break in
50:06
every department. I got up and thought, hey,
50:09
there's something going on. We don't know what, but the
50:11
health department's coming in and they're going to do some
50:14
research. We're going to find out what it
50:16
is and we're going to keep you people informed And and we did
50:22
that and then health department come in as they're doing blood
50:27
checks. And then the so then I got up
50:34
and I said, well, the seems like the area is a head bench is the
50:40
most problem. So we still don't know the cause
50:42
is, but we're researching it and we're going to come up with
50:45
what's going on. And but anyway, in head bench,
50:48
if you don't want to work there, you know, we'll find some place
50:50
for you. And, you know, and this was at
50:55
the peak when I had people there and I told turn to my people or
51:00
my managers. I said, you know, I said, I'll
51:03
be surprised anybody shows up for work tomorrow.
51:05
I said, why in hell would somebody come in when there's
51:07
some series disease going on? And why would they work here?
51:11
And I said, but I said, you know, I said, we got to be as
51:14
honest we can. And I said this turned out to be
51:16
some, some our fault or something.
51:18
We got to say, Hey, this is what we did.
51:21
And so, so but my proudest time the next day, there was not one
51:27
person that didn't come to work in that head, bitch, not one.
51:30
And I was pretty proud. So take the story on.
51:37
They they come up with the fact we this is gonna be hard to
51:41
hear, but we, we blew brains. It was we saved brains and in
51:47
order to save brains, you put an air hose up the cavity back of
51:50
the head of the hog and blew it and the brain matter would come
51:53
out and brains and eggs are they eat that in the cell.
51:58
So, but anyway, they, they really believe this the, the
52:04
it's called progressive inflammatory neuropathy syndrome
52:10
was the name the doctor from Rochester that this is a funny
52:15
side note. The doctor from Rochester lost
52:19
something. But and this Department of
52:22
Health we're fighting over who gets the name the disease.
52:25
And it's written up in the the New England Journal of Medicine.
52:30
So but anyway, they said, they said they think that aerosol of
52:36
brain matters what's causing it. It gets in in the nervous system
52:39
and da, da, da. And I said, OK, I said that
52:42
that's the last time we ever blue brains in quality pork and
52:46
will be never happen again. So we shut that down.
52:50
Things seem to resolve themselves.
52:52
I mean it took months, so symptoms.
52:54
Went away for. People symptoms went away.
52:56
We had one person that had impacted their kidneys and had
53:01
had some continuing side effects, but most other people
53:07
recovered. Some just, you know, here again,
53:10
we went to work comp, we did settlements, we give them a fair
53:14
settlement and they moved on. Some people stayed with us and
53:17
we, we worked through it. And so, but the fact that we had
53:23
over 1000 people having blood checks tell them we got a
53:27
mysterious disease going on and nobody quit.
53:31
And I just I, you know, I think that's what I because we're all
53:37
family and we treated them. We told them right up front,
53:40
right away. What's going on?
53:41
We didn't try to hide anything. There wasn't, you know, nothing
53:44
that could bubble up to say, Oh God, they didn't tell you this.
53:47
So we told them everything. And you know, that's, that's how
53:50
you do is hit it head on. He's.
53:52
Going to say you can't control when a crisis is going to hit,
53:55
right? There's so many variables, so
53:57
many unknowns, but once it's there, once, once you've got a
54:01
situation, how you respond to it speaks volumes to everybody
54:07
around you about your character, your employees, your managers,
54:12
your suppliers, your customers. Everybody hears about how this
54:18
played out. And I mean, there's some people
54:22
who probably would have kind of stuck their head in the sand
54:24
that, you know, don't, don't tell anybody.
54:26
Don't tell anybody until we know what this is.
54:28
We can get our arms around it. We can control the narrative.
54:31
You were like, no, no, no. We got to be honest with people.
54:35
We don't know what this is yet, but we have to tell them what we
54:38
know so that they can make their own choices as we're working
54:41
through this. And I think that's tremendous.
54:44
I was on CNN. Is that right?
54:46
Yeah. A great story of that just the
54:52
nurse that actually her and her nurses, Carol Bauer and her
54:56
nurses, you know, they're the ones that's brought it to our
54:59
attention. And so the nurse, the CNN come
55:03
to town and want an interview. And Carol was sitting right
55:06
beside me and they were asking questions.
55:08
They were asking me about hey, your employees and and this and
55:10
that and they'd ask her some medical questions.
55:12
Well, we got when we watched CNN just showed me and but the nurse
55:19
was the real hero of the story. I felt though but.
55:23
They, they can edit the way they want.
55:25
So you're not retired, Kelly, You're still around, you're
55:28
still working through the transition.
55:30
But as that transition sort of progresses and you back away
55:34
increasingly from the day-to-day, how do you want to
55:37
spend your free time? Well, travel, I love to travel,
55:42
you know, and I, I'm, I'm currently in Florida, so I spent
55:45
the winters in Florida here. I, I, I used to fly back at
55:50
least a week or two every month, but I don't anymore.
55:53
Now I stayed down here. I'll get on some zoom calls and
55:56
stuff like that, but basically I'm transitioning down here.
56:00
I play, I love to play golf, I play pickleball, but I want to
56:03
travel. I travel a paramount, but I, I
56:07
do want to do that. And, you know, I, I've, I got
56:12
some buddies that asked me about maybe, you know, working with
56:16
them a little bit in the industry.
56:17
I, I kind of, I've shield away from it because I, I will lead
56:22
you to Hormel and stuff. I don't want to, you know, get
56:24
into any company secrets or anything like that.
56:27
So I, you know, so I probably will stay away from I'm doing
56:31
that. I, I've had some opportunities
56:33
to do that, but I, I'm 72 years old, so why not just sit back
56:38
and travel and play golf and, and have a good time so.
56:41
What's the top of the bucket list?
56:43
What's the place that you're most excited to travel to?
56:46
Well, I want to go to Vietnam for one, and I want to go to
56:48
Australia and I want. So OK, here we go.
56:52
Here's the list. There's some good targets to
56:55
have. Well, Kelly, I've just got one
56:57
more question for you. But before I ask it, I want to
56:59
do 2 things. First of all, for everybody
57:01
listening today, I know that you love today's content because
57:03
Kelly has been a great guest. So please hit the like, share or
57:06
subscribe button on your favorite podcast app.
57:09
Kelly, I also want to let people know the best way to get in
57:11
touch with you. What would that be?
57:15
Oh my, my e-mail. I guess so.
57:18
It's Kaywadi Net quality pork processors.net.
57:24
There you go. So last question I have for you,
57:26
Kelly, is you know, you've got wow, such a a rich history in
57:31
this industry. You've seen a lot of things,
57:34
you've seen the progression of how this industry has evolved.
57:37
You've been at the forefront of a lot of the changes that have
57:41
taken place. What do you see maybe are some
57:44
of the big changes that are still coming in the next couple
57:48
of years? Well, I think you know, it's,
57:56
it's the, it's the big companies and you know, you have a you
58:01
have a Smithfield now that's they're owned by the Chinese.
58:04
Chinese are going to go public with them and whether they
58:07
expand or not, Tyson, Tyson has had some real issues.
58:11
And really the direction of these of the JB s s and the
58:17
Tyson's and the Smithfield of where they take the industry is
58:22
going to be interesting. I, I'm not, I'm not sure you
58:29
know that the automation, the industry is catching up with
58:33
automation. It's been behind for years, but
58:36
it's catching up now. So automation is going to allow,
58:39
I mean, it's going to change the whole complex of what the
58:45
processing, how you process a hog period.
58:48
So, and so that's as it's pretty interesting.
58:54
I just don't know if that's going to consolidate the plants,
58:57
if they're going to go specialize and especially as
59:01
plants or how it's going to go. But there's going to be a lot of
59:07
changes coming in and the big guys are going to dictate that.
59:11
The big companies, they have the resources, they're going to kind
59:15
of set the pace for what's happening with some of the new
59:18
robotic automations that, you know, you guys, you said the
59:21
industry is kind of lagged in, but now it's starting to catch
59:24
up. Right.
59:25
And then there's some, there's some real room for some
59:28
automation in like say the I think I feel the industry's been
59:33
slow to go to that. And now that it's coming to
59:37
them, I think you're going to see the they jump in there with
59:41
both feet. They.
59:42
Probably going to help a great deal with safety I would guess
59:45
too. Absolutely, absolutely.
59:47
I think, you know, and I, as I say, I think we were leaders a
59:52
long time ago when it comes to safety and doing a safety
59:55
culture and stuff, but the industry's got it.
59:58
They understand that. And I don't, I don't think we're
1:00:01
unique anymore in our safety culture and what we do and what
1:00:05
we practice. I think, you know, and you know,
1:00:09
I'll be a little jaded and say the industry understands it that
1:00:12
if you're not saved, it cost you money too.
1:00:14
So. Well, hey, if you can do the
1:00:17
right thing and have it help the bottom line at the same time,
1:00:21
then it just kind of helps move things along even faster.
1:00:24
It's a win, win. So Yep, absolutely.
1:00:26
Well, Kelly, I want to be the first one to thank you for
1:00:28
sharing both your time and your story with us today.
1:00:31
I really appreciate it. Thank you, I enjoyed talking.
1:00:35
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspire Stories
1:00:38
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:00:39
today.