After a few months of careful consideration, planning and discussion the Epitopix General Manager position is now officially open and we are actively looking for candidates for this critical role. Internal candidates are encouraged to review the full Job Description posted on our Employment Page and/or inquire directly with Jonathan Huisinga. External candidates are also being sought for this responsibility, and referrals are more than welcome. Ideally, we are looking for a great leader with an entrepreneurial spirit to focus on managing the team and growing the business. Jim Sandstrom plans to stay with Epitopix, but in a customer-focused sales and veterinary position.

Employee Announcements

Joanna Schrupp has recently been a acknowledged for five years with the MinnWest Technology Campus Management Company. Congratulations Joanna! She is pictured below with MinnWest GM Steve Salzer.

Running

We have many active folks in our family of companies, especially in Nova-Tech Engineering. On May 9th Mike Sondrol (NTE Machinist, 35 years of age) and Beth van Gulijk (NTE Data Transfer Specialist, 49 years young) did the Lake Woebegone Marathon. Tom Ost (NTE Machinist, 56 years young) would have joined them, except he was recovering from the legendary Boston Marathon that he ran in on April 20th! These 3, along with some others, meet every week by Salisbury beach on Green Lake to run together. Beth runs to maintain body weight, stay healthy and so that she can eat anything she wants, guilt free. Tom first got into running to get in shape for an elk hunt. He keeps training now so that he is always in shape for his next hunt. Tom says “I also enjoy it [running], the comradery and the new friendships that I’ve made.” Mike claims that he has no idea why he runs.

Tom shared that when he ran the Boston Marathon it was 41 degrees °F and he had a good run despite the 20-30 mph winds and rain. He is looking forward to returning in 2016. To be able to run the Boston Marathon, you have to qualify by running under a certain time, based on age and gender. Less than 10% who run marathons will be able to get a qualifying time. Tom and Beth have got in and ran it twice. Both Beth and Tom ran Boston last year.

Between Beth, Mike and Tom they have completed 35 marathons total. For those who don’t know, a Marathon is 26.2 miles; Oofta! Their advice for running a marathon is to slowly work up to it [condition yourself well in advance] and load up on pasta & carbs the week before. Some people swear by hydrating the day of, but Beth goes against the grain by not drinking much water at all during her runs to avoid frequent stops! Beth rotates between 6 pairs of shoes and Mike will tear through about 4 pairs of running shoes in a given year. Beth, Mike and Tom try to schedule spring & fall marathons each year.

Rumor has it that Tom has only beat Mike once in a race. Mike was reportedly not feeling well at the time.

Surprise Retirement Party

On May 21st there was a surprise retirement party thrown for John Scott (Technical Serviceman for Agforte North) and Dr. Dave Mills (Staff Vet for Agforte). John has been with us just over 30 years and his last day will be Thursday. Dr. Mills has been with us for 5 years and as of now does not have an official retirement date.

During the party it became obvious that plaid ran the show around these parts. Our sources say that if your last name is Huisinga there is a 92% chance you are currently wearing some type of plaid shirt.

Baby!

Pictured below is the first time Melissa Johnson (Accountant for FSE/WPF/Logistics) got to hold her first grand-baby Creighton Eugene Johnson. He came into this world at only 23 weeks weighing in at 15.9 OZ and measuring 9 ½” long. He has been fighting these last few months in a Fargo Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Currently he is doing great. He is now 5 LBS and 16 ½” long. They are hoping for him to be able to go home some time shortly after his due date, which was June 4th. Also pictured below is Creighton’s hand print next to his parent’s thumbnails!

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

I have a couple spots left in the upcoming Career Development classes so if you or someone you know on your team is interested, please contact me ASAP if you would like to register! The commitment is four sessions, once a month for 90 minutes over the lunch hour at LSI on campus. We spend time digging deeper into our roles in our work-life, set short and long term goals, and have fun learning more about ourselves and how we can add value to the organization. We will start our first session the first or second week in June!

As always, message 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!