As reported in the Edgerton Enterprise, Apr 9, 2008

Record breaking month at Monogram Meat Snacks
A very different workplace than you might remember

By Jill Fennema

It had been about 10 years since I had last walked the halls of the meat packing facility in Chandler. Back then it was still called Huisken Meat Center, owned by the Huiskens of Chandler.

Back then, it was a small, family owned business. Now, after changing hands a few times, it's a multimillion dollar company, owned by a parent company out of Memphis, Tenn.

The current owners and management team have been working hard to rebuild a plant that was non profitable, was losing jobs, and did not have a good relationship with the community.

When Monogram Food Solutions purchased the meat plant in May of 2006, they invested $2.5 million in the company to purchase new machinery and set up training programs to educate the employees.

With that investment they were able to operate more efficiently, do things they had not been able to do before, and added 40 new jobs.

They were also able to raise the pay scale for the production employees by 15%, according to Karl Schledwitz, the Executive Chairman of Monogram Food Solutions.

He and Ches Jackson, the President and CO of Monogram Meat Snacks, were in Chandler last week to celebrate another major accomplishment: their biggest production month ever.

These two men, along with Jeff Johnson, who is the vice president of operations that oversees the Chandler plant, credit the employees with the success the company is now enjoying.

March was a record breaking month for the company, with 1.4 million pounds of meat being processed. Compare that to 4.5 million pounds for the entire year in 2006. With the rate of packaging what it is, they expect to package over 14 million pounds in 2008.

To celebrate this accomplishment, many of the company's employees - not just management, but production and maintenance personnel too - were treated to a southern-style BBQ dinner at Jervel's Cafe in Chandler.

According to Schledwitz, they also plan on investing another $4.5 million into the company this year.

What is the major contributing factor to all this production? New brands and products. The company now packages NASCAR, Bass Pro Shop, Jim Beam and Jeff Foxworthy brands of jerky. They also do a lot of packaging for other brands within the Monogram family of companies. One of those items is Circle B brand polish sausage that is immensely popular in the Memphis area. They will also be producing hot dogs for the company's corn dog factory in Indiana.

Along with successful brands and a successful sales team, the management credits the help of the local and state entities that helped them gain extra funds for equipment and training. Some of those individuals include Brad Simenson from the state, Linda McCorquodale from the Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council, Bob Madson with Ag-Star lending, Amy Hoogland from the Murray County EDA, and Gary Stoner, the mayor of Chandler.

"We've had great reception from the community," Schledwitz said, "we could not have had this expansion without them.

Changing profitability and changing the company's image have been two of the management's goals. As they create more jobs, they hope that people will take notice of their new image.

They also pointed out that they offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package, which according to surveys show them to be one of the best in the state. Their benefits include health, dental and vision insurance, which are not offered by every employer.

"We're looking for good local employees," Jackson said. People like Joel De Boer, Mark Van Dam, Reg Fey, and the Kuchenmeister brothers, are just a few of the names he mentioned. There are many others from our community who have worked there for years and years. People like Warren Dragstra, who has worked there since he was a teenager.

This summer the company also hopes to hire high school and college students to help during their busiest time of the year.