Sadly, we are canceling our August 1 Co-Line Employee Picnic. This large event takes months of planning and due to COVID-19, several of our entertainment vendors have been unable to commit these last few months. Last year, our attendance was over 500, and we are not sure what our governor’s ruling might be 60 days from now. Don’t worry, we will get our thinking caps on and figure out a way to celebrate our employees and how great team Co-Line is!
Several employees from multiple departments were called in for the maiden voyage of the new paint line on May 6. A big thank you for sharing labor across all of Co-Line!
On Friday, Mar. 13, 34 employees of Co-Line lined up to sport a new look as a united show of support for three co-workers battling cancer, Reggie Kaldenberg, Brad Braafhart, and Brad Musgrove. Earlier this month, Reggie began losing her hair, and Co-Line’s maintenance team coordinated this amazing show of support to shave their heads with her. What started off as five heads turned into 34 willing Co-Liners!
Reggie was present at the early morning haircut session and lent a helping hand, personally shaving the hair of multiple coworkers, including the beard of Eric Brand and the beard of her husband Todd who hadn’t shaved his beard in over five years! Participating employees took turns sitting in makeshift barber chairs, donned garbage bag “capes,” and emerged when finished with bald heads and/or clean-shaven faces while their 190 co-workers cheered them on. Team Co-Line has donated money, vacation hours, Co-Line coins, and many words of encouragement to the team members during this time. $1,047 was raised!
Progress continues on Co-Line’s latest building expansion. The main framing is complete and installation of the south wall began mid-February. The Pro-Line crew will continue hanging the sheeting if the weather cooperates.
Co-Line’s newest facility began to take shape mid-January during one of the snowiest days of the month. The 120’x200’ building is being built by Pro-Line. At the end of January, crews brought in a crane to hoist up the overhead trusses that were actually pre-built on the ground before hoisting 24 feet in the air.
Total weight lost: 543.72 lbs.
Biggest Loser: Mark Van Wyk | 24.96% | 67.2 lbs.
Runner up: Doug Richards | 21.52% | 51.6 lbs.
Forty-four Co-Liner’s signed up for the Biggest Loser Challenge held October, November, and December. Weekly prizes were given to the biggest percentage lost from week to week. The winner of the challenge was announced at the company Christmas party; Mark Van Wyk lost 67.2 lbs. and received $500! Doug Richards lost 51.6 lbs. and was named runner up, winning $250. The 44 lost collectively 543.72 lbs.! To celebrate and visually demonstrate the amount lost, Co-Line donated 543.72 lbs. in dog and cat food to the Jasper County Animal Rescue League. Congratulations, Team Co-Line! Thank you for your dedication and hard work!
The top 10 losers are shown above with the 543.72 lbs. of food donated to the Jasper County Animal Rescue League. The top 10 lost collectively 325.40 lbs. Back: Shawna Tice, 19.17%; Cory Tice, 18.57%; Doug Richards, 21.52%; Mark Van Wyk, 24.96%; Tom Orr, 12.08%; Gary Goings, 8.89%; and Doug McClelland, 14.08%; front: Faye Brand, 11.37%; Stefany Knowler, 10.76%; and Brenda Smith, 11.53%.
The 2019 Co-Line Christmas Party was full of joy, laughter, and good food. The wonderful meal was served by Julie Roose and her team at Country Catering. After lunch, there was fun and frivolity with lots of games and big prizes (and some pies in the face) and an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. After a vote by his peers, Bryce Romick was found to be the ugliest of them all in his elf dress and tights. He was rewarded $50 to Bass Pro for his attire and bravery. It was announced that the years of service bonus of $111,000 was paid out. The afternoon ended with a hearty Merry Christmas speech from Eric Brand and some special holiday cheer in a can for anyone who wanted it. It was a Merry Christmas indeed. Cheers to a new year, and a big thank you to all for choosing joy at Co-Line!
Check out the photo gallery from the party below.
1. CO-LINE SUPPORTS THEIR OWN.
Several times throughout 2019, Co-Liners stepped up and helped co-workers in need, donating cash, Co-Line coins, PTO hours, prayers, words of encouragement, and more.
2. CO-LINE CELEBRATES 40 YEARS!
April 9, 2019, was a milestone anniversary for Co-Line and a BIG surprise party was pulled off for Rail and Tana. The 40th anniversary celebration continued in June with an Open House for vendors, customers, and special guests.
3. CO-LINERS WORK SAFELY.
Team Co-Line wrapped up 2019 with ZERO work-related time lost accidents. Currently, 305 days is the second highest record, that’s 459,317 hours! The last time this number was achieved was October of 2015!
4. THERE WERE 52 FABULOUS FRIDAYS IN 2019.
From food to games, gift cards to beer, Fabulous Fridays were enjoyed by all throughout 2019. Rumor has it they will continue into 2020!
5. ANOTHER RECORD $111,000 was handed out in years of service bonuses. That’s 1,110 years of collective manufacturing expertise at Co-Line!
6. IMPLEMENTING BAR CODING of sheet material locations, drop racks, and jig/fixture locations reduced chaos in 2019. Plans for bar coding structural materials is underway for 2020.
7. INSTALLATION OF PAINT and POWDER EQUIPMENT including four separate drive chains, four booths, four ovens, two drying and cooling tunnels, is nearing completion in the south building.
8. AN AMAZING CO-LINE “BEST OF THE BEST” PICNIC WAS HELD IN AUGUST with a special tribute to Rail’s little sister Lisa Jansen who lost her short battle with cancer. The moment is one everyone in attendance will always remember.
9. ANOTHER FIBER FLAT LASER is installed along with automation taking Co-Line’s laser cutting capabilities to a whole new level. The 30 tray tower holds 196,000 lbs. of material!
10. GROUNDBREAKING BEGAN on Co-Line’s third facility. Two new parking lots, two evaporation basins, and site work for a 120’x200’ facility took shape in late 2019.
Co-Liners teamed up for their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive on Nov. 22. This year in one day only, the team brought in 862 pounds of food. Dale, Tana, Eric, and Faye Brand, matched the employees’ generous food donations with a dollar per pound netting a check for $862 to the East Jasper Christian Food Pantry. A friendly competition is held each year between the two buildings on the Co-Line campus to see who brings in the most weight in food. This year, for the second year in a row, bragging rights went to the north building. All those employees who donated enjoyed a free pizza lunch provided by Co-Line. “Our employees continue to exceed our expectations each year sharing food generously with those that otherwise might not have enough during this holiday season,” said Faye. “This year, nearly 200 pounds more was brought in over last year’s numbers. We are excited to see if we can top 1,000 pounds in one day next year!”
Earthmoving for Co-Line’s next expansion project began in early August. Since that time, busy schedules and Mother Nature’s unpredictable weather has thrown some curveballs into the progress. Two of the three employee parking lots are now done to grade and ready for concrete. The third parking lot is nearing completion, as well. The slab for the new cold storage building has also been finished to grade. In September, a large 12 ft. tall concrete drainage structure was installed for the evaporation basins for the new paint and powder system. The basins themselves are slowly starting to take shape, but Mother Nature has made it more challenging.
Several Co-Liners have gotten in on the dirt moving including Marty Van Wyk, Derrick Brelsford, Quintin Dewey, Eric Brand, and Rail Brand. Next steps include concrete for two parking lots and gravel for the third. Pro-Line has been awarded the bid for the new 120 x 200 cold storage building and Extreme Concrete will be doing all the exterior paving. The remaining storm sewer structures and piping along with shaping and sealing of the evaporation basins will continue with completion date projected in the next month.