Side-by-side, day-in, and day-out—this is what our team of 28 employees looks like in our prefabrication shop. When it comes to the culture, they’re living out our family core value. Even when team members are deployed overseas, they come together in a unique way to keep them part of the team.
Supporting Our Service Members
Two team members, Gerardo and Kevin, have worked at Interstates for 5 years and 3 years. Both work in our prefabrication shop in Sioux Center, IA. They also are members of the Iowa National Guard and were deployed in July 2020. As the holiday season approached, the prefabrication team wanted to do something special for these team members. They made a team Christmas card and sent a sweatshirt, stocking hat, candy, wet wipes and more. David Vander Tuin, Operations Manager, shares why they sent a care package, “One of our core values is family, and we need to take care of our Interstates family wherever they are. It was an easy thing to do.” This isn’t the first time they’ve sent a care package. They also sent another team member, Adam, when he was deployed in 2018. “This brought a big smile when I opened it,” said Gerardo. “Thank you for always supporting your workers anywhere and everywhere.”
Reaching the Military
In addition to these employee-led experiences, we partner with several organizations that help veterans with their professional development and connecting them with employers.
- Vets Gold Medallion Program: We are working towards earning the Vets Gold Medallion status. This organization offers a veteran’s employee resource group and a leadership program and requires employees to have 7% or more hires be veterans and retain 75% of the veterans.
- Offut AFB and Home Base Iowa: Both organizations help transition service members into civilian life. We have participated in their employer panel discussions and career fairs.
- Army PaYS: They connect young service members with employers while they serve their country.
- Department of Veterans Affairs-Approved Apprenticeship Program: With this approval, veterans can use GI Bill benefits for our apprenticeship program.
In addition to these programs, some of the non-profits we support in Cash for Causes are military-based organizations. According to Kent Heronimus, Recruiting Manager, we are developing additional programs to help military veterans transition and support their well-being.
We also believe our culture can be attractive to some team members. "Interstates’ core values and culture are familiar to individuals who have served in the military. They often hold those same values, so it’s a great fit for them and us,” comments Heronimus. We want our culture and these programs to serve our current and future military team members.
Below are two of the care packages the prefabrication team sent to our deployed team members.
