SOURCE | Summer 2022 25
John Deere Spreader at Laurel
With volume planned out for the season , he gets to ordering through Agvance . He further attributes the success of Laurel to his team .
“ Stephanie Bohn is in the office everyday helping to coordinate all our moving pieces . Mike Pochop and Crop Specialists Johnny Knight and Preston Greenwalt help support all of our operations . Chris Toler runs the liquid plant and moves all the seed that goes out .”
Eric is quick to note how much he relies on driver Kevin Milligan , with his 35 years ’ experience , and mechanic and applicator Kevin “ Heavy ” Litwhiler , a 25-year veteran of GROWMARK FS . “ When something comes in broken , they can fix just about anything . It saves us a huge amount of money on repair costs .”
“ My ‘ get it out the door ’ team is great . Applicator Marcus Hastings , our drivers Omer Mansfield , Kevin Milligan , Charles Gibson , Sam Porches , Chris Toler , and
Ron Fisher ; and Bruce Beyer in the warehouse , all are tremendous – all I have to do is pick up the phone and they are ready , getting things done .”
With a competitive job market all around , the leadership team at Laurel has focused on retention and valuing their employees .
“ Our crew has such a strong work ethic , It would be a big challenge to replace the years of experience and customer relationships under their belts ,” Eric says .
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