Steve Myers Interview: 2019-20 GEAPS International President Looks at the State of the Society
Steve Myers’ 38-year career in the grain industry and the Grain Elevator and Processing Society has been one from the ground up for the 2019-20 GEAPS international president.
Myers, an elevator superintendent for Bunge Milling in Atchison, KS, began his career in the grain industry during high school in Atchison, helping a local farmer during summers. Upon graduation from Atchison County Community High School, he began a full-time job at Atchison County Farmer Union Coop, where he worked from 1981-90. He then spent 12 years at Conagra Foods in Atchison, rising to assistant superintendent.
In 2002, Myers joined St. Joseph, MO-based LifeLine Foods and the Kansas City Chapter of GEAPS. Myers was hired by Bunge in 2008 as an elevator superintendent in Atchison, where he has worked ever since.
GEAPS distance education courses have been a big part of Myers’ career. He undertook training in aeration, design and management, material handling, and electrical code courses.
With GEAPS, he has served as GEAPS Foundation board director, Marketing Oversight Committee member, Membership Committee member and international president.
He also is a member and director of the GEAPS Kansas City chapter.
Grain Journal interviewed Myers early in October to discuss issues currently facing the organization.
What are the major issues confronting GEAPS as an organization?
Some of the areas of concern are the average age of frontline supervisors at our facilities and dealing with new technology as it evolves.
A tough question presently is, how will we replace these senior supervisors when they retire? As the grain industry’s knowledge resource, it partially is our responsibility to help prepare younger employees for management roles in the near future.
Continuing education programs have become a backbone for GEAPS. How do you expect these programs to grow or evolve?
GEAPS works continually to keep its educational programming relevant as the industry continues to change and evolve. We’ve recently added the Hands-On Training (HOT) program and the Grain Elevator Managers (GEM) course in partnership with Kansas State University. These programs offer interactive maintenance training and help build the skills necessary for new facility managers to succeed.
We’ve continued to evolve and add to the educational opportunities available during GEAPS Exchange. Overall, Exchange offers nearly 40 hours of c education between the Expo Hall and the hour-long education sessions offered throughout the conference.
At a local level, we are working to provide chapters with tools to find high-quality speakers for meetings and providing more support to strengthen and grow regional conferences.
And for the first time, we had a chapter stream its meeting online, providing greater reach for those unable to attend in person. GEAPS’ North Iowa chapter hosted Dr. Charles Hurburgh of Iowa State University for a presentation on grain quality for the 2019 Iowa harvest. The ability to attend virtually was well received, and I believe that more chapters will look for ways to leverage technology like this.
Overall, we are working to meet the needs of the industry by providing valuable educational programming in a variety of formats.
Over the past few years, some grain companies have been developing their own employee training programs. Do you see these as a challenge to GEAPS or a potential partnership?
GEAPS definitely sees the potential for mutually beneficial partnerships. GEAPS welcomes everyone to the table. Since this organization provides continuing education and professional development, the involvement of grain companies is crucial. They can tell us what they need from our programming, and we likely have the resources to accommodate their requests. We believe this a way for both GEAPS and the grain industry to benefit and grow.
What are some ways GEAPS works to retain its members and attract new ones?
We’re always trying to make GEAPS more valuable for our members. However, retaining members and gaining new ones is difficult to do, considering all the mergers and acquisitions that are happening. One of our approaches to membership is focusing on the younger generation. We want to show them the value of our organization. GEAPS has so much to offer in the areas of networking and educational programming.
A perennial complaint in the grain industry is the difficulty of finding and keeping good employees when opportunities abound in other industries. How is GEAPS addressing this situation?
GEAPS is very proud of the annual leadership conference held each July. If you’re a GEAPS member, attendance is free. We bring in some really talented speakers who work to make us better frontline leaders. For the young people coming up, it would help them immensely by giving them stronger leadership skills.
Another thing we do is the Student Day program at GEAPS Exchange. It began in 2014 in Omaha, NE, with probably 20 students, and this year we had 105 students c in New Orleans, LA. It helps to make young people aware of GEAPS and what it offers. Some of these students already know where they will be working after graduation, but many do not. Their time at GEAPS Exchange is a chance to learn about a career path they may not have considered or known much about. There are many potential career paths in this field, and we offer students and accompanying faculty free admission to Exchange. Anyone interested in participating can call GEAPS at 763- 999-4300.
As the GEAPS Exchange Expo continues to grow, it limits the number of potential sites. How does GEAPS plan to address this?
Planning GEAPS Exchange is a complicated process. Because of the size of the convention hall and meeting space required for our needs, GEAPS needs to book a site at least five years out.
Each year the board selects five to seven cities to evaluate. We consider the Expo Hall, meeting space, and hotel availability. Some cities, like Nashville, require a commitment of 4,000 rooms on peak nights – we currently contract for about 1,200 on our busiest nights.
We will continue to rely on GEAPS staff for their expertise in researching options. The international board will take this information and make the best choice for GEAPS, our members, and our exhibitors.
We are very excited to be in Minneapolis, March 21-24, 2020; Columbus, OH, Feb. 20-23, 2021; and Kansas City, MO from 2022 to 2024.
Do you have any updates to share regarding the GEAPS Foundation?
We are pleased to say that we recently reached our endowment goal of $4 million (see p. 149), thanks to the generous contributions of 16 companies and over 50 individual contributions. Investment income from this fund will provide funding for GEAPS professional development programs. The Foundation will continue to accept donations, and we are excited for the opportunities this funding will provide.
What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment as GEAPS international president so far?
It doesn’t seem like I’ve been president very long, and David Krejci’s retirement as executive vice president certainly has kept me busy. David was a fixture with GEAPS for 30 years. With a new executive director (Steve Records), we have kicked off a new strategic planning process. I think some of the initiatives that shake out of this process will have an impact on GEAPS for a long time.
How do you think GEAPS will look in five to 10 years?
I am confident it will be strong and successful. Hopefully, there will be a lot of fresh new faces in leadership positions. With all we have to offer young professionals in terms of education and networking, I am excited to see how the next generation uses these tools to advance their careers.
What has your membership in GEAPS meant to you personally during your career at Bunge?
I’ve met a lot of good people along the way whom I never would have met otherwise. And I value the networking with other folks who are having the same issues as me. They’re at different facilities but dealing with the same issues. You hear this from a lot of GEAPS members: Help is only a phone call away.