An Introduction to Nova-Tech China
by Kara Hallberg and Aaron Madsen
In 2012 Nova-Tech set out to gain access to the world’s largest Poultry Market, China. The challenge was different than all other countries they had entered as it required the establishment of a foreign owned subsidiary in China in order to navigate the government regulation, invoice the customers in local currency, and prove to the market that they were serious. They endeavored by finding a trusted and ambitious young Chinese national, Mr. Bin Jiang and sending one of their long time employees, Aaron Madsen to live there and set up a local organization from the ground up. Aaron moved to China, hired Bin, and the rest is history. Nearly one year later Nova-Tech China (NTC) received their first contract from a Chinese customer. (Aaron and Bin Pictured with first contract).
The first NTC office was a bit cramped as the company continued to grow. The first two years they operated out of one small office rented from another company in Shanghai, China. Now operating officially for two and a half years, NTC was able to move into a place of their own in Suzhou China.
They hired their first intern in July, Ms. Kara Hallberg, who got to witness this transitional time in the company’s history and has volunteered to share a bit more about NTC and its staff half way around the world.
She became interested in China during her time at Willmar Senior High, where she studied the Mandarin Chinese language and culture for three years. She continued her Chinese studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where she earned her BA in both Economics and Asian Studies, concentrating on China Studies, in May 2015.
Kara’s role as NTC’s Administrative Assistant Intern includes organizing and documenting the China warehouse’s inventory. She also helps the administrative assistant, Lu Jia, package and ship orders to customers. Her three month internship has immersed her in various Chinese business practices, which are very different from what she had expected. Her experience in China has helped her understand the struggles that come with running a Chinese business. She hopes to use this knowledge to continue working for American companies involved in Chinese markets – particularly in the agriculture industry.
“Our new NTC office is in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. It is 60 miles northeast of Shanghai, and 700 miles south of Beijing. Suzhou is China’s version of Venice, with many canals crisscrossing throughout the city. It is beautiful in many ways. Here is a little bit about the people of NTC.” -Kara
Bin Jiang – General Manager (above photo)
Bin first came to the U.S. with a group of high school class mates from China. He toured the U.S. for a week and fell in love with every part of it. He it enjoyed it so much he decided to study abroad here and became an exchange student in Lester Prairie, Minnesota, USA. After graduation he continued his U.S. education by attending Ridgewater College (why he knew of Nova-Tech) and then on to finish his BS and MBA at Bethel University. Throughout and after his completion of his MBA, Bin worked for several Metro companies handling and managing the logistics of import and export from China to the U.S. The last company he worked for in this role needed him to make the move back to China which is around the same time that Nova-Tech had decided to commit to the China market and make the investment. He met several times with Aaron and other staff of NTE and the partnership was established. He is very faithful to the U.S. and continues to have a passion of bridging the business communities of China and the U.S.
Zhao Shuang – Account Manager (above photo)
Zhao comes from a background in the fisheries business (many similarities to poultry husbandry practices). He received his bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from the Agricultural University of Hebei and his Masters in Aquiculture from Shanghai Ocean University. Zhoa is very strong on the technical expertise of both our equipment and the hatchery/farm. He was our first hire (outside of Aaron and Bin).
Qiu “Robin” ShiJie – Account Manager (above photo)
Robin came from the Poultry industry and actually worked for our very first Chinese customer before coming to NTC. He still maintains a great relationship with that customer and has built many others within our market. Robin keeps things light around the office and is strong in communication and influence skills.
Yang ChuangDing – Account Manager (above photo)
Yang is our newest Account Manager and received a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine and Master’s degree in Animal Science at Hebei University of Engineering in Veterinary Medicine and a Master’s degree in Molecular biology from Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute. He is just starting his career with Nova-Tech but has been able to put his education to work and contribute to the growing team.
Tracy Jiang – NTC’s Accountant (above photo)
Her main responsibility is managing NTC’s finances and ensuring full compliance with statutory regulations. She also provides helpful backup for China’s account managers. She hails from Jiangsu Province and graduated from Nanjing Audit University. Before starting at NTC, Tracy worked as an accountant for a different foreign company. Her husband works for a securities company. Together, they have a 5 year-old son. Although NTC is not a large company, she believes business will continue to grow. She also believes that she will grow with NTC.
Lu Jia is our new Administrative Assistant (above photo)
Her grandpa, grandma, father, and mother all live in a place where she calls home, about an hour away from Suzhou by train. She currently shares a Suzhou apartment with one roommate. In her spare time, she enjoys watching American TV shows, listening to music, reading books, and playing badminton with friends.
In 2012, Lu Jia earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Trade from Nanjing University of Science and Technology (Taizhou Branch Institute). In the fall of that year, she began working for a company as an administrative staff member and a cashier. During this time, she realized the importance of communication. She believes that her time working for that company proves she is very responsible and optimistic, and works well under pressure.
Lu Jia began working for NTC in late August (2015). She is confident that she is qualified for this position and feels very fortunate to have the opportunity to work for Nova-Tech China. She thinks she can learn a lot from her coworkers, whom she finds are both easygoing and hardworking people. She is working hard at improving her English and learning new professional skills.
Left Image (the NTC team welcoming a very important partner, Dr. Yang) Right Image (NTC celebrating the arrival of a new employee, Lu Jia, and the visit of an NTE Employee, Taylor Cooper)
Left Image (The Ladies of NTC) Right Image (Aaron and Bin on the day they shipped out the 100th PSP)
“With the help of all of our people, we have been able been able to surpass even our own forecasts and build a strong customer base, world-class support and service program, and bring Nova-Tech’s technology to China. We now have 60 customers spread all over China, over 100 PSP’s, and will treat more than 220 Million birds in 2015. This is great, but what really drives our team is the fact that the addition of our technology in this region is truly helping to feed the world.” – Aaron
Employee Announcements
Congratulations
to Marilyn Edman of FSE for 25 years of service, Joe Cameron of WPF for 25 years of service, Mark Thompson of Willmar Logistics for 20 Years of service, Tom Dykema for 5 years with Willmar Logistics, Daryl Link for 10 Years with Willmar Logistics, and John Beckman of Willmar Logistics for a whopping 35 years of service! Pictured below is Marilyn, Mark, Daryl and Joe.
HR/Employee Services
The Human Resources/Employee Services Team specializes in benefits and payroll, compliance and policy, employee relations, ag-recruiting, legal compliance, and company & employee overall well-being. We are located on the first floor of Life-Science Innovations on the MinnWest campus at 1800 Technology Drive. We look forward to working with you!
Please message us via email at employee.services@life-scienceinnovations.com or give us a call at
320.222.9515 or 888.320.9750 extension 2515
Recruiting Corner
Hello from Michelle Falling, MN Affiliates Recruiting Specialist
The best way to apply or inquire about opportunities is through the Employment Page on our website. It’s updated at least once a week!
You are welcome to contact me with any questions you have regarding the new opportunities posted or if you want to talk through your career goals here at michelle.falling@life-scienceinnovations.com | or just give me a call at O: (320) 222-9790 M: (320) 441-8596. Thanks for trusting me to help you through the process!
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Current status of all organizational openings.
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