Technology
6/24/2011 7:00:00
AM
A
Closer Look: Mike Shindelar
Mike
Shindelar is the new executive director of Feed
Energy.
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| Photo
by Kyle
Oppenhuizen | |
| Mike
Shindelar |
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About: Shindelar was named executive
director of Feed Energy Co. in late May. He has
worked in management at a diverse group of
companies, including Ertl Co. in Dyersville,
Delfield Co. in Michigan and Powell Industries
Inc. in Houston.
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Education: Bachelor’s degrees in
industrial engineering and mechanical
engineering from Iowa State
University
• Hometown:
Hudson
• Age:
49
 View
video
| | By
Kyle Oppenhuizen
What
brought you to Feed Energy?
I
started in October 2010. I came here as a
process engineer. I came in knowing that there
was potential within the organization to do some
other things, and that’s what really intrigued
me. Also, just the company in general – I was
very impressed with (founder) Bob Riley and the
organization.
What
attracted you to the
company?
There were a couple
things that really intrigued me about coming to
work for Feed Energy. One of the things is that
Bob Riley was an early adopter of a lot of
things. One of the things that Bob said to me
that really impressed me was “triple bottom
line.” Financial (gain) is the obvious piece.
Then you’ve got the environmental regulatory
piece, making sure that we’re focused on clean
water and doing those things. The last piece is
really the social side, making sure that we
really develop our people to get better.
Focusing on all three of those things is really
critical. The last thing that I think is
interesting is smaller companies are going to be
the backbone of the economy as it comes out of
the crises we have been
in.
Tell me about your
background.
I tell people this:
I’ve been very blessed with a very robust and
diverse background. I’ve done a lot of different
management positions; I’ve been in a lot of
different industries. The one thing that is
consistent is that they all have a product. How
do you sell that product? How do you manufacture
that product? There are a lot of different
techniques in pushing that through. In all my
positions there has been a focus on lean
principles. To me, it means a lot of common
sense. It’s about understanding what your
customer wants, translating it into what you do,
and doing it effectively. And then making sure
you measure it so everybody understands the
goals. Not only do you have product delivery,
but the other biggest piece is about service.
It’s what you can provide the customers to make
their lives easier.
What
goals do you have as executive
director?
I see two key things
we need to focus on. One is operational
excellence. That means getting our plants to a
level that we are the best in what we do.
Basically putting measures in place for
continuous improvement, actively putting in a
quality system. We’re in the process of getting
that implemented and completed. An external
piece that we’re looking to do is continue to
grow. Prior to me coming here, our initiative
was to get to 3.5 (million) pounds of material
sold per week. We’re now in the process of
putting together a 5.0 plan to get 5 million a
week. What that does is translated into a sales
and marketing plan that we’ve got to develop. It
also puts in place, from a capacity standpoint,
how are we able to handle that? So potentially
with new markets and new
customers.
Where are you
hoping to expand?
We service
customers primarily in the contiguous states
around Iowa, including Iowa, and we’re looking
to reach out and touch others beyond that. A
couple target areas that we’re looking at, in a
little longer range, are the southeast part of
the country and also the West Coast. And to
continue to grow with customers we already
have.
What made you want
to come back to Iowa?
I’m an
Iowa boy. I’m a farm boy. I grew up in a small
town, and I worked on farms all through high
school. Iowa is a great place. The people are
wonderful, and I always like the lifestyle here
comparative to the other places I lived. In the
Midwest, the values and all those things are
definitely what attracted me to coming
back.
What do you do for
fun?
I am a huge college
football fan. I played football at Iowa State
when I was there. I’m active in the Cyclone
Gridiron Club. I’m on the board there. Other
than that, I like doing a lot of different
things. My therapy is I do woodworking and I fix
up houses. My wife and I just moved into a house
that we said we were not going to do anything
to, and that’s changed. We’ve got four or five
major projects. So for me it’s good
therapy.
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