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Half a century
Marketing Communications Department’s Polly Campbell closes Co-op career
By Glen Liford, Editor |
12/23/2020 |
It’s the end of an era for those of us in the Marketing Communications Department. Polly Campbell will be retiring at the end of January after an amazing 50 years of service with Tennessee Farmers Cooperative.
Her first day was July 27, 1970 when she went to work as an administrative assistant in the Marketing Department at only 18 years old. In 1974, she moved to the Communications Department. Over the years, she has largely worked behind the scenes, but her efforts have been vital to the department’s work. In the early days, she set type for graphic artist Bob Gillespie to place as he was doing the layouts of the Cooperator. As the department went to the desktop publishing method that is still used today, Polly mastered the new tools and pitched in to help with local newsletters, billing, and overseeing the Cooperator’s recipe section. Her tenure has made her the go-to person whenever there is a question pertaining to Co-op’s history. If she can’t personally retrieve the answer from memory, she knows where to find the answer or who to ask. Polly is also a familiar face to many who attend TFC’s Annual Meeting, manager meetings, and buyers’ shows where she helps with registration and check in procedures. More importantly she has long been the Mother Hen of our department, watching over staff and offering needed advice, whether it was solicited or not. Day-to-day activities are not going to be the same for us without her presence and professionalism.
It’s now time for her to spend additional time doing what she wants to do and taking care of her two children, 11 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren. We wish her a long and enjoyable retirement.
As I think about Polly and her half century of service, I’m amazed at how many Co-op employees seem to get near or even exceed that 50-year mark. TFC Chief Operating Officer Jim McWherter retired at the end of October (see story on page 33) with 47 years of service. Tom Bible, who served as TFC agronomy specialist, retired the same month with 43 years of service. And Brett Nanney in Ag Equipment retired on July 31 with more than 44 years.
There are 17 employees at TFC who are still working and have 40 years or more of service, and one who is still working with more than 50 years of service. Some 39 employees have between 30 and 39 years of service. Those numbers do not include many at local Co-ops who have similar records.
Co-op compares favorably to other employers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of January 2020 the median number of years workers had been with their current employer was only 4.1 years. For those employees 65 years or older the average was just over 10 years.
I think Polly’s experience and those of all the other employees mentioned speak well of TFC and the Co-op system. There are plenty of choices of places to work, but employees like these have chosen to invest their lives working for Co-op and ultimately the farmer owners. Their efforts on behalf of Tennessee farmers are among the reasons this organization has been so successful for so long.
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