Tyler Dishman’s leadership qualities stood out when he joined Scoular’s Downs, Kansas, facility in 2009 as a laborer.
Fresh out of high school, he asked questions about everything from blending grains to operating shuttle loaders. When a piece of equipment broke down, he fixed it. When help was needed at a facility in another state, Dishman’s arm shot up.
“You could see from the start he was a leader,’’ says Doug Lantz, facility manager at Downs. “He kept taking on more responsibility.”
Through hard work, determination and mentoring, Dishman became a superintendent at Scoular’s facility in Pratt, Kansas. His story illustrates how employees can grow their careers at Scoular.
"We believe our people are a differentiating factor to our success, and we take pride in investing in their development," the company said.
Scoular offers everything from formal training courses and management and leadership programs to a tuition reimbursement program, employee resource groups, and opportunities for our employees to demonstrate their expertise by speaking at industry events.
Elevation Training Program trains supervisors
Its newest development offering is focused on employees like Dishman. Scoular officially kicked off the new program this month.
The Elevation Training Program aims to promote facility operators who have excelled in their roles into operations management positions. Through an 18-month apprenticeship, participants learn the skills needed to become a Scoular superintendent.
Lantz hired Dishman for his first job with Scoular and says it has been gratifying to see his success.
Dishman credits Lantz with providing excellent mentoring and guidance, helping him to learn and advance with the company.
Dishman's first duties at Downs included entry-level tasks such as filling grain bunkers. He sought more responsibility and constantly looked for ways to stretch himself and discover all he could about facility operations.
Within a couple years he had learned how to blend grains to meet customer needs and efficiently and safely load shuttle trains on a tight schedule. He also showed leadership when Downs experienced turnover of several veteran employees in 2012. On his own initiative and with guidance from Lantz, he began making sure crew members had the right assignments for the day.
Dishman was promoted in 2016 to superintendent at the Winona, Kansas, facility then to a higher-level superintendent role in Pratt, Kansas, in 2021.
Blake Boardman’s career success is another example of the Elevation path.
He started at Scoular two years after high school as a laborer at the facility in Hancock, Iowa. Like Dishman, Boardman showed initiative and leadership, taking on more duties and soaking up all he could about facility operations.
Boardman, now a superintendent at Fremont, Nebraska, agrees with Dishman that guidance and mentoring played big parts in his career advancement. Hancock facility leaders Landon Cousins and Brady Schneider provided those for Boardman.
For more on Scoular careers, click here.
Author: Brian Ring, regional manager, Grain Division, Scoular
