"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." -Meister Eckhart
Happy thanksgiving, friends! It’s turkey time again and we’re so thankful to have you as part of our MTI family! Every year this time, I like to reflect upon all of the wonderful things we’ve experienced through the foodservice community! This year, I thought I would change things up a bit and ask for input throughout the MTI office. I went around and asked each person what they were most thankful for this year in relation to our business and I’ve got my favorite responses to share with you for this week’s blog. So pull up a chair, make yourself a leftover stuffing sandwich and dive in to this year’s annual thanksgiving blog.
Nancy Brophy – You may have interacted with Nancy if you’ve ever had to make a payment on a machine or called the office to verify an order. This year, Nancy said she is grateful for all of her coworkers. Working in a small office attached to a busy factory could seem like a quite challenge if we didn’t all work so well together. Instead, she told me, we have a great group of people working together to meet customer needs each and every day!
Chad Jeffries – If you’ve purchased a machine and you’re located on the east coast or Canada, Chad was probably your sales guy! This year, Chad said he is most grateful for the hard working team in our factory. As MTI grows, so does our team in the factory. Chad shared that he thinks it’s really great to be able to approach the factory with an idea for a new product or product update and have them actually turn that idea into action!
Matt Judkins – If you own an AutoFry, you’ve most definitely spoke to Matt! As our Regulatory Specialist and Service Manager, he works with customers every day! Matt said he is especially grateful for our customer’s patience. We all know it can be frustrating to have to deal with a service issue, especially if it’s a busy season! But Matt said he is so glad that our customers are kind and receptive to the technical solutions he offers when a machine presents an issue.
Vinny Tosto – While you probably haven’t interacted with Vinny, he’s the man with the plan! Literally… Vinny creates and draws out mechanical advancements and new products as our resident CAD man. Vinny said, while he would love to provide a sentimental thing to be grateful for, instead he’s going with the thing on the top of his mind: Turkey! This year, and every year, Vinny is thankful to be working for a company that truly values its employees, and at thanksgiving provides each employee with a turkey to take home for their family meal!
Alana Martel – If you’ve ever ordered replacement parts or gotten a call for filter packs, chances are you spoke with Miss Martel! Alana whole heartedly agreed with Vinny that bringing home the thanksgiving turkey each year is a huge perk! And she is also really grateful that she is working with a company that values its employees as much as its customers!
Kathy Smith – Our fearless leader when it comes to the direction of our sales team both nationally and internationally, you’ve probably met Kathy at any one of our trade shows we attend each year. Kathy said, this year, she is exceptionally grateful for the support of staff both nationally and internationally. It’s hard to execute successful sales across the globe and she could not do it without her top notch team of distributors, sales managers and in house support – from service, to marketing to finance and production, we really do have an amazing thing here!
Bill McMahon – As the president of our company, Bill is the man behind the curtain! Bill said this year he’s most grateful for our customers. Obviously, we wouldn’t be here without them, Bill told me. But, he explained further, it’s an overwhelming privilege to be able to serve hardworking business owners who put their confidence in our equipment. From the small mom and pop shops, to the big global chains, it truly is our customers that keep us committed to safety, reliability and continuous product improvement.
Bess Wightman – As the marketing manager, you get to hear my point of view each and every week in the blog! And, because it’s my blog, and I do what I want --- I’ve got two things I’m grateful for this year. First, I am glad that our trade show season is complete! We attended more trade shows this year than ever before and while the payoff is certainly visible, I’m SO grateful to be off the hook for trade show planning for at least a month!
Second, I am so grateful to our food partners. When planning tradeshows, one of the hardest parts is figuring out what we intend to cook at each show. It’s so wonderful to have a great relationships with delicious food partners who are willing to share their foods with us. Brakebush Chicken, Curdtown and McCain Foodservice all worked with us this year to provide food at shows for customers to sample and I am so grateful for their assistance!