A letter from Elizabeth.
Good morning Steiner Crew!
I wanted to write in a word of thanks for the recognition gifts I received for my 20 year anniversary today (4/9/2021)! It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago today I was walking down the stairs at the Grand Blanc location, through the garage, into the basement offices so nervous for my first day among you.
I thought about what shirt to wear for my statue selfie I wanted to send in (since I pretty rarely have to think about what I’m wearing at all these days!!) and I decided on this one (below) – GROW. That’s all we’ve done since I started working here 20 years ago! We first outgrew our offices in Grand Blanc and moved to Lennon. We outgrew our initial office space and had to take over some of the store space for more offices. Then, we outgrew our warehouse space and had to add on the pole barn and more square footage of warehousing space. Our sales have grown tremendously over these 20 years. The number of phone calls, catalog requests, packages we ship, facebook followers we have, servers we administer, emails we receive, parts we stock and inventory we manage have all grown! And, of course, people are our most valuable resource, the number of team members and customers have grown tremendously, too! Growing with this team is one of the joys of my life.
I’d like to share a funny story about this anniversary statue that Steiner Tractor Parts gifted me to recognize this milestone. A couple weeks ago, we had a few reports of website issues and I placed some test orders on the live site. I failed to send in one of my numbers for cancellation and as a result was shipped a rivet (thank you for the cow tails, by the way). So, on Wednesday when a large box from Steiner showed up, I was opening it cursing myself the entire time thinking what ELSE did I order and not cancel. When I got it open and saw all the foam packing I was just dying inside thinking that not only did I order something large and heavy but also fragile (feel free to say that like it’s Italian). When I saw the statue and the card, I was instantly so relieved and happy.
Then, to add to the fun story, yesterday (Thursday), my husband asks me, “did you buy something you didn’t tell me about?” I answer, “Not that I’m aware of why?” He says, “come here”. So, out to the garage I go where I see this fire pit. “Well, it’s nice, it’s like the one at my mom’s house.” I call my mom to see if she decided to send us one since we use the one at her house. “No”, she says, with a tone that says maybe I’m crazy. I finally asked Andrew tonight if it came from Steiner and he said yes, that Dawn thought Steve & I would enjoy it for sitting around in the evenings while we are staying home and staying safe. She’s right! We will love it! We use the one at my mom’s house all the time and we have some big plans for our yard this summer. It will be a perfect fit.
Work from home life is sometimes dull. Very little “new” happens around here and so I appreciated these moments of surprise and excitement this week. Also, it was a puzzle to figure out where the fire pit came from. You all know that I love figuring out mysteries. I’m real glad this one didn’t end in a compromised credit card.
Reflecting on all that changed at Steiner in the last 20 years is wild, and yet so much is still the same. We still sell many of the same parts that we sold 20 years ago for the same tractors that the same guys are still restoring. We keep adding to the list, but so many parts are still in demand and have been for these 20 years. We have many of the same customers I remember speaking with in my first weeks at Steiner and some of the same employees are working at those companies, too. Thank goodness our customer numbers haven’t changed, I still know so many by heart, my secret talent of memorization. My wall calendar is still frequently a month behind. I still have big ideas for the future and write them on big paper.
As a company, our work ethic, dedication and integrity is unparalleled. I’m just so pleased to be a part of this team. When I look around the planet and all of the career opportunities available, there is nowhere I’d rather be than right here working among you all. I’m also really thankful for the opportunity to work at home even while I miss being with you all and especially getting to know our newer employees. I hope the world can get a handle on this virus and soon I’ll be able to meet in person so many of you who are just beginning your Steiner journey. Many of you may know my mom has been battling colon cancer since being diagnosed last June, undergoing a major emergency operation followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. I’m happy to share with you all that my mom is now 3 months cancer free and doing great!
My role has changed and evolved so much over the years. When I started, we didn’t even have an in-house Ecommerce management. If you or someone you know is looking for a great place to start their career, there’s just nowhere here in Mid-Michigan with the benefit package and stability offered by this company. We are on a growth trajectory and would love dependable, hard working people of integrity to join us! We are currently hiring for our warehouse distribution staff, and technical tractor knowledge staff. Even after 20 years, there’s nowhere I’d rather be!
And, since I couldn’t be there in person for a celebration, I’ll share this little view of my statue and my work from home space.
I look forward to continuing to grow with you all for many years to come!
Elizabeth Whiting
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