News Releases

Waupun, WI- East Central/Select Sires held their annual awards banquet on June 19, 2009 at the Comfort Inn in Deforest, Wis. The evening consisted of a social hour, dinner, a message from the board of directors and presentation of the performance and service awards.

Jay Ludeman of Lake Mills took home the top honor of Area Sales Manager (ASM) of the Year. He was also honored for achieving the highest Direct Herd Personal Total Unit Volume and Area Diversified Product Sales Percent Increase within the cooperative. Ludeman serves dairy and beef producers in Dodge, Dane, Columbia, Green, Rock and Walworth counties and supervises seven Member Service Representatives (MSRs) in his region.

Runner-up ASM of the Year was Tom Turner of St. Cloud. Turner serves Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Winnebago and Waushara counties and supervises seven MSRs in his territory. Turner was also recognized for the highest Personal Total Service Volume, Area Total Sales Volume, Area Total Unit Volume and Area Accounts Receivable within the cooperative.

Jeremy Konen of Livingston was awarded the prestigious MSR of the Year award. He was also honored as the Region D MSR of the Year. Konen also received awards for the top-ranked Select Mating Service Volume and Semen Blend. Konen provides artificial insemination services and offers semen and product sales to dairy and beef producers in Dane counties.

Steve Kacuba of Beaver Dam earned the title of Runner Up MSR of the Year. He also received the award for Region B MSR of the Year, Personal Total Service Volume, Area Total Service Volume, and Semen Blend Percent Increase. Kacuba serves herds in Dodge and Jefferson counties and was honored for reaching his 50,000^th and 60,000^th first-service cow milestones.

The Outstanding Effort Awards are given to employees who go above and beyond the call of duty every day. The Outstanding Effort Award for a MSR was presented to Bob Boatman of Darlington. Bill Daentl of Portage received the Outstanding Effort Award for Relief MSRs. The Outstanding Effort Award for Non-MSRs was presented to David Sarbacker of Edgerton.

Other top awards presented to MSRs included Regional MSR of the Year awards. Earning these honors were:

• Region A – Kurt Barnes, Kiel; serving Fond du Lac and Calumet counties
• Region B – Steve Kacuba, Beaver Dam; serving Dodge and Jefferson counties
• Region C – Bob Boatman, Darlington; serving Dane and Green counties
• Region D – Jeremy Konen, Livingston; serving Dane county
• Region E – Bryan Witt, Browntown; serving Green and Lafayette counties
• Region F – Bob Radke, Bangor; serving Monroe, La Crosse and Vernon counties

Ranking first in other categories of sales and service were:

• Tom Turner, St. Cloud
  • Area Total Sales Volume
  • Area Total Unit Volume
  • Area Accounts Receivable
  • Personal Total Service Volume
• Brad Fossum, Lodi
  • Personal Total Service Percent Increase
• Kevin Cox, Sparta
  • Area Total Service Percent Sales Increase
  • Area Total Unit Percent Increase
• David Sarbacker, Edgerton
  • Area Select Mating Service Volume
• Jay Ludeman, Lake Mills
  • Area Diversified Product Sales Volume
• Glen Stewart, Lomira
  • Area Diversified Product Sales Percent Increase
• Steve Kacuba, Beaver Dam
  • Personal Total Service Volume
  • Area Total Service Volume
  • Semen Blend Percent Increase
• Chris Jeidy, Bloomington
  • Personal Total Service Percent Increase
  • Area Total Service Percent Increase
  • Area Direct Herd Unit Percent Increase
  • Area Total Unit Percent Increase
• Howie Minnemea, Fond du Lac
  • Area Direct Herd Unit Volume
  • Personal Accounts Receivable
• Dave Hahn, Campbellsport
  • Area Total Unit Volume
  • Personal Diversified Product Sales Volume
• Jeremy Konen, Livingston
  • Personal Select Mating Service Volume
  • Semen Blend
• Jim Suddeth, Stoughton
  • Personal Diversified Product Sales Percent Increase
• Glen Kottke, Fond du Lac
  • Area Contribution

Awards for total lifetime first-service inseminations were also presented. They were:

• 130,000
  • Howie Minnema, Fond du Lac
  • Dave Hahn, Campbellsport
• 120,000
  • Bob Boatman, Darlington
• 100,000
  • Kurt Barnes, Kiel
• 80,000
  • Kevin Farnsworth, Deerfield
• 70,000
  • Steve Auchtung, Oakfield
  • Doug Rake, North Freedom
  • Dan Reilly, LaValle
• 60,000
  • Chris Meyer, Loganville
  • Dennis Hahn, Campbellsport
  • Bryan Witt, Browntown
  • Steve Kacuba, Beaver Dam
• 50,000
  • Steve Kacuba, Beaver Dam
• 40,000
  • Glen Kottke, Fond du Lac
• 35,000
  • Nate Watson, Elkhorn
  • Dennis Welsh, Muscoda
  • Bob Radke, Bangor
  • Eric Gudex, Oakfield
  • Alan Bell, Dodgeville
• 30,000
  • Eric Gudex, Oakfield
  • Alan Bell, Dodgeville
  • Roger Belling, Fond du Lac
  • John Gerbitz, Milton
  • Sandy Hoppmann, Wilton
  • Joel Franke, Hillsboro
• 20,000
  • Aaron McMillan, Oshkosh
  • Loren Polkinghorn, Dodgeville
  • Eric Bierman, Fennimore
• 10,000
  • Dennis Meyer, Waupun

Recognition was also given to employees for length of service milestones:

• 40 years
  • Sandy Neitzel
• 25 years
  • Linda Van Loo
• 20 years
  • Steve Otteson
  • Dennis Welsh
• 15 years
  • Bob Radke
  • Dave Sime
  • Kevin Jorgensen
  • Eric Olstad
• 10 years
  • Deb Giese

East Central/Select Sires is a professional, artificial breeding cooperatives serving dairy and livestock producers in southern Wisconsin. As a member-owner of Select Sires located near Plain City, Ohio, East Central/Select Sires helps make up the largest Artificial Insemination (A.I.) cooperative in the world. They provide highly fertile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying livestock breeders with America’s best genetics at a reasonable price.

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