A Special Thanks to My Team

As a small woman-owned and family-run business, we all wear many, many hats. And we are all running in different directions throughout the day, asking questions to each other as we pass each other in the hallways. I don’t get many opportunities to give a big hug of thanks to my team, much less recognize them in writing, so here it is!

Heading my team is my stepson, David Milroy. When I’m not around, and sometimes when I am, he’s your go-to guy. He can repair every piece of equipment in the building. And, if he can’t he knows who can and can get them at a moment’s notice. Equipment down is a bad thing. He knows how to generate just about every document necessary to operations. And, let me tell you, over the past 30 years, food manufacturers are required to generate paperwork like crazy! He’s been with us since he graduated from Old Dominion University in Virginia, and he has worked pretty much every job in the building. As Vice President, Plant Manager, and HACCP leader, he runs the show.

My husband, Don Milroy, with his incredible accounting, taxes and legal background, does all of our financial and tax work. And, lately, he has mastered our GreatNuts.com shipping system. As Vice President and CFO, we’d be lost without him.

My brother, Lee Eggleston, is Director of Purchasing. And while he keeps up with nut and fruit markets, does all of the contracting and purchases of almost a thousand different items for the company, he’s also HACCP certified, works with production scheduling and handling all of our Human Resources issues, including getting everyone paid every week.  Plus, he has a retail background and gets involved in our store, GreatNuts.com.

His wife, Deanna Eggleston, is a wiz with numbers and works for Don. She handles daily bookkeeping functions: accounts receivables, accounts payables, checkbook and bank reconciliations.  Plus, she gets involved in our facebook page and our website, GreatNuts.com.

Our Customer Service Manager, Erica, isn’t a blood relative, but she’s family nonetheless. She works out pricing and presentations with wholesale customers, generates sales orders, manages customer service reps, works in our GreatNuts.com retail store. As well, she works with GreatNuts.com web customer issues. Years ago, we used to have quibbles up there in customer service. Now, with Erica, there is calm, productivity and laughter. Ahhhh! Thank you, Erica!

Sandra Hernandez is our Production Manager. And, though not connected by blood, she is every bit family as the rest of us. She runs the whole “back of the house” and I don’t know how she does it! She’s been with us practically since the beginning. First of all, she’s completely bi-lingual, and she’s done every job back there. She is just simply the best. It’s that simple, and we couldn’t do it without her!

Beyond that there are so many supervisors and “stand-outs”. There is Ricki, Emma, Jose, Rosa, Isabel, Adan, Victor, and Martin, who has been there almost since we opened. And now I’m afraid if I keep going, I will leave someone out and that wouldn’t be good!

A Great Big Hug of Thanks to All of You!!

Below, our employees at Halloween gather around Matthew Cantu, a much-loved fellow employee, who was visitiing for the day after discovering he has a brain tumor.  Mathew is undergoing treatments.