Team Co-Line unite around a fellow employee who has been diagnosed with colon and liver cancer by donating 330 hours of their own paid-time-off and $2,655 to help him through his recovery. Prayers for strength and complete healing from your Co-Line family. Get well soon, Dave Beckham!
Thank you to all who donated. Your generosity is inspiring!
1. CO-LINE GOES VERTICAL in material handling with space savings and efficiency gains in vertical structural tube storage. Addition of two Hubtex forklifts allowed narrow aisle storage solutions. Look for more vertical space saving gains in 2019!
2. 2018 MARKED THE LARGEST INVESTMENT IN New EQUIPMENT and the future of Co-Line with fiber technology in tube and flat steel. Another fiber tube laser, first fiber flat laser, five Toyota forklifts, several modular weld fixtures, and welding equipment, and new capabilities with a Schroder folder were added in 2018.
3. EMPLOYEES KICKED BACK AND ENJOYED A BACKYARD COUNTRY PICNIC with live music, Redneck Wind Chime Contest, cannon shooting, watering hole, log sweeper, games, and prizes, capped off with an over-the-top fireworks show!
4. RECORD BREAKING SALES YEAR, NEW CUSTOMERS, and DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS
made the list the for the second year in a row.
5. ANOTHER RECORD $104,950 was handed out in years of service bonuses. That’s 1049 years of collective manufacturing expertise!
6. AS A CONTINUED EFFORT TO KEEP CO-LINE A PREMIER EMPLOYER OF THE AREA, announcement of health insurance premium increases were fully covered with no additional costs for employees.
7. CO-LINE RECEIVES A RECORD NUMBER OF applications WITH 779 PEOPLE interested in joining team Co-Line. We welcomed 42 of these to the Co-Line family.
8. RAGBRAI CENTURY LOOP RIDERS take a break at Co-Line for free water, restrooms, and tours. Spontaneous tours along with dozens of scheduled customer, vendor, school, and college tours solidify that Co-Line is always TOUR READY!
9. FABULOUS FRIDAYS kicked off the final six weeks of the year including tailgating snacks with flag football, dodgeball, and donuts, Sharing is a Piece of Cake, Freaky Fast Friday, Free Shirt Friday, and concluded the year with a company-wide potluck. The FUN will continue in 2019.
10. FARM & COMMERCIAL REPAIR SHOP CLOSES AFTER 40 YEARS. With new projects and continuous improvement ideas, the skills of this department will be invested in our own projects for the next 40 years!
Friday, Dec. 21 was the 2018 company-wide Christmas lunch. The free lunch served by Julie Roose and the Country Catering Crew was delicious, especially the yummy cheesecake! After lunch, names were drawn to participate in the Plinko game and seven lucky winners got to choose from seven mysterious prizes. While only a select few were chosen to participate in the games, everyone won when bonus checks were handed out to all employees based on their years of service. Christmas cheer was shared by all.
Co-Line’s second annual food donation drive netted 627 pounds of non-perishable food products for the East Jasper Christian Food Pantry.
For each pound of food donated by employees, Co-Line matched monetarily and on Monday, Nov. 26, the company presented East Jasper Christian Food Pantry with a check for $627 in addition to the two pallets of food.
“Instead of catering in a big feast for our employees the day before Thanksgiving as we had for years, we started a new tradition last year encouraging employees to bring in food pantry donations in exchange for a free pizza lunch. The response was greater than we could imagine and together Team Co-Line is blessing many others during this holiday season,” shared the Brand family.
The food donated for the Thanksgiving Food Drive filled a van and was quite a load to sort and count. Luckily, third generation Co-Liners, Carter and Abigail Brand, had it all sorted and weighed prior to the van arriving.
Co-Line employees kicked off their Employee Quarterly Meeting with creativity and fun on Friday, Oct. 26. Following a free BBQ meal, a Halloween costume contest was enjoyed by all.
BEST OVERALL: Oscar the Grouch — Wendi Beason
MOST CREATIVE: Super Mario — James Heimbuck
FUNNIEST: Maid — Jason Teft
BEST IMPERSONATION: Scooby Doo — Mark Van Wyk
It was a small showing for Motor Mania on Friday, Sept. 21 at 9:00 break, but the burnouts and fun times still abounded. Questionable weather earlier that morning and a busy time of year kept some employees saving their pride and joy on wheels for another time. Josh Good was named burnout king with his Chevy S10 truck. The next Motor Mania will be scheduled in the spring.
For the August wellness challenge, Co-Liner’s were challenged to create teams for Co-Line’s 2nd Annual Amazing Race. Because of a rain delay, the race happened Sept. 14. This race is no easy feat, with five challenges: kayaking, running, shooting hoops, biking, and bags throwing. Each team showed amazing stamina, but first place could only go to one team.
FIRST PLACE: TIME = 7:49.85 — Kyle Soderblom, Tanner Briggs, Joel Schmidt, Jeff Smith, and Dale Maston
(Each team member received $100 cash)
SECOND PLACE: TIME = 10:04.19 — Gabby Axmear, Kyle Wilson, Dale Brand, Jason Teft, and Roger Belcher
(Each team member received a $25 gift card and a $20 Co-Line coin)
Third place was very close coming in at 10:06.17. All others that participated got a free lunch coin.
Another epic Co-Line Company Picnic is in the books — bounce houses, live music, barrel train rides, log sweeper challenge, redneck wind chimes, donut eating contest, custard and pie, a wonderful BBQ meal, and the most spectacular fireworks show to date with a surprise fiery finish. And every employee left a little richer — those who attended scored lottery tickets earning $25, $50, $75, or $100. A good time was had by all. Thank you to all the Co-Liners who came with your families to celebrate another successful year. See the full photo album below.
Palm trees? In Iowa? Only metal ones at Co-Line. The Lake Seven-A metal palm trees were installed in early July. These were another one of Rail’s extraordinary ideas.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those in Pella, Marshalltown, and Bondurant affected by the tornadoes, Thursday, July 19. The EF3 tornado that hit Marshalltown was especially devastating — little left standing in its wake. One thing stood untouched, one of the town’s Goalsetter hoops. It’s quality craftsmanship withstood the 144 mph winds. Many Co-Liners have reached out to those affected. We thank you for your efforts.