Companies honor employees at year end

It’s that time of year again.

No, not Christmas: That’s so yesterday.

No, the new year is around the corner, and with it comes, for some companies, the time to honor employees for the past year.

The Sedalia Democrat named Dusty Gosnell its Employee of the Year on Thursday.

Gosnell, of Sedalia, is a product handler, sometimes called a fly person, in the press department.

“Whatever the press runs off, I put it on the cart or pallet to ship it off, or do whatever needs to be done with it,” he said in an interview Thursday after receiving the award.

He also doubles up, handling custodian duties at the paper.

“I did not expect it,” he said of the honor. “It threw me for a loop.”

Besides a round of applause and a cake, Gosnell also received a plaque from Stone Laser Imaging and a $50 gift card from Woods Supermarket.

When he’s not on the job, Gosnell said, “I like to watch wrestling and hang out with my wife and daughter.”
His wife is April; Tayler, 7, is his daughter.

Gosnell said he started working at the Democrat in 1998 in the mailroom. He’s been a product handler since 2003.

“Every job has its ups and downs,” he said. “Some days run smooth, and other times everything is broken down and I have to do a lot of running around.”

Sounds like most jobs, doesn’t it?

However, it’s the way he handles his jobs that landed him the honor.

Democrat Editor Bob Satnan nominated Gosnell and wrote in his nomination: “Dusty Gosnell has taken ownership of all building maintenance duties on top of work in the press room. Dusty adjusts his own schedule to ensure that he gets all of his duties done. Every request is attended to quickly and courteously. Before he took on the maintenance job, I fell on the ice and broke three ribs; Dusty assured me that wouldn’t happen again, and when we had an overnight freeze a couple of weeks ago, he loaded the parking lot and sidewalks with ice melt. That attention to detail matters, and he shows it daily.”

The Democrat honor is something new this year.

“I think this was a good way to celebrate the hard work of our team,” Satnan said, adding: “You could make the case that everyone in this building could be called employee of the year.”

That’s a sentiment echoed by other employers in the area.

Dennis Polk, general manager of KXKX Radio 105.7 FM in Sedalia, best known as KIX, said, “Everybody’s employee of the year. Everybody has their own thing.”

He said the station didn’t single out one person for such an honor.

However, Advantage Metals Recycling in Sedalia also decided this year to name an Employee of the Year.
Ned Lindstrom III, of Sedalia, received that honor, accepting a plaque and gift certificate for his work in supervising the nonferrous department.
 
Lindstrom has worked for Advantage for seven years.

Connie Wehmeyer, business manager, said, “We started employee recognition about two years ago, and it’s worked very well.”

She said the company also recognizes employees at monthly luncheon meetings.