The company, with headquarters in Sheffield, said it’s hiring about two-dozen people at its Clear Lake plant on city’s south side. The operation will boost production of the company’s grain drying systems to meet increasing demand, according to Nadine Wreghitt, Sukup project manager, in a statement.

James Perez, Sukup’s plant manager, said the company hired several employees who had been laid off late last year at Larson Manufacturing, which closed its Lake Mills facility just north of Clear Lake. Larson, based in South Dakota, makes storm doors and screens.

Sukup expanded its footprint nearly two years ago in Hampton with he purchase of a competitor, Global Fabrication, which made catwalks, towers and other structural products that go on grain bins and storage facilities.

Sukup, which also has an operation in Manly, continued Global’s production and retained its employees.

The company has said the added operations help expand the areas from which it can draw workers. In addition to grain bins and drying systems, Sukup makes grain handling equipment and steel buildings.

With the new plant, family-owned Sukup will employ about 550 people, the company said. This year marks the company’s 60th anniversary.

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“John has stellar experience in agriculture and manufacturing, and will be a valuable addition to our team,” said President and CEO Steve Sukup. “As Sukup continues growing and technology is increasingly critical to farm and agriculture products, we are confident in John’s ability to work with our manufacturing operations, shipping, facility optimization, and product development teams.”

Teeple’s professional experience includes DTN, Amazon Web Services, and more than 23 years at John Deere in leadership positions in manufacturing, R&D, strategy and technology.

Member since 1991 |

You have temporarily closed your plants to disinfect your operations. You have reduced your staff levels to create more space on your plant floors. You have formed response teams, shuttered conference rooms, established work-from-home operations, accelerated sanitation protocols, suspended (or reduced) travel, redesigned work spaces, installed clear barriers on plant floors, eliminated high-touch points, installed temperature-taking stations, staggered break schedules, required masks in certain spaces, closed your campus to visitors, and launched campaigns to reinforce safety messages.

Those measures, while effective, do not land at the top of the list of your successes. In a poll of about a dozen member companies conducted last week, we learned the things that matter most in your workplaces were communicating effectively, accommodating employees, and simply being nimble.

At Dirt Dog Manufacturing, the company transitioned to four, 10-hour shifts a week to reduce exposure and give employees an extra day to react to the emerging reality of schooling from home.

Marc Ivey, vice president of business development for Dirt Dog, said the company also intensified its outreach to dealers.

“Even though we took our salesmen off the road early in the process based on shelter-in-place orders, we were intentional in making extra phone calls to our dealers simply to check on them, their staffs and their families,” he said. “We were available to answer questions, of course, but we made it clear that the intent of the call was a simple check-in.”

Other companies cited communication as key to their success as well.

Steve Sukup, president and CEO of Sukup Manufacturing, has been publishing a weekly video message to dealers.

Brad Baker, product manager with Salford Group, said the company organized daily meetings in the earliest days of the pandemic. Senior managers met first then shared information with their respective groups. The meetings kept everyone informed on a fast-changing situation and offered reassurance to employees that the company was committed to their safety.

At SMA Inc., the company implemented policies like those throughout the industry and ultimately adapted them based on geography.

Luke Gazaway, national sales manager, said what was a company-wide ban on travel was modified based upon region. Territory managers can now travel at their discretion but communicate with customers in advance about the circumstances at their operations and their comfort level with visitors.

The products include a grain bin sweeping machine, an air system control, a cloud-based platform for controlling the company’s grain handling and storage equipment, a center sump for collecting grain, and a grain bin door safety latch.

Each of the products is featured in the January/February special issue of ASABE’s magazine Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World.

“We’re thrilled and frankly a bit flattered to receive five of these prestigious awards,” said Charles Sukup, chairman of the board of directors.

He said the awards show the company’s innovation as well as its dedication to finding ways to make grain handling and storage safer, more profitable and efficient for farmers and the agriculture industry.

Companies from around the world nominate products for AE50 Awards. An international panel of engineering experts selects up to 50 products that best reflect engineering advancements for the agricultural and food industries.

In other news, Steve Sukup officially assumed the role of president and CEO on Feb. 1. He succeeds his brother Charles Sukup.

“As a family-owned company, my priority as president will be to continually outperform our big corporate competitors by staying close to our customers,” Steve Sukup said.

Steve Sukup will be on stage at the Supply Summit with daughter Emily Schmitt, general counsel for Sukup, and Heather Bruce, who recently assumed ownership of Osmundson Manufacturing, which has been in her family for five generations. They will discuss family succession planning.

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His brother, Steve Sukup, 63, the company’s chief financial officer, will take the helm of the family-owned business. Charles Sukup, 65, will remain chairman of the company’s board.

The Sukup brothers’ parents, Eugene and Mary Sukup, started the business in a welding shop in 1963.

“Growing up, I always knew that I would work in the family business and was proud to be the first degreed engineer for the company,” said Charles Sukup, who received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University. “Evidently, Dad thought it would be cheaper to raise an engineer rather than hire one.”

The company said Charles Sukup is the same age his father was when he stepped down as president in 1995. Eugene Sukup died last year. Mary Sukup continues to come to the office each week, the company said.

Five members of the third generation of the Sukup family now work at the company—three in management and two in production, the company said.

Source: Des Moines Register
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