Archive for the ‘Employee Spotlight’ Category

Exmark Employee Profile: Manalle Armstrong

Sunday, April 24th, 2016
Manalle Armstrong

Exmark Inside Sales Representative, Manalle Armstrong

When did you start working at Exmark?

January 2007

Where are you from?

Beatrice, Nebraska

Tell us about what you do at Exmark.

My primary responsibility is shipping Exmark products to our distributors and dealers. For this to happen, there are many details that need to be managed. Plus, shipments are dependent on many factors that may or may not be within our ability to control.

What’s been a good, challenging experience for you at Exmark?

Evolving with the times is always a challenge! A number of our programs and processes are highly specialized and customized, so there’s no textbook or training class to help us advance our processes. Instead, we take initiative on changes we feel are important, brainstorm to determine the best solutions, and then implement them. We’re constantly evolving.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Exmark?

My favorite thing about working at Exmark is most definitely the people, including my co-workers, and Exmark distributors, dealers and end-user customers that contact us directly for assistance. It’s very rewarding working with such a diverse and talented group.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and two sons, fishing, visiting with family, watching my sister-in-law play on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhusker softball team, gardening, working out, hanging out with friends, and watching ‘Husker football games.

If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

Exmark General Manager, Judy Altmaier. She is a great mentor. She leads by example and is a woman I admire and respect that’s in an influential position. I aspire to be in a similar position to her someday.

What’s something surprising about you that not many people know?

I have a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Economic Development! Another surprising fact that not many people may know is that my husband and I formed our first corporation together when we were teenagers. Today, we are the proud owner operators of five corporations (including a successful full-service landscape maintenance and snow removal company), which collectively employ up to 50 people in peak seasons.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

The Exmark culture is something I’ve longed to be part of since my early youth! My father has been with Exmark for 30 years and the company is one I grew up hearing about and intrinsically loving from an early age.

The most important thing I want our customers to remember is that it takes a village to deliver Exmark products to our end users. Every single person and step in the process is important and it takes the entire Exmark family to, in essence, create the potential quality of life for the distributors, dealers and end-user customers we serve!

Exmark products are preferred two-to-one by landscape professionals because our machines are durable and their cut is phenomenal. We’re successful because we listen to our customers, and the quality of our customer service is unmatched!

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Exmark Employee Profile: Don Uher

Tuesday, December 29th, 2015

Photo Dec 16, 1 20 40 PMDon Uher is a Value Stream Manager in the Exmark manufacturing operation. He’s been an important part of the Exmark team for more than 18 years. Today, we’ll learn a little more about Don and his background.

Where are you from?

I grew up on a farm near Daykin, Nebraska (approx. 30 miles west of Beatrice), and today live on that same property, which is now an acreage.

Tell us about what you do at Exmark?

I’m responsible for the safety, quality, delivery, efficiency and morale of the north value stream at Exmark. I do just about anything that needs to be done in order to keep the assembly lines operating efficiently. I have an outstanding group of supervisors and support personnel who really do the hard work to get it all done. I have to name them all, as they really are the ones who, on an hour-by-hour basis, keep it all running smoothly. They include:

  • Manufacturing engineers: Justin Schuck and Brandon King
  • Supervisors: Dave Ullman; Vicki Pearce; Scott Wolbert; Rafael Oman; Chris Riley; Rick Miller; and Ronda Mewes in the Tool Crib.

They are a great group and do their best to build the highest quality product every day.

What’s your favorite part of working at Exmark?

I’ve been fortunate to have formed great friendships with a lot of people over the years. That’s the best thing I’ll take away from my time at Exmark.

What do you like to do in your free time?

My wife and I usually have too large of a garden, but I also hunt and fish, and we cherish every moment we get together with our grandchildren.

If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

People are just people. Some have had more success in life, some less, so meeting anyone in particular doesn’t hold a great deal of interest for me. The “person” I would most like to commune with though would be my Lord, Jesus Christ.

What’s the most surprising thing people might not know about you?

The most surprising thing about me people don’t know won’t be revealed today, but something interesting I’m willing to share is that I make a really good batch of peanut brittle. It’s fantastic!

 

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Exmark Employee Profile: Lenny Mangnall

Thursday, August 6th, 2015

Lenny Mangnall of Exmark

Where are you from?

I’ve lived 50 miles from Beatrice, Nebraska my whole life. I currently live about ten miles away, with my wonderful wife and my three boys, ages nine to sixteen.

Tell us about what you do at Exmark.

I work in customer service, which has two groups: customer care and technical service. I’m in technical service, where we focus on the technical aspect of the product, and assisting our distributors. Typically we’re on the road about 50 percent of the time January through March. We go to different regions and do hands-on sessions on-location at dealers, making sure they are up to speed on our latest products.

For the rest of the year, we’re tied to the phone the majority of the time. For instance, last year Exmark customer service took 6,500 phone calls. If there’s a major issue we can’t resolve over the phone, we hop on a plane and go out to help resolve the problem firsthand.

The main parts of our job are preparing our service people with hands-on service and knowledge, and answering the customers’ needs. We combine those two and become both the voice of the service guy and the eyes of the customer.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Exmark?

This industry is amazing, full of such great people. I’ve built amazing relationships with end users, dealers, and distributor partners. It’s something that I look forward to each day.

At Exmark, we focus on doing the right thing and developing partnerships with our distributors, dealers, and our end users. By working together and helping our partners, whether distributors, dealers or end users, we’re making our own jobs a little easier in the long run. We’re all interrelated.

What do you like to do in your free time?

With three boys at home, I don’t have much free time! But my main passion for the last 7-8 years has been coaching baseball for my boys. It’s so much fun. The organization does it right. Even though we want to win, the more important priority is building character. And the people are great. There’s nothing better than getting a group of parents and kids together and watching them grow together as a secondary family.

If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

I’d like to talk to somebody who lived through the Great Depression or The Dust Bowl. We take so many things for granted and must remember to be careful with what we continue to take from Mother Nature. Any person that lived through such trying times and fought through that: it’s just remarkable to me. Those people just didn’t have the same benefits we do today. You see pictures of what they went through with the Dust Bowl and it’s remarkable they could persevere. We take a lot of things for granted today.

What’s something surprising about you not many people know about?

I graduated in a class of just 8 people. When I was in 6th grade, the entire school from kindergarten to 12th grade had about 110 people in it so I knew everybody by name. Most people are surprised to hear that.

Lenny Mangnall has been a member of the Exmark family for 17 years.

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Exmark Employee Profile: David Rayburn

Monday, July 13th, 2015

 

David Rayburn, Exmark

Exmark Logistics Manager, David Rayburn, stands with Logistics Coordinator, Patty Kaufman (middle) and IS Supervisor, Liz Daubendiek.

Where are you from?

I was born in Wisconsin and my family moved here when I was small. I went into the service for two years and then moved back to Nebraska after I got married. We’ve now lived here for the last 34 years.

Tell us about what you do at Exmark.

I manage the product planning process— also known as forecast– for Exmark products. My team consists of myself and our logistics coordinator. We receive direction from marketing for the product need and bring everything down to the specific quarter to meet the financial plan. The production facility then takes the plan and breaks it down. That’s how the production flows.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Exmark?

There’s a passion and a knowledge that people have here and it makes work very enjoyable. When we talk as a team or go through different groups, everyone is knowledgeable about their areas; they have expertise. It’s fun to work with people like that. You don’t have to repeat yourself a lot because everybody knows what they’re doing. Everyone is passionate and easy to get along with.

What do you like to do in your free time?

My family and I like to go camping, fishing, and boating. We take trips to Minnesota and North Dakota to fish and camp as much as we can during the year. But with the weather lately, it’s been tough. At least the rain is good for business in the long run.

What initially drew you to Exmark?

Both my son and daughter work here at Exmark. My son started here first and then my daughter came here after college. After that, Exmark hired me. It’s funny because normally the kids follow the parents into a company but it was the reverse for me. I started off working on the floor in the plant and was able to transition into different areas. After 13 years, I’m now in this position. I’ve been very fortunate. They’ve been very good to me.

If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

Probably John F. Kennedy. When I was in grade school, he was running for president and he was one of the first ones where I was old enough to understand a little bit about what was going on. During his election, Bobby Kennedy came through my town. I was in fifth grade, and I skipped school so I could listen to his speech. That’s somebody I would like to understand.

What’s something surprising about you not many people know about?

For the last 27 years, I’ve been doing a yearly reenactment for the Pony Express Association. Every year in June, we’ll ride a horse and carry the mail from Sacramento California to St. Joseph, Missouri, like they did on the original Pony Express back in the 1800’s. We do it in nine days and it’s pretty cool. We try to stay as close to the original trail as we can.

David Rayburn has been a member of the Exmark team for 13 years.

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Exmark Employee Profile: Trevor Porter

Thursday, June 18th, 2015
Exmark Engineering Manager, Trevor Porter - Photo

Exmark Engineering Manager, Trevor Porter

Where are you from?

I’m from all over, really. I grew up in Florida and then went to school in Florida, Utah, and Arizona. I lived in Illinois before Nebraska, which is where I’m at right now.

Tell us about what you do at Exmark.

I’m the engineering manager here. My group handles all the engineering issues surrounding things in production. We do things such as design improvement, fixes, emergency handling, replacement parts, and substitute parts. We always try to get feedback from customers and figure out if there are any issues that we need to address.

What’s been a good, challenging experience for you at Exmark?

The biggest challenge is our growth. Each year, we come out with a new model and my group takes care of that. There’s a new design group that works on one model every 1-2 years. Each one that comes out needs support, kind of like what customer service does.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Exmark?

My favorite thing about working here is the people. The people here are the secret sauce to Exmark. I also love engineering, which makes it fun to come to work every day. It’s really a great place to work.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I spend a lot of time working on my house, which my two teenage boys help out with. We’re actually building a sundeck this year. Other things include hanging out with my friends and family and learning how to play the guitar and bass.

If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

I’d like to talk with Isaac Newton because he came up with calculus, which is an amazing thing when you really get into it. How can someone figure something out like that and develop it out of thin air? I’d like to find out.

What’s something surprising about you not many people know about?

I’d have to say how much I’ve moved around the country. I’m also a big fan of 80’s metal, like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

Trevor Porter will celebrate his tenth year at Exmark this August.

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Employee spotlight – Judd Stewart

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Judd Stewart has had quite an interesting career path. His first job was working on the family farm. From there he went on to become part of a bridge construction crew. After college, he taught an engineering class at his alma mater. But Judd admits that his favorite job title is the one he has now —Exmark test engineer. Judd finds a lot of satisfaction in being a part of a team that cares about its products and customers. It also doesn’t hurt that he has fun on a daily basis. Where else are you handed a mower and asked to put it through the ringer? In a safe environment, of course.

Tennis balls have the same geometric weight as dry grass. The average Joe wouldn’t know or have any use for this seemingly dull information. But Judd’s no Joe. In his world, this little fact comes in handy when he’s testing a mower’s stability. Instead of filling the Lazer Z’s baggers with cut dry grass, Judd fills them with tennis balls. Not only does the mower handle in the same way with both materials, but the round green balls are easier to handle and not as messy. Who knew?

Even though playing with tennis balls is a pretty sweet perk, Judd still says his favorite part of the testing process happens when the field-ready prototypes get into the hands of the people for whom they were designed—the landscape pros. He genuinely looks forward to receiving feedback from these guys and he’s happy that it’s usually very positive. When it comes to work, he can’t think of anything else that beats getting a pat on the back from the customers.

Have a question for Judd or our engineering department? Let us know with a comment below.

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Employee spotlight – Christie Moore

Monday, May 23rd, 2011
The next time you call Exmark’s Customer Service Call Center with a question about your mower, don’t be surprised if you hear a softer voice on the other end of the line. Meet Christie Moore, Technical Representative.
Christie’s had many milestones at Exmark: She was the first full-time female employee on the production line, she built an entire mower by herself, and she was on the original production team of the first Lazer Z. She’s also worked in the Sales Department, which she says, “…gave me the insight on how our machines are channeled out in the field to the end customer.” All of these experiences give Christie the expertise she needs to be an outstanding representative for customers who ask a variety of questions.
But Christie hasn’t let all of her accomplishments go to her head; in fact Christie would be the last person to brag about herself. That’s why we have to do it for her.
If you’d like to talk to Christie or another one of our outstanding service representatives, call (402) 223-6300 or contact us online.

The next time you call Exmark’s Customer Service Call Center with a question about your mower, don’t be surprised if you hear a softer voice on the other end of the line. Meet Christie Moore, Technical Representative.

Christie’s had many milestones at Exmark: She was the first full-time female employee on the production line, she built an entire mower by herself, and she was on the original production team of the first Lazer Z. She’s also worked in the Sales Department, which she says, “…gave me the insight on how our machines are channeled out in the field to the end customer.” All of these experiences give Christie the expertise she needs to be an outstanding representative for customers who ask a variety of questions.

But Christie hasn’t let all of her accomplishments go to her head; in fact Christie would be the last person to brag about herself. That’s why we have to do it for her.

If you’d like to talk to Christie or another one of our outstanding service representatives, call (402) 223-6300 or contact us online.

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Employee spotlight – David Martin

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

This month, we’re featuring customer service manager and all-around nice guy, David Martin. David is one of the reasons why Exmark is known for unbeatable customer service.

David Martin: Customer Service Manager

Before Exmark, David had very little experience with lawnmowers. When he first started, like everyone else at Exmark, he dedicated himself to learning everything there is to know about the machines. Inside and out. So he spent his first few months working two jobs: fulfilling his regular customer service duties during the day and joining second shift on the factory floor after hours.  There he learned about the different parts and pieces of the mowers and how they fit together to make superior products.

When he’s not diving into his work, David is diving into the ocean.  He’s been on dives in the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, Cozumel and Honduras, just to name a few. His scariest and most thrilling moment happened in Belize. An 8-foot shark swimming a foot away from him. He could see every line on its body. Every gill. The shark swam away as quickly as it appeared. It left David both frightened and awed by its powerful presence.

Have a comment or question for David? Leave it below.

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Employee Spotlight: Scott Wolbert

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

Scott isn’t the kind of guy who would ask anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself. A line supervisor at Exmark since 1998, Scott gets to work before his staff and stays well past their clock-out time. He says he feels like a firefighter as he goes into the assembly line to get everything prepped and organized, making sure parts are ready and available for the day’s work.

As Scott puts it, “I like to jump right in and help those on the line throughout the day. I want to make them feel more comfortable through leading by example.” That’s why on most days, you can find him helping on the line. He honed his supportive management style at a couple of his previous jobs, where he was a head manager of Godfather’s Pizza and a nightclub owner.

Receiving his first Circle of Excellence award in 2005 is his proudest moment at Exmark. Outside of work, Scott rocks out. Literally. He’s been the lead vocalist and drummer in a local band since 1976. If you live in Beatrice, Neb., or the surrounding areas, you’ve probably heard of them and caught one of their shows. They’ve built up quite the following. As his daughter, who shares the mowing responsibility with her father, once said, “Dad, you are not Bon Jovi or Def Leppard, but you are famous in this area.”

But Scott isn’t just about building a fan base. His helping spirit guides him in giving back to the community by organizing yearly concerts and fundraisers, two of which are ‘Rock For Hunger’ and ‘Rock Against Rape.’ Recently, he raised more than $4,000 at one of the events.

Around here, we’re Scott’s biggest, and possibly loudest, fans.

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Employee Spotlight: Lenny Magnall

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

To put it lightly, our employees rock –every single one of them. They’re the reason Exmark mowers are tough, reliable and deliver the best cut in the industry. To show our appreciation to all of the hard-working men and women who make this place tick, we’re going to feature one employee a month. Consider this to be the first of many “Thank Yous.”

Lenny Magnall – Customer Service Technician

13 years and counting.

In a nutshell, Lenny is a problem solver. Whether it’s over the phone or during face-to-face visits, he can answer questions that deal with everything from electrical issues to warranty inquiries to that clickity-click-veeee sound a mower is making while idling.

But answering questions is only part of what he does. Lenny’s also a presenter, video editor and website developer. During the off-season, he’s a road warrior, traveling around the country to speak with dealers, distributors and technicians in person. There isn’t much this guy can’t do.

On a scale of one to 10, Lenny gives his job in the customer service department a 15. His tenure in Research and Development also ranks pretty high. But he’ll never forget starting out as a welder. Putting mowers together was quite an experience. And wielding a blowtorch wasn’t bad either.

When he’s not working, Lenny’s busy fishing and coaching his three boys’ sports teams. As for mowing the lawn, you’ll rarely see him with his Exmark walk-behind. That’s because his wife has taken the reins. He would say something, but then he wouldn’t have as much time for everything else on his plate.

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