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From Tim Klein, CEO
It is hard to believe we are well past the pandemic’s one-year mark globally, and while we are still faced with unique challenges from COVID-19, we have new ways to meet these challenges and brighter days ahead.
In addition to the many proven safety measures we have employed over the past 15 months, we are grateful to have another tool to protect our employees — COVID-19 vaccines. With these vaccines now widely available across the country, there is continued hope for protection from COVID-19.
We worked diligently with our partners to provide our employees with credible, multi-lingual information and resources, so our team members could feel confident, safe and informed about the vaccine. We’re proud to have had vaccines available to every employee at all our facilities and families at some locations. We will continue to secure vaccines and provide protection to all our employees who choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Additionally, we’ve been focused on our multi-layered COVID-19 prevention practices in our facilities. Our partners since the onset of the pandemic have been local health officials. As a result of these practices and our team members’ consistency, dedication and resilience, these prevention procedures helped reduce the number of COVID-19 incidences in our facilities, even when they increased around the country.
We always prioritize the safety of our employees and communities to better protect the people in our facilities, towns and states. We have been and will continue to be committed to hiring and securing resources from our local communities. It is vital to protect the lives and well-being of our employees who are carrying out the mission to feed America’s families.
As new information becomes available about COVID-19, we remain committed to informing, educating and answering questions for our workforce with accurate and unbiased information about all the ways our employees can protect themselves and their loved ones against COVID-19.
Throughout the pandemic, we have driven change through commitments with local, county and state leaders and UFCW2. We are grateful for their collaboration on securing the vaccine to continue fighting the pandemic for both our current and future employees. This work has proven to our team and to me once again: Together, We are Better.
Tim
From Tim Klein, CEO
It’s been nearly six months since COVID-19 entered our lives and our communities. I could never have imagined then that we would still be dealing with this six months later, nor do I know when we will be done. But these are the things I do know based on these last six months:
Every single one of them. It hasn’t been easy. In the beginning, we were rapidly adjusting our processes and protocols to improve safety while managing COVID-19 cases in our plants and our communities. Our industry was often in the local and national news for the wrong reasons during a time when we were all learning how to combat Covid-19 and keep our people safe. And yet our employees continued to deliver — safe, quality beef products, ideas for improved safety, and time and talents to help their families and communities thrive in challenging situations.
There isn’t a manual for what we are working through, but great employees, creative ideas, and amazing partners help us navigate. Our team is successfully moving forward on a twisting, turning road from our employees managing family and homeschooling to our entire value chain, shifting to meet vastly different grocery and foodservice needs.
It’s written all over our facilities: “We Are Family.” Our employees have embodied this motto so much over the past six months in how they take care of their fellow employees, their own families, and their communities. But these challenging times have shown me our family goes far beyond our facilities.
To the ranchers who raise quality cattle, to the transportation teams that carry our National Beef products across the country, to the customers who worked with us as we adjusted to changing foodservice and consumer demand — YOU are part of the National Beef family.
When you are part of a family, you value each other for who you are, support and challenge one another to grow, and together, you celebrate both big and small wins. We’re honored and grateful to be part of one National Beef family.
So, as we celebrate this very unique milestone, I simply want to say thank you for your support over the last six months. And thank you for being with us on the road ahead.
With gratitude,From Tim Klein, CEO
For many of us at National Beef®, we’ve started to adjust and settle into the changes we made as a response to COVID-19. I’m proud of the great work of our team as they developed and executed a strategy to keep our employees safe while continuing to deliver high-quality products to our customers.
We know that we won’t be able to go back to how things used to be. We are committed to continue improving our practices, keeping our employees safe and supporting and helping our communities and neighbors.
As part of our continued commitment:
We are grateful to have received support from our community and neighbors through this challenging time. We are now giving back, focusing our efforts on supporting the communities where we live and work as well as the local businesses who provide needed goods and services to our employees and their families. These past three weeks, we have committed $1.7 million for assistance to our friends and neighbors - here are a few ways we are supporting them:
While our commitment is the same, our actions are changing and evolving as we learn more about how to aid in the COVID-19 response and the needs of our communities.
Tim
From Tim Klein, CEO
These have been incredibly challenging weeks for our industry and for National Beef. Our entire value chain – from our ranchers to our consumers – has felt and will feel the impact. I want to begin by quickly reminding you of our two key principles:
With regards to our production facilities:
The only sure thing these days is constant change, and as we adapt to these changes, we will continue to share updates with you. Thank you for your support of our team, the beef industry and our farmers and ranchers.
We are very proud of the many actions we've taken in response to this crisis, but most of all we are proud of our employees who are coming to work each day and following safe practices at home as well. Thank you for all you’ve done, all you are doing, and all we will do together in the weeks and months ahead to work safely and provide beef to American families.
From the National Beef family to yours, thank you.
Tim
From Tim Klein, CEO
Across our country and specifically in the communities in which we live and work, we are collectively experiencing unprecedented times. Times that require the resourcefulness of our suppliers and ranchers, the strength of our customers, the support of our communities and the courage of our employees, in order for us to rise to this challenge.
These words won’t ever be enough, but they’re heartfelt and sincere… Thank You.
Each of you plays a vital role as National Beef continues to be one of the leading suppliers of quality beef products. We are an integral part of our nation’s critical infrastructure, keeping America’s food supply operating throughout this pandemic, a serious and special responsibility.
Our highest order and priority is always ensuring and protecting the health of our employees, and especially throughout this time. We have been sharing daily updates with our 9,400 employees and have made significant investments for them. However, as our communities and consumers have become increasingly aware of our role in the food supply chain, I feel it is critical you are also aware of these changes.
First and foremost, know that every leadership decision is focused on reducing the spread of COVID-19 throughout our communities and upholding our commitment to the safety and well-being of our employees. We are following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local health authorities in our plants, offices, and entire operation to help keep our employees safe.
Our enhancements come in these key areas:
We are conducting temperature screenings of every person prior to entry in all our facilities.
We provide daily reminders to employees about how to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
We have installed stainless steel partitions between workstations on the production floors for increased safety.
Daily enhanced sanitation and fogging of employee locker rooms, cafeterias, break areas.
We have provided tents that increase physical space during breaks to improve social distancing opportunities for employees.
Plexiglass barriers have been installed on tables and other locations throughout the complexes.
In recognition of invaluable contributions during this period, we are offering the following Special Emergency Response Pay and Benefits for our production employees from March 16 - May 10, 2020:
At National Beef, we are honored to have the industry’s best employees. They have my full commitment – that we will do all we can to keep them safe as they help us fulfill our obligation to provide an uninterrupted food supply to families across America during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The greatest lesson we’ve learned over the past several weeks is how we at National Beef are connected to so many:We offer our debt of gratitude to all of you – to our employees and families who work and live in our communities; our city, county and state leaders who support and enable us to safely operate; and to our customers, who work to ensure National Beef products are readily available to consumers across the country.
From the National Beef family to yours, thank you.
Tim