CHS recognized for supporting part-time military

Dan Kubesh (in uniform), CHS truck driver and Army Reserves truck driver, fueler and platoon sergeant, has recognized CHS for its outstanding support of the military. He is pictured here with (from left) Jim Finley, Minnesota ESGR employer outreach director; Jim Kelzenberg, Minnesota ESGR Region 6 chair; David Vander Vliet, CHS Magnolia, Minn., location manager; and Rom Simonet, Minnesota state chair.  

CHS recently received the Above and Beyond award from the Minnesota Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for its outstanding support of active military members.

Only 30 businesses in Minnesota were selected to receive the Above and Beyond award from hundreds that were nominated. Nick Ricci, project management specialist, CHS, and Dan Kubesh, who drives truck out of the CHS location in Luverne, Minn., nominated CHS for this recognition. They are both active military members — Ricci with the National Guard and Kubesh with the Army Reserves. It is an honor for CHS to receive this distinction twice from two different employees and departments.

“It would be hard to find a better experience with another company when you are part-time military,” says Ricci. “The support I receive from all levels of the company is amazing. Many of the people that I work with in the military do not have as great of an experience with their companies as I have had with CHS.”

When he was deployed from June 2021 to February 2022 as a technical sergeant in cyber transport systems for the Air National Guard 133^rd Airlift Wing, Ricci’s supervisor, Donna Doucette, reached out regularly to check in with him and also checked to see if his family back home needed anything. Ricci says CHS human resources policies are very generous for deployed employees and the Veteran’s Employee Resource Group at CHS reached out many times while he was deployed.

According to a statement from the Minnesota ESGR Committee, the Above and Beyond Award is presented by ESGR state committees to recognize employers at the local level who have gone above and beyond the legal requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The companies provide their Guard and Reserve employees with additional, non-mandated benefits such as differential or full pay to offset lost wages, extended health benefits and other similar benefits.

Kubesh was in the National Guard for eight years before spending the last 13 years with the Army Reserves as a truck driver, fueler and platoon sergeant. He has been with CHS since 2016 and nominated the cooperative for this recognition while on deployment June 2022 to April 2023 in Italy and Africa. David Vander Vliet was his supervisor at the time.

“CHS has always been here for us,” says Kubesh. “They are always willing to help me and my family out. Of all the companies I have worked for, CHS has been by far the best to support the military.”

Mike Skuodas, senior director of operations for the CHS locations managed out of Brandon, is a former Marine and says the time he spent serving his county is the most valuable training he has ever received – from project planning to problem solving, adapting to constant change and leading a team. He said that training provides a solidate foundation for a career in agriculture.

“Recruiting, hiring and supporting our Guard and Reserve personnel is a sound strategy to drive success at CHS, and it is an honor to do so,” Skuodas says.