Verdesian NUEs, April 2022
A word from Kenny
Making a Difference. We are now over halfway through the fiscal year and the momentum continues to build across our product lines and the geographies we operate in and around the world.
As stated back in December, our results are a direct result of our people executing our strategy daily. You are making a difference to our farmer customers and their families every day. It has not been easy over the last 24 months, and recent world events continue to challenge the world’s supply chain and the availability of food to feed the world. Our products and the yield they help to create have never been more important to the world’s population. Recent statistics show that the number of malnourished and people at starvation level is expected to more than double. Our sense of purpose and our opportunity to have a positive impact has not been greater.
Your efforts have led to a great start to the year and, based on that incredible start, the board of directors determined we would issue a mid-year bonus for all of our employees. This unprecedented move represents an acknowledgement of the work that has been done by each of you and also provides us the opportunity to earn the other half of the bonus as we close out the full fiscal year in August.
I have never been more excited about the direction of the company, the momentum and the opportunity that lays in front of us. Championship teams finish strong. Stay focused. Stay safe. Maximum effort leads to maximum returns. Thank you.
–Kenny Avery
Leaving it Better than you found it.
Each of you know that Cary, NC, is the home to Verdesian’s headquarters. But did you know that Cary has many homeless or near-homeless families? So many of us that live here may not recognize the need in our town and county. This year, we were introduced to a local non-profit organization, The Carying Place (TCP), that provides transitional housing to working homeless families with children. The Carying Place, a.k.a. TCP, teaches life skills for attaining independent living while providing families with short-term housing and support services. TCP began operations in May 1993, and has served more than 490 families. Over 80 percent of the graduated families are today living independently and gainfully employed.
Our CFO, Amy Diebler, serves as the TCP Board of Director’s Treasurer. She was attracted to the organization’s mission to reduce homelessness, but also to the mission to increase local families’ financial literacy, which provides them the confidence for future independent living. TCP owns 11 properties in Cary where families live for a 16-week period. Each home is furnished and decorated for the families using contributions from the community. All of the financial literacy sessions and support services are provided by community volunteers.
Like many of us, during the last two years, TCP’s support services switched from in-person to Zoom meetings, which required laptops for both the TCP volunteers and the families. This need was not budgeted and the need has only increased as the laptops have aged. So far in 2022, Verdesian has donated 10 decommissioned laptops to the TCP for deployment to existing families in the program. In addition, with our refresh of the headquarters office, we were able to donate several tables, chairs, side tables and décor to TCP for a refresh of the furniture in their houses. These items that were used during our growth will now help homeless families succeed.
If you have any interest in The Carying Place’s mission or volunteer opportunities, please contact Amy Diebler.
Thank you Amy for “leaving it better than you found it.”
If you or you know someone who is exemplifying our core values, please reach out to let us know! We’d like to feature you or your teammate in our next Leaving it Better spotlight! Email Susan Waldo.
Operations: ‘Busy Beesness.’
If you describe someone as a busy bee, you mean that they enjoy doing a lot of things and always keep themselves busy; so says the great Google philosopher. Well, this time of year it is an apt description of our plants and supply chain teams. Perhaps it describes Verdesian entirely.
We are blessed with high customer demand for our great products. Planting season is upon us and with the green grass and flowers of spring comes in-season demand with all its urgencies. I proudly call out the great work that is being accomplished throughout the Operations team. We are operating all the plants at the highest level and bringing materials in and customer shipments out as fast as possible — and with success. Last year was the best-ever … until this year. Because that is what we do.
Consider: No organization has experienced more change with growth, people, and processes than Salt Lake City, and March was a top month. Pasco has doubled the shifts and is supplying just in time deliveries as the raw material bottlenecks were solved. Cape and North Lima demand is a record, and not just for MicroSync. The legacy business hot. Kentland is busy with Canadian upsides and showing its flexibility by packing SEED+ GRAPHITE. Kudos for outstanding agility by both the Pasco and Kentland teams in supporting the Cytozyme production.
And then there’s the customer orders and the shipments. Our Customer Service, Logistics and Planning teams have both hands full managing the customer order fulfillment and all of the urgent questions about when, where, how much. Join them with the Procurement team and we can truly feel the pain of the disrupted transportation market. Inflation, labor shortages and capacity limits all collide here to challenge promise dates. A final shout out to Renato Prestes who has crafted our renewed EHS and ESG programs to drive a safe and sustainable work environment. Each of us must make that daily commitment to be safe.
Thank you to the team for all your dedication, perseverance, and success. As the saying goes, it takes a hive of busy bees to be successful, and these first seven months of the new fiscal year have been an amazing journey because of each and every one of you.
PS: A special congratulations to our queen bee Teresa Vannatta on her move to Chief Information Officer. Thank you for your leadership in Operations.
-Sam Oliver
HR: Some brief updates.
Just a friendly reminder from your HR team that Wellness incentives must be completed by June 15, 2022 (applicable only to employees/spouses enrolled in medical plans).
In addition, we are gearing up for Open Enrollment. Be on the lookout for more information coming your way in May!
-Susan Waldo
Past issues of Verdesian NUEs can be found here:
December 2021
August 2021