Same old, same old is not always a bad thing, especially where Bobbi Moneysmith is concerned. She is nothing if not consistent in the upbeat attitude and positive outlook she brings to work every day.
“It doesn’t matter if you see her at 5 in the morning or at the end of the day,” says Knoxville (Iowa) Plant Manager Pat Kranz. “She’s always the same.”
Hormel Foods CEO Jim Snee and Bobbi Moneysmith
Bobbi is a production professional who fills in wherever she’s needed. She’s also the first of her colleagues at the Knoxville Plant to earn the right to wear the Hormel Foods jersey. Referred to as as Pride of the Jersey, the program is a companywide initiative designed to recognize those employees who live the Hormel Foods values on a daily basis. A specially branded hockey-style jersey is passed from one employee to another, an outward sign of each employee’s contributions to the company culture.
Bobbi was nominated and chosen unanimously by Pat and his management team. The group vowed to keep the news under wraps for a few days until Hormel Foods President and CEO Jim Snee got to town to hold an all-hands road-show meeting, where he made the Pride of the Jersey announcement.
“We voted on a Tuesday and had to keep it a secret until Friday,” Pat says. “I was afraid someone would slip, but we kept it a surprise.”
That included being cagey while touring the plant with Snee. Bobbi was training in the smokehouse when the group stopped by.
“I was putting a rack in the smokehouse. I was wondering why everyone was watching me. Then we went to the local theater for the road show and I learned about the jersey.”
Yet, it still didn’t register with Bobbi. Then she heard her name called and made her way to the stage.
“I had tears in my eyes,” she says.
Bobbi made the most of her time with the jersey, which goes to a new recipient in the plant after her time with it. She wore it at work the first day and out to dinner with family and friends. She also wore it to a hockey game, which she thought was appropriate, given the style of the jersey.
Knoxville is a town of about 7,300 and the plant figures prominently in the community’s pride points. “The honor piece [of Pride of the Jersey] is more about showing family and friends,” says Pat.
Among other things, the award must surely have been an affirmation that Bobbi’s recent career change was a good one. She came to the Knoxville Plant and to Hormel Foods just two years ago, leaving her career as a daycare worker behind.
“I miss the kids,” she says. “But I felt it was time to move on.”
These days, she gets a healthy dose of little people by coaching soccer and T-ball for her nephews, ages 3, 4 and 7. It’s an ideal way to combine her love of sports—Bobbi played soccer and volleyball in high school, and also ran track—with her devotion to the boys. “I don’t have kids,” she says. “They’re my kids.”
As for why she was selected to wear the jersey, Bobbi reluctantly offers, “I guess because I help everybody and try to look at the positive side of everything. Be thankful that you’re here.”
Pride of the Jersey is a yearlong effort to celebrate the culture, the people and the purpose of Hormel Foods, Inspired People. Inspired Food.™
