Name: Kevin Deilke
How long have you worked for POET?
Just over two and a half years.
How did you first hear about POET?
As a company overall, I've lived in South Dakota pretty much my whole life. I grew up in Aberdeen and have been in Sioux Falls for 19 years now. I remember going from Broin Industries to POET. If you live in South Dakota, you get synonymous with the name.
Can you tell me about the path that led you to your career?
Robert, my boss, and I used to work together at a previous employment. When he left in October of 2020, it was no sooner than a few months later he was calling me like, “Hey, you need to get down here,” and then a spot opened, and I applied. Here I am, two and a half years later came in as a Material Handler and moved up to a Material Handler II.
What do you do in your position?
As a Material Handler, we're kind of like the last line, or end of the line. We're doing all the load-outs by the time it gets to us. Whether it's loading rail cars with bioethanol or rail cars with our dry feed, loading the semis with dry feed, or running the payloader to load them with the wet cake and the modified, etc. Beyond that, I help in maintaining the grounds and moving rail, because we're the ones that touch it last before we send it out the door. A lot of responsibility comes with that.
What’s your favorite part about your job?
Feeling a kid in a sandbox when I get to run the payloader! That part's cool. Running the Titan to move rail around the yard is fun. But overall, I don't have any negative aspects other than maybe, having to shovel snow for five days in a row. But I mean, that's a few months out of the year.
What is your greatest career accomplishment here at POET?
I'd be remiss if I didn't say getting Robert promoted to material manager. I told him I would say that! He referred me, and they went, ah, your judgment was so good, here a promotion!
On a serious note, I’m new yet, even though it's been two and a half years. Getting up to Material Handler II has been great learning everything. When I came here, this was all new to me.
Tell me about the dynamics with your team and your coworkers.
My direct coworkers would be with the Grains Team. The Material Handlers and our scale personnel, the lab, it’s a good working group, and we all get along really well; we all know that when you come in, you know what's expected and what needs to get done, and we have fun while we do it.
What’s unique about a career at this company?
I've always had a mindset that I work to live. I don't live to work. Coming in every day, it’s nice to see the different areas we have when we rotate on a daily basis. It’s something a little different every day for us. I get a little bit of a rotation, a little bit of a break from each part of the rotation. That part of it is unique because most jobs are you come in, you have a job, and it's kind of rinse, wash, repeat.
Tell me a little bit about yourself: what hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
I bowl. I do a league and have been in the same league for about 19 years, as long as I've been down in Sioux Falls. Outside of that, it's whatever my kids are involved with! I've got three daughters; two of them are in dance, and one's in show choir.
What’s one thing you want to do that you’ve never done before?
Skydive. I've always wanted to!
