Modified start to 2021 construction season
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Modified start to 2021 construction season
The Safety Committee decided it was best to ‘play it safe’ this year due to COVID-19 con-
tinuing concerns, so the traditional annual safety training format was modified.
GPS, Job Staking and CAT DPF Systems
Training was held for 14 equipment operators at the Galley in Webster February 22-23. In-
structors were Brian Visser from SITech (GPS), Nick Hofland from Hofland Engineering
(Job Staking), and Leo Fleckenstein and
APRIL 2021 Chad Morgan from Butler CAT who
Volume 5 Issue 1 talked about DPF
systems. Brian
Leo
• April 17
Mindy Charlson
Fundraiser
• April 21
Photos provided
by Tim Woods &
Joel Shoemaker
Attendees: Alex German, Donald Fellbaum, Eric Olson, Jake Stavick,
Joel Shoemaker, Mike Berg, Misty Berg, Owen McGregor, Ronald Moran,
Ross Grupe, Steve Burnette, Tannor Popham, Tim Woods and Tom Knutson.
• AWARDS Employee Virtual Zoom Meeting
Manager’s Choice
An email invitation went out to all employees with
Safety Milestones an email address a week prior to the meeting sched-
uled for 1:30 pm on March 19th. Employees were
Years of Service
directed to click on the link in the email to join the
meeting. Following are some of the highlights dis-
cussed as Joel led the meeting with a slide presenta-
tion.
2021 Jobs: Joel briefly described the projects lined
up for this year, with work starting the end of March
(see listings on pages 3-4).
New equipment: D-5 CAT Next Gen Dozer (replaces 2 dozers); D-6T CAT LGP SU
Dozer; CAT 336E Hydraulic Excavator; brand new 2022 Peterbilt 379 Semi-tractor
(arriving April 15th); and two 2020 custom built trailers for hot water pressure washers.
One of these trailers will be on the Lower Brule project, as equipment is required to be
clean in order to enter the project site. Also, the CAT 966K loader is now ready to go!
Zoom continued on page 4…
Company founder ‘had a good ride’
With the recent passing of Russell Shoemaker, the company
COMPANY founder of this family business has left a legacy of a solid work
ethic and strong values for future generations.
401K Russell was not originally from Webster, but moved here from
Pierre in 1957 when he and his wife Doris became partners in the
Spencer Huggett, Agent
Webster Livestock Exchange (sale barn). The sale barn was closed
shuggett@itctel.com in 1973 and the couple created a new business, Webster Scale
Phone: (605) 345-3306 Sales and Service, which later became Webster Scale, Inc. Russell
• Employee puts in 4%, semi-retired in 1990, but would often be sent on the road for a
WSI 2% number of years to pick up parts or run other errands for the busi-
ness, or you might have seen him in the shop fixing on something.
• For ages 16 & up after April 12, 1925- Feb. 25, 2021
He was a military veteran, serving in the US Navy in the mid-
90 days of service. After
1,000 hours or one year 1940’s, and was an active member of the Webster community, involved in a number of or-
of service, company will ganizations over the years. At heart, Russell was a country cowboy from West River who got
then match. to enjoy the good ride of a long life.
• Markets now at all-time
high. Most accounts are Webster Scale Employees,
up 20% Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers for my father
Kevin and my family during this difficult time. He truly
loved his job, and even with how sick he was, he was still
worrying about getting back to work in April.
The flower arrangement you sent was beyond beautiful
AFLAC and very much appreciated. Thank you all for being such
a great work family to my dad.
Travis Ronke, Agent Love,
travis_ronke@us.aflac.com The Meyers
Cell: (605) 868-3430 Nick, Megan, Owen, Aden & Easton
• Volunteer benefit that
Kevin
employees pay for Once again, WSI is mourning the passing of another employee. Tvinnereim
Many did not know that Kevin was sick or how sick he really
Nov. 1, 1955-Feb. 18, 2021
• All employees eligible was. Kevin was part of the construction division, driving a truck
for FREE Accidental & or supervising flaggers and pilot cars on road projects. He will Webster Scale Employee
Dismemberment Policy be missed as another construction season begins. 2016 - 2021
of $7,500. Contact
Travis to sign up.
• Accident Plan—24/7, Give, and it will be A MESSAGE FROM MISTY BERG:
pays on top of Work- given to you. I'm touching base with a bit of
mans Comp. news for you. I am leaving my po-
Thank you to all who donate sition here at Webster Scale. I have
• Short Term Disability—
to the Special Needs Fund been offered a job with the SDDOT
pays 60% of wages
(off the job) and for seeing it in your Winner branch and I accepted it. I
hearts to give to us. Jason wanted to reach out to let you
• OTHER OPTIONS and I are so blessed to be know that I've so enjoyed working with you all
during my time here. It's been a true pleasure
Cancer part of your work family.
Critical Care getting to know you all better!
Hospital God’s many blessings to you I would also like to thank the WSI Special Needs
Dental & Vision all. committee for the help that I received during some
Life Insurance
Crystal & Jason Gaikowski hard times. Be safe and have a great season.
Misty
Page 2
SCALE CREW Last year at this time, there was only one new
2021 SCALE PROJECTS
scale project in the starting line-up. This year
2021
there are five scale projects with a sixth one al- Starting Line-up
most certain! Rob also reports that they have
lots of service work stacking up. To handle all • Concrete Materials, Sioux Falls
the work, they are operating as two crews—Rob 120’ x 11’ Rice Lake Scale
and Mason working together, and Jamie and DJ
together. • Enterprise Sales, Frederick
Central Region Cooperative in Minnesota just 120’ x 12’ Rice Lake Scale
ordered another scale. This will be the fifth • AGWRX, Florence
scale they have ordered from Webster Scale,
with a sixth scale also being planned. So how 120’ x 12’ WSI Pit Scale
did Webster Scale become their scale company • Central Region Cooperative
Rob Kading of choice? Rob said it goes back to first impres-
Manager Buffalo Lake, MN
sions. Here’s the story—
80’ x 12’ Rice Lake Scale
Four years ago Central Region Cooperative was
looking to replace one of their scales at their NOTE:
Buffalo Lake elevator. Their grain buyer, Brad
The first project of the season was
Kohls, is a friend of Rob back from the days
delivered in February to Prairie States
when Brad worked for J & D Construction. Rob
and Brad had worked together on some projects. Trucking of Sioux Falls.
This was a WSI 70’ x 11’ portable scale.
When Central Region was having scale prob-
lems, Brad suggested to Rob that he should take
a look at their scale and submit a quote. Rob
followed up and went to Buffalo Lake to look at was the only scale technician who actually
Jamie Sturdevant the scale and asked to be taken underneath the went underneath the scale to look at it, which
Scale Technician scale to take a look. He took the manager under- ended up being a determining factor in being
neath the scale with him so was able to explain awarded the project!
the problems and why the scale needed to be Central Region Cooperative has continued to
replaced. Rob submitted a quote, as did three be a steady customer ever since, and the scale
other scale companies. Webster Scale was crew always provides them with timely scale
awarded the project, and Rob was told that he service whenever they call.
Preparing to Zoom could be heard by those listening off-site.
Additionally, ten individual cameras were
As Webster Scale’s technology coordina- purchased to add to all the individual com-
tor, Rob Kading had the responsibility for puters for anyone participating from their
DJ BlueDog setting up the technology to make the re- on-site office location. For anyone using a
cent company virtual meeting possible. laptop, no separate cameras were needed
The Zoom platform is free for small groups as laptops already have built-in cameras
like families, but Webster Scale purchased and microphones.
the Zoom license needed for larger groups. Dawn estimated
A large camera was purchased to place un- that there were at
der the screen in the conference room so least 40 employ-
that those off-site could see the presenter ees participating
and others at the table. in this first virtual
A USB speaker/microphone was purchased meeting on March
and placed in the center of the table so 19th.
Mason Bissonette
that all individuals in the conference room
April 2021 Page 3
CONSTRUCTION
Project Leaders
2021
Tim has the first crew getting start- 2021 CONSTRUCTION
ed for the 2021 construction sea-
Starting Line-Up
son. They started on #2006 with
Foothills on March 29th on the • #1903 SDDOT—Sanborn County
south end of the project. Milling is
projected to start the week of April • #2006 Foothills—Jones/Mellette Co.
5th, with a goal to be done with
this project by the first of June. • #2008 Vermillion Airport
Tim Woods
Mike will be starting his first pro- • #2011 SD DOT—Day County, Hwy 17
ject of 2021 on April 12th with
BPI in Lyman Co. This will be 36 • #2101 BPI—Brown County, Hwy 10
miles of mostly straight overlay, as
well as gravel shoulders after pav- • #2102 BPI—Lyman County, Hwy 248
ing. Mike also noted that this will
probably be the toughest haul • #2104 Morris—Lower Brule Const.
they’ve ever had, so they will start
with single trailers and not dou- .
Mike Berg bles. Signs are being put up on the
haul roads for the drivers.
YOUR DAILY WORKPLACE
Donald will be starting with the REMINDER:
Vermillion Airport, beginning
about April 12th. This will be simi- 1. Don’t get hurt.
lar to the project Donald led last 2. Don’t break anything.
year at the Watertown Airport, ex-
cept there will be asphalt paving 3. Watch out for each other.
Donald Fellbaum instead of concrete. 4. Be productive.
Zoom continued from page 1…. Safety: Project leaders will have supplies on hand for pre-
venting the spread of COVID-19. All fire extinguishers in
Repair Costs: Slides showed repair costs for the trucks, equipment have been recharged. Every month operators
and repair and idling costs for equipment. There have been should check their fire extinguisher and initial the tag.
a lot of repair costs for trucks, with #32, #40 and #42 with
the highest amounts. Equipment idle time = emissions. Other: If you have changed your phone number and/or
Emission costs are high! Joel emphasized limiting warm- email address, please give your updated information to the
up time of equipment to 10 minutes max! The tendency office staff. The project leaders plan to hold weekly Zoom
has been to keep equipment running instead of shutting meetings to share information and stay updated. Operators
down because it can take 15 minutes to restart the GPS. are reminded to grease their equipment—trucks and trailers!
2020 Fleet Totals: Truck Repairs $299,660; Equipment Also, clean out your garbage every day!
Repairs $302,334; Average Idle Costs $705,682
Benefits: Spencer Huggett gave a short presentation regard-
Special Needs Fund: Dawn reported that $90,000+ has ing the optional 401K program for employees, and Travis
been collected and $66,000+ paid out since 2013. 56% of Ronke reminded employees of the policies AFLAC offers
employees contribute. Thirteen employees this past year that are available for employees at their expense.
received help through this program. See Page 2 for additional information.
Page 4
This annual award is dedicated to an individual within the company job site because they know if there
for outstanding achievement, dedication and continuous contributions was not something to haul, he
to the success of our company. They help others, find ways to help would be willing to jump in any
improve the project and help build relationships between the pro- piece of equipment and try to help
ject’s owner and WSI. move the job forward.
Following is Joel’s introduction for this award, which he presented Last spring as we were getting ready
during the Virtual Safety Meeting on March 19th. to head back to work for another
busy year, I realized one day that I
This year’s recipient came to work for WSI back in June of 2012 and
was going to need some help run-
has over 24,000 hours of incident free service to the company. When
ning some projects. I walked out
he came to work, he was hired as a truck driver, but that quickly
back where Donald was loading a
changed into jack-of-all-trades.
piece of equipment and told him to
I remember talking to him for the first time on a Sunday night, the come up front as I wanted to talk to him. As we sat in my office, I
night before his first day, and I asked him if he had ever run a lowboy explained the work we had, how some of the jobs were going to be
before. He said, “Nope.” I said that’s perfect as you are going to haul running simultaneously, and that I was going to need some help run-
some equipment to North Dakota tomorrow, and he said, “OK.” He ning them. I asked him, “Would you like a shot?” And for once he
did it, then another piece and then another. By the end of the week, he did not say nope! He actually said, “Yes, I think I want to give it a
was getting pretty good at it, but now he had all the equipment moved shot.” So away we went to the Watertown Airport. He did a fantastic
up to that job site and we really did not need the lowboy the next job figuring out the schedule, working with the airport managers and
week. I believe John asked him then, “Have you run a dozer?” He the prime contractor, and he put it together and turned it into a suc-
replied, “Nope.” John said “Perfect, bring your lunch. You are going cessful project. Heck, I even got to run dozer for him for a couple
to learn.” Donald said “OK.” weeks and that was awesome. Thanks Donnie!
That is the thing about Donald. He is always willing to try something When I think about Donald, I think of a guy who is not afraid to try
new. He is not afraid of trying anything. We have sent him on some something new, take on a challenge, get dirty or wet. He is an all-in
missions over the years that some may not have come back from. kind of guy who everyone wants to be around. He is not afraid of
Going to Lemmon with a 70 x 11 portable scale, and go ahead and set failing, but always willing to learn.
up the GPS and calibrate the site. Or taking scales to Texas with little
or no map of how to get there or who he is going to meet. Or all the Donald, you have been on the short list for this award for a few years,
first trips to a new job site where he had no idea where to go, where and this is your year. Thank you for all you have done and will con-
to unload, where to turn around, and sometimes how to even get back tinue to do in the future for WSI. Congratulations on Managers
out! But with all these examples, Donald always comes home with a Choice for 2021!
story and a plan on how to make things better the next time.
Donald will receive a jacket and two gift cards, and his name will be
As the years have passed, everybody wants Donald to come to their engraved on the plaque in the office.
REMINDERS!
1. When driving a truck or
equipment on a gravel road
and a vehicle is approaching,
WSI Fleet Manager it is our policy to slow down
and move over until they
Dave Goedert pass.
married 2. Also, ALL drivers of compa-
ny vehicles and equipment are
Juliah Goodsell reminded that you are ex-
Sat. March 13, 2021 pected to clean up and dis-
pose of any garbage in your
company property at the end
Congratulations of EVERY day.
Dave & Juliah 3. And remember, DO NOT
put aluminum cans in the
and may you enjoy many burning barrel. There is a blue
happy years together! barrel located near the burn-
ing barrel for your aluminum
cans.
April 2021 Page 5
Webster Scale is committed to the safety
of employees and for providing a safe
working environment. Employees are re-
sponsible for following safe work practic-
es, company policies and procedures, and
for preventing accidents and injuries.
Employees reaching milestones for hours
of working safely without any lost time due
to injury this year were announced during
the virtual safety meeting on March 19th.
Congratulations, and thank you for work-
ing safely!
Misty Campbell, Jason Gaikowski, Ross Grupe
Terry Norgaard and Jamie Sturdevant
Rob Kading John Premus
Dave Goedert Buck Jorgenson JD Jorgenson Donald Fellbaum Tim Woods
Page 6
Years of Service awards announced
Webster Scale recognizes these
employees who each reached a
milestone year of service with the
company for 2021. Congratula-
tions, and thank you for your ser-
vice!
Kevin Tvinnereim Teresa Shoemaker Cade Shoemaker
Owen McGregor Jason Gaikowski Angela Shoemaker John Premus
‘Build America’ High School & College Youth
These youth workers are learning valuable skills while being an important part
of the Webster Scale workforce.
Faith Shoemaker Logan Dolney Aaron Neugebauer Lane Stern Cade Shoemaker
April 2021 Page 7
Webster Scale, Inc.
PO Box 127
14012 SD Highway 25
Webster, SD 57274
• Family owned business since
mid 1960’s
• Full line of scale products,
services and parts
• Wide variety of heavy
construction services
• Committed to providing
superior products and services
at a reasonable cost
Announcement from Alex German!
Shawn Charlson
Memorial Benefit
Saturday, April 17, 2021
VFW Webster, SD
Proceeds will go to Mindy (Wik) Charlson
for expenses due to the untimely
loss of her husband Shawn.
• Silent Auction 2-8 PM
Donations may be made to help support this cause and can
be dropped off with Jenna Wik (605) 881-3512 or
Mike Wambach (605) 216-0376. Items may also be
dropped off at Dacotah Bank in Webster.
• Meal Served 5-7 PM
(free will donation)
Matching Funds Benefit
Sponsored by St. Ottos Ct. 1252
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