PrintWhen we made our 4th expansion in the community of Ankeny, Iowa we made sure to add event and training space for employee training, meeting space, but importantly, community outreach events. This month was confirmation that this space has been well used.
On top of our regular customer visits, training, and employee events, we also welcomed two great community events. Operation Middle Ground and the Ankeny Community School District.
Operation Middle Ground
Co-founded by Jane Hargens, wife of our CEO, Operation Middle Ground is a newly formed non-profit focused on helping veterans and families suffering from PTSD. This month the organization had it’s meeting in our conference space to focus on helping veterans find great careers in manufacturing. Numerous media types interviewed Roger and Jane about these efforts and the event itself was fantastic.
Both Jane Hargens, our CEO Roger Hargens and Jason Rottinghaus, who serves as a board member for Operation Middle Ground and is a veteran himself spoke to the group. Rottinghaus is a veteran of both Kosovo (1999-2000) and Iraq (2003-2004 & 2004-2005). We were also joined by a local stock car driver who is sponsoring Operation Middle Ground.
The Operation Middle Ground event was also the launch of a new sculpture built in our own warehouse. 4500 dog tags were individually hung to honor veterans who we have lost.
Ankeny Community Schools
The Ankeny Community School District (ACSD) is always looking for new ways to apply what they do to their community. They sent a group of teachers to understand what we look for in the future workforce and our VP of Human Capital, Grace Swanson led the entire group through several engaging sessions designed to help them think like Accumold employees.
The Ankeny educators also went on a tour of the public areas of our facility. They asked questions and reacted the same way most guests do. “How do you make these microscopic components?!”
We depend heavily on local educational institutions including the ACSD for helping us develop the best talent in our community.
Do You Want To Work Here?
Interested in a job in manufacturing? We are constantly looking for customer focused, smart people. Let us know!
Top Photo Credit: Jeff Patterson