MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013
www.mcdonoughvoice.com
VOL. 157, NO. 428
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MDH WELCOMES EMPLOYEES HOME
NEWS, A3
RAUSCHERT TRIUMPHS IN AUSTRIA
SPORTS, A10
Employees keep busy at NTN-Bower LOCAL NUMBERS
By Jackie Smith jsmith@McDonoughVoice.com
Major Area Employers Employee number, employer, industry, city -2,085, Western Illinois University, education, Macomb -917, NTN Bower, cylindrical and tapered roller bearings, Macomb -555, McDonough District Hospital, hospital, Macomb -226, Wal-Mart Super Center, retail, Macomb -192, Pella Corporation, window manufacturing, Macomb -175, Sodexo, food service, Macomb -174, Bridgeway, Inc., rehabilitation services, Macomb -156, Yetter Manufacturing, farm equipment manufacturing, Colchester -142, Vaughan & Bushnell, manufacturer, Bushnell -125, Mosaic, rehabilitative services, Macomb -119, Wesley Village, retirement/nursing care, Macomb -104, Whalen Manufacturing, manufacturing, Macomb -84, Midwest Control Products, manufacturing, Bushnell -72, YMCA of McDonough County, fitness/community center, Macomb -70, Schuld/Bushnell, farm machinery and equipment, Bushnell -55, Farm King Corporation, corporate/warehouse, Macomb -52, Farm King, retail store, Macomb -49, Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips, food preparation, Bushnell -30, Norforge & Machining, Inc., manufacturing, Bushnell -27, Archer Daniels Midland, food preparation, Bushnell
MACOMB — There was a time when every American city practically hummed with industry. Terms like "assembly line" and "factory" were synonymous with the places where everyone you knew clocked in to work. For one corner of Macomb, much of that is still very true, as one roller bearing manufacturer is
amid expansion during a period of downsizing, layoffs and closures for other manufacturers across the country. Dave Hocker has been an electrician at NTNBower, 707 N. Bower Road, for the past eight or nine months. He had worked at Methode Electronics in Carthage for 10 years and wound up at NTN after a round of layoffs. "One of the best parts
machines, while learning something from those who've been with the company a long time — people like Larry Branch, who's worked at NTN for 46 years. Both NTN employees say they enjoy the people they work with, and that it's rare two days on the job are alike. Jeffrey Thompson, who works in the tool crib, agreed. "Every day is different for me," said Thompson
of Bushnell. "We've got guys coming in for parts like crazy sometimes. Other times not. You never know what's going to happen." Having started work there in 1967, Branch, a screw machine operator and Colchester resident, said NTN-Bower is the only job he's had to apply for. "It was a little different See NTN — A2
Faces of Western HR weekly spotlight features civil service employees who are ‘in the trenches’ By Jackie Smith jsmith@McDonoughVoice.com
MACOMB — Two thousand people work for Western Illinois University, and around 900 of them are civil service employees. They fill many roles in just about any department, performing daily non-academic tasks that help grease the wheels of the freestanding higher education machine. They hold the jobs that, perhaps, often go unnoticed by students and community members, but are still vital to WIU's institutional backbone. There's Cheryl Rossio, who from the basement of Memorial Hall works as a staff clerk, processing incoming freshmen applications for students in the alternative admissions program. Or there's Delson Wilcoxen, an assistant agriculture research technician who manages the beef herd and performance bull testing. With one in the Academic Services Center and the other at the WIU Farm, their duties have little in common, but the two are among the latest employees included in Human Resources' Employee Spotlight, a weekly featurette showcased on the HR website and Facebook page. Human Resources officer Sheila Downin said the spotlight began in February as a way to give "a brief pat on the back" to civil service staff
**Source as of August on the Macomb Area Economic Development Coporation’s website.
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about my job is it's not repetitive," Hocker said during an interview with co-workers Thursday. "It's something different with each machine I go to. You've got to figure out what it is and get it fixed. It's not a routine thing. You could be at seven machines in a day, or you can do one in seven days — until you figure it out." The Macomb resident said he tries to listen to the people who run the
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in addition to the already wellestablished employee of the month recognition given. "We don't want to change that because it is good, but the difficulty I saw with that program, you have to really know what that person is Inside > doing," she —See more said. "My about WIU, spin on this is which is by far, we have a lot the Macomb of employees area’s largest who do employer things and we don't know about them." The spotlight also helps people at WIU stay connected and recognize others’ day-today duties, Downin said. "Sometimes we talk to people across campus," she added, "but we don't put a face to a name." Rossio began working fulltime at WIU in 2000, but began duties in her current position in 2009. She said she enjoys working with others in her office and alternative admissions students. She processes the data from their applications and also provides technical support for the center. She had previously worked at local banks, which she said she still might be doing if not at Western. "When I first started working for the university, I was petrified," Rossio said last See WIU — A2
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIU HUMAN RESOURCES; ARRANGEMENT BY JACKIE SMITH/THE VOICE
Pictured from top left to right: Karla White, Robin Wilt, Bonnie Elder, Carla Oliver, Jerry Allen, Sandra Boyer, Michael Robinson, Cheryl Rossio, Ann Randall, Barb De Renzy, Wendi Mattson, Stephanie Wagner, Tim Thorman, Delson Wilcoxen, Amy Hodges, Jeff Moore, Stacy Dorethy, Herb Snowden, Diana Strom, April Huston, Valencia Pettigrew, Andy Fentem, Janell McGruder, John Weaver, Don Bowen and Joe Walters. These individuals have been featured in a weekly HR spotlight of WIU civil service employees.
AROUND TOWN
To submit your town photos send to jsmith@McDonoughVoice.com.