CPM Recognized as Patriotic Employer by Department of Defense Organization
The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) has recognized CPM Roskamp Champion, and its president, Ted Waitman, as a Patriotic Employer. Waitman and Waterloo, Iowa-based CPM Roskamp Champion were noted for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Thomas W. Sage, CPM field service technician from Waterloo, nominated CPM Roskamp Champion to receive the award based on the support his employer provided him and his family. Sage had only been employed at CPM for six months he when his unit, the 185th Joint Forces Training Institute based in Johnston, Iowa, was called to active duty. To his surprise, his supervisors and co-workers did whatever they could to help his family through the transition of deployment. And once Sage was overseas, their outpouring of communication and concern overwhelmed him.
“Through the year that I was in Afghanistan, my CPM family kept me well supplied with care packages, which were the biggest ones the post office ever got!” Sage says. “I got cards that were really great. Everyone was very supportive and kept me informed of what was going on at work.”
Sage’s co-workers at CPM also assisted his wife and family while he deployed. Sage returned to work two weeks after he was released from active duty, and was again amazed at his reception.
“I stepped back into my old position like I had never left,” Sage says. “Everyone helped me feel welcome and back home.”
ESRG is a Department of Defense organization that promotes cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers.
CPM is the world’s leading supplier of process equipment and technology for the animal feed, oilseed, biofuels and human food processing industries. CPM business units include California Pellet Mill, Roskamp Champion, Beta Raven, Century Extrusion, Wolverine Proctor and Crown Iron Works. CPM has more than 750 employees with production facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
