Identifying talent while students are still in college, bringing them on board for training in the field and then helping them to get established in a territory several months later is a new process for Fontanelle Hybrids, Fontanelle, Nebraska. “We created the Associate District Sales Manager (DSM) position to allow recent college graduates, with no full time work experience, the opportunity to learn about, and start working in, the seed business in a professional position from the beginning of their careers,” Nick Lammers, western regional sales manager and associate DSM coordinator said. “This is an excellent opportunity to bring some of our leading young graduates into the organization and, at the same time, an opportunity for these young people to get their start in the seed business without having to have years of experience beforehand. It really is a win-win for everyone.”

“We’ve been seeing more and more young people having to settle for jobs that aren’t really what they want simply to gain experience,” Steve Pike, president said. “It may take them three to four years to move into careers they are best suited for. We wanted a way to be able to develop this talent and enhance our team with new ideas and lots of energy that these young people bring with them. The Associate DSM process has allowed us to do that.”

During this introductory year, three Associate DSMs have been hired and placed within Fontanelle Hybrids. Jeremy Jelinek, Grand Island, NE, joined the Company in January. “We met Jeremy when we attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln career day last fall,” Lammers said. “It quickly became apparent he would be a good fit with Fontanelle. Since coming on board Jeremy has made tremendous progress in gaining the knowledge and skills he needs to be a successful DSM. He’s gradually taking over our business in central Nebraska making a smooth transition for us during the retirement of  long time Fontanelle DSM Jerry Studnicka. Jeremy will be managing this area full time in the next sales season.”

Kevin Keller, Fremont, NE, another graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, joined the Fontanelle team in May. “Kevin’s been working in eastern Nebraska,” Pike said. “The timing for Kevin coming on board worked really well for us because he could move right into the territory that will become his over the next season. Kevin is taking over the territory that’s been served by Doug Dudney who’s been promoted to Director of Sales. This process has allowed Doug to help train Kevin and made the change much easier for our dealers and customers.”

The third Associate DSM took a slightly different path into full time employment with Fontanelle. “We started a summer intern program this year for some of the same reasons we started the Associate DSM process,” Pat Groth, eastern regional sales manager said. “We needed extra help for our sales team to implement our new Sneak Preview program this summer. At the same time, we wanted an opportunity to start identifying possible future hires while students are still in college. The summer intern program allowed us to bring on board the extra help we needed and, in Jason’s case, we found a good fit for a full time position.” Jason Perdue, Harlan, Iowa joined the Fontanelle Team full time in August.

“Jason took on more responsibility with the internship right away,” Groth said. “Half way through the summer when we talked about his future, Jason said he’d found what was right for him with Fontanelle and we agreed so we asked him to come on as an Associate DSM. In a unique twist, he’ll be working for us this fall while he’s finishing his double major at Northwest Missouri State graduating in December.”

Perdue will be covering the western Iowa territory transitioning from Groth who will continue in his role as eastern regional sales manager. “I’ve been wearing both the DSM hat and the RSM hat,” Groth said. “It’s time to bring in Jason so that our dealers and customers are serviced by a DSM who is focused just on that territory. That allows me to be more available to my entire region and help where I’m needed across Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.”

“We are planning on attending career fairs again this fall at agricultural colleges in our marketing area,” Lammers said. “It’s our intention to continue to bring on board more candidates as well suited for the seed business as we did this year.”

Fontanelle Hybrids markets corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, alfalfa and sunflowers in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri and portions of Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas as an independent operating company within American Seeds Inc, a holding company of Monsanto.