Management Insights

My interest in the livestock industry started as a daughter of a rancher in Waterville, Washington. I learned to ride a horse, work with cattle, haul hay and fix fence at a young age. I joined 4-H and before I was old enough to have a steer, I raised grand champion rabbits, was a mutton buster and later showed a grand champion steer at the NCW District fair that I raised from a calf. I was the Washington State Beef Ambassador for two years and promoted beef throughout the state. This interest in agriculture continued beyond high school. In college I was on the Dean's Advisory Committee, elected to the college senate and participated in a variety of organizations including the national honor society for agriculture students. All of these experiences were preparing me for a career in agriculture. I was selected by Farm Credit Services for a summer internship and learned how to review and process loans, visit farm operations and do land appraisals. I graduated from Washington State University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics. My first job was a credit officer with NW Farm Credit. I was responsible for analyzing the financial status of potential customers by using income statements, repayment ability and character assessment.

I was hired by Beef Northwest in 2004 as administrative manager in Boardman. As the staff changed in this office, I soon learned the job responsibilities of each position and used these skills to train new employees. Together with the IT department, I helped to develop a data base to allow for processing of cattle sale proceeds from all three yards to happen at one location. This improved the time and cost efficiency. I was promoted to Boardman office manager and in addition to my responsibilities including budget preparation, payroll, employee oversight and monthly ration and commodity pricing, I also did the month end cost of sales reporting.

In 2008 I relocated to the office in Nyssa as Assistant Controller/Office Manager. I continued with some of the same responsibilities I had in Boardman and added human resource development and training, audit verification and cross training employees on processes and procedures.

As an employee of Beef Northwest I bring a variety of unique experience to my job. My responsibilities during the past 6 years have allowed me to use my education, public relation skills, work experiences, family background and new skills I have learned on the job to develop a dynamic and practical work ethic. I believe this has built a solid foundation to help me create a productive work experience that promotes the mission of Beef Northwest.

There are a few things that many people might not know about me, but they have definitely added to my uniqueness and personality. In high school I trained to become a volunteer fireman and achieved a Firefighter 2 accreditation with 90 hours of training and wild land fire fighting certification. During college I was a Student Ambassador and traveled throughout the state recruiting students to attend WSU. I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including golf, fishing, hunting and gardening.

The best part of my job is working with people. I enjoy teaching new employees the skills they need to learn the job, mentoring employees to understand new job responsibilities and participating in professional development opportunities for myself.

In this type of business, employees need to know the importance of each job they do and recognize the value of team work to get the jobs accomplished in a timely manner. As a manager, I appreciate the work ethic of each employee as they contribute to the core values of Beef Northwest. When we work as a team, talk with each other and support each other, the end result is ultimately a satisfied customer. That's when we know we are working toward the same personal and business goals and did our job the best way!