Human Resources Team Update
contributed by Katie Steinhaus, Human Resources Director
You may have noticed a new graphic on the bottom of our Employee Updates with our Human Resources team purpose the past few updates (if not, see above or scroll down and check it out!). Over the last year we’ve been working through our team charter and it’s given us some great opportunities to build relationships as a team, discuss new ideas, revisit past practices, and take a step back to review what’s working and where we have room to improve in our services provided to the organization.
This update we’re also highlighting our team values – see below – click on the image to zoom in. For those of you who haven’t been through the team charter process before, the team values section is where each team connects the dots from their unique area of responsibility back to the company values. It helps define where and how we commit to demonstrating our company values in our day-to-day work. These are how your HR team commits to demonstrating Stewardship, Trustworthiness, Innovation, Excellence and Employee Wellbeing.
Thank you to those who have provided feedback on your experiences working with us! Please keep sharing that feedback. We realize things won’t go perfectly every time, but we’ll do our best to be open to feedback and continue learning and growing in these areas as we strive towards excellence.
“Employee Services” Name & Email Change
Lastly, as part of our team charter we’ve started updating our contact information in materials to reference Human Resources in areas where before you would have seen “Employee Services”. You can still reach us at the main Willmar office number: 320.222.9515, or direct extension 9515. Our general email address is now: Human.Resources@life-scienceinnovations.com and Human.Resources@lsius.net. This replaces the former employee.services@life-scienceinnovations.com email address. The old employee services email address is still active and will be for a time as everyone gets used to the new email address. IT is also working with us behind the scenes to help ensure that no one’s email gets lost in the transition.
Years of Service
Congratulations to Vonn Zylstra, Project Administrator with PALS on his 30 year anniversary with the company.
Congratulations!
Samantha Contreras, Accounting Supervisor for Life-Science Innovations, and her husband Manuel welcomed Lucas William Contreras to their family on Thursday, March 15th.
Employee Profile
Demetrio Barajas Ι Select Genetics Ι Willmar Hatchery Manager
Strengths: Responsibility • Relator • Belief • Achiever • Arranger
Raised on a ranch his whole life alongside 2 brothers and 3 sisters, Demetrio Barajas, did it all from raising beef cattle for market to breaking and training parading horses. Throw in milking cows by hand to feed the calf’s and spending long nights with his older brother flood irrigating the ranch while falling asleep with a flashlight in one hand and a shovel in the other.
Demetrio started his poultry career with Foster Farms in 2015 with Live Haul and worked up from there with all departments as he enjoyed what he did and wanted to keep learning. He took his strengths with him as he worked his way through the ranks as Interim Hatchery Manager at Fosters Fresno Hatchery while playing a key role in the transitional period from Fresno to the start-up of Fosters Walnut Hatchery. Demetrio trained future CDL drivers, supervisors, assistant supervisors, and also dispatched for their live haul fleet.
Faith brought Demetrio and his family to Minnesota and they are very grateful Nova-Tech Engineering was there to help his family feel at home for the first 6 months. Demetrio and his family are looking forward to prosperity and growth as he has now taken on Chapter 2 in Minnesota with a career shift from Account Manager at Nova-Tech Engineering to the role of Hatchery Manager for Select Genetics at the Willmar Hatchery.
Demetrio and his wife, Marlyn have four beautiful girls Emily, Evany, Natalye, and Nevaeh. They love to cook together, watch movies and joining their new church, the Open Door Community Church with whatever they all need.
Spotlight on Benefits
Tax Savings Called the Saver’s Credit
Another way saving for retirement may benefit you is through the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, also called the Saver’s Credit. This tax credit is available to low- and moderate-income workers who are saving for retirement through our 401(k) or similar retirement plan.
Like other tax credits, the saver’s credit can increase a taxpayer’s refund or reduce the tax owed. The saver’s credit is different than a tax deduction due to the fact that a tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of your gross tax liability – the total amount of taxes you’re responsible for paying before any credits are applied.
The amount of the credit is a maximum of 50 percent of an employee’s retirement plan contributions of up to $2,000 (or $4,000 for married couples filing jointly), depending on the filer’s adjusted gross income (AGI) as reported on the Form 1040 or 1040A. The maximum saver’s credit is $1,000 (or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly).
The credit is available to workers age 18 or older who have contributed to a company-sponsored retirement plan or IRA in the past year and meet the adjusted gross income (AGI) requirements (see below). The filer cannot be a full-time student and cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
The amount of the available tax credit diminishes as income rises, up to the adjusted gross income limit. To help preserve the credit’s value, income thresholds are adjusted annually to keep pace with inflation. Below are the income caps for tax year 2017 (when claiming the credit on tax returns filed this year).
For more information on the Saver’s Credit, refer to IRS Instructions and Form 8880, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8880.pdf or contact your tax professional to see if you qualify to take advantage of this tax credit.
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Openings
Current status of all organizational openings.
Welcome New Employees
Chyde Strand
Lead Elevator Maintenance
Kaitlyn Rice
Administrative Support
Matthew Rossell
Daniel Halldin
Assembler
Mitchell Sommers
Judy Herding
CNC Operator
Melissa Ybarra Trinidad
Aurora General Labor Service Room
Jorge Leyva
IPH Back Crew
Alison Poe
IPH General Labor Service Room
Morgan Baumchen
IPH Hatchery
Angel Torres-Colon
IPH Hatchery Sanitation
Karla Mera Luna
Dayanara Melendez Leonard
Tatiana Martinez
IPH Poult Service Technician
Edwin Colon Gutierrez
Eh Ywa
MN Catcher
Amneris Aponte Concepcion
MN Egg Picker
Luis Esparza
MN Milker
Rogelio Trujillo Hernandez
Messiah Vasquez
Daniel Wilson
Juan Zamora
Alexander Whaley
Charles Smith
MO Catcher
Michael Valdez
Estrella Hernandez
Mario Godines
MO Egg Picker
Leonardo Ortega Saucedo
MO Milker
Mario De La Pena
Delma Gutierrez Garcia
MO Tom Lab
Timothy Drennen
Eddie Hankins
MO Vaccination Crew
Ronnie Bennett
NC Inseminator
Antonio Gonzalez Jr.
Osceola Back Crew
Chad Crawford
Osceola Hatchery Maintenance
Zonia Dinora Ramos Vda De Ramirez
Osceola Laundry
Salvador Muro Castro
Osceola Maintenance Assistant
Bonnie Fairchild
Kirk Heuer
Jeanpierre Rosado-Garcia
Osceola Poult Service Tech
Gerardo Funez
VA Catcher
Jeffrey Hissam
CDL Driver Live/Direct Haul
Employee Count
As of 3/19/18 we have 2,009 employees
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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 Human.Resources@life-scienceinnovations.com or give us a call at