June 2016 - Hedahls.com

Anniversaries & New Employees
EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER
June 2016
Volume 24
Number 9
We have three multiple-of-five work anniversaries in May. Josh Kemmet,
Williston, celebrates 10 years, and Mike Kurtz, Sidney, celebrates 40 years.
Also Cory Silbernagel of Bismarck celebrates 25 years with Hedahls this
month. Those 25 years have not been continuous, but when asked what
brought him back to Hedahls, Cory answered, “The same reason I didn’t
want to leave in the first place,” making it clear that what he likes best
about his job are the people he works with. Cory had just returned from military service when he was hired for delivery at the Bismarck store. He worked
his way through other jobs quickly, moving to receiving , then to the radiator
shop. He attended Robinair training and then headed up the air conditioning work for the shop. Now Cory works in the Bismarck machine shop. Beyond his work as a machinist, he also does the service writing and office
work for the shop. While noting that many modern engines stand up better
than they used to, he also has seen changes in how Hedahls serves machine shop customers, with more and more specialized equipment and specialized services handled by specific shops in the organization. This master of
on-the-job training ended his interview saying that he thinks Hedahls is a
great company to work for, mainly because of its people. Then he said, “It’s
gone fast, but hopefully, I can go another 25.” We hope so too, Cory!
Dick Hedahl will be presenting Cory with his 25-year pin later this month,
with his colleagues at the Bismarck store.
Congratulations to Josh, Mike, and Cory, and thanks for your many years
of service.
We also have six new employees this month. Please welcome them.
DONALD LIPPERT – DJ is new in sales for BENCO Equipment. From Lincoln,
North Dakota, he has a son and a daughter. DJ enjoys hunting, fishing,
camping, and spending time with family.
JULIUS BOSCH – Julius is back with us, this time driving delivery for our Bismarck store. From Bismarck, he has three grown children—two daughters
and a son. Julius enjoys fishing with his son.
AUSTIN JENSEN – Austin is new at the counter in our Sidney store. From Sidney, Austin enjoys playing basketball, and such outdoor activities as snowmobiling, hunting, golf, and riding dirt bikes.
DALE KLEMM – Dale is new at the counter in our Milbank store. From Milbank,
he is married with two adult sons. Dale enjoys hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.
CHARLES GARNESS – Chuck is new at the counter in our Mandan store. Originally from New Town, North Dakota, Chuck enjoys playing guitar and singing
lead vocal. He enjoys mechanics and also likes playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.
NADHEER ABDDO – Nate is new in shipping and receiving at NEMAC Warehouse. Originally from Iraq, his family includes his father, mother, and sister.
Nate says he’s adventurous, enjoying the outdoors with such sports as fishing
and jet skiing.
4th of July Schedule
July 4 is a Monday this year, so all locations will be closed that day. We will
be open Saturday, July 2, at locations with regular Saturday schedules. All
stores and locations will be open both Friday, July 1, and Tuesday, July 5.
As is often the case, the Friday and Saturday before the 4th is expected to
be lighter than a normal summer Friday and Saturday, so if you want to
take an extra day off as a vacation day, check with your manager to arrange it. Each location needs to be staffed accordingly those days.
Benefits Plan Information
ESOP/401(k) —
You probably discussed your ESOP/(401(k) investments during your recent sign-up session for
the Flex Plan. Eligible employees can invest up to
$18,000 of their income in the ESOP. For eligible
employees, everything you invest up to 6% of your
income will be matched by Hedahls, fifty cents to
the dollar. This investment is tax-deferred until you
take it out. All eligible employees are encouraged
to take advantage of this opportunity to plan for
the future. If you’ve changed your mind about
your investments, you have until July 1 to make a
change. After that, your next opportunity to
change something is December. Just contact Peggy Lee at Headquarters if you have any changes.
Reimbursement Accounts —
Any money still in your reimbursement accounts must be used this plan year or you lose it.
This means you must incur the expense by June 30.
You have until August 12 to claim your reimbursement from the 2015-2016 plan year, but to qualify
for the current plan year, you have to have had
the service or procedure performed, or have received the medication or product by June 30. You
may not prepay an expense to beat the deadline.
All claims must be
submitted after the date
of the service or procedure or the date the
medication or product is
received. Also, you go
by the date of the service, procedure, medication, or product, not
the date you are billed
or the date you pay. In
other words, if you incur
an expense before July
1, but are not billed until after July 1, that expense
is still reimbursable with funds from this year’s plan.
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ture new employees will receive their packets
when they are eligible. When you get updates to
your plan or new insurance booklets, cards, etc.,
we recommend that you keep this new information with your packet so you’ll know where to
find that too.
Health Screening Tests —
Proof of health screening tests for the 20152016 Flex plan year must be submitted to Peggy
Lee by July 15. Eligible employees can earn up to $25
for each test they have during a plan year (cholesterol,
blood pressure, cancer, and
blood sugar). That goes for
spouses too. The benefit
money will be added to the
employee’s July 29
paycheck. To qualify for this
plan year, tests must be completed by June 30.
Part-timers, you are eligible for the screening test
bonuses too.
If you participated in one of our health fairs last
fall, you may have completed health screening
tests for blood pressure, blood sugar, or cholesterol.
Peggy has that list of participants, so you are good
to go. Just get a cancer screening to complete
your set.
We don’t need to see your results. We just
need to know that you’ve had the screening tests.
If you haven’t had any health screening tests,
maybe you need to set something up before the
end of June. Early detection of health problems
often makes those problems more manageable.
So getting these screening tests makes good
health sense and good financial sense.
When you have any test, just ask for written
confirmation. The next story tells you how to access
the health screening tests form.
Flex Plan Packets —
Accessing Form for Health
Screening Tests —
New Employees, when you become eligible to
enroll in our benefits plan, you will be mailed a
packet of information from Asset Management,
the consultant for our benefits plan. Hang on to this
packet. You’ll need it to enroll in our benefits plan.
Put it in a safe place so you’ll know where to find it
when you need it for reference or for any questions
you might have.
All current employees who are eligible on July
1, 2016, have already received their packets. Fu-
We have created a form you can use with your
health care provider to verify that you have received health screening tests during this plan year.
This form can be accessed from any computer
with internet access (even your doctor’s). You
simply print it and have the health care provider fill
it out. Then get the form to Peggy Lee by July 15.
Access is through the Hedahls website at
www.hedahls.com . Just click on Employees, then
Screening Tests Sheets.
The Always Forward Ford, built in the late ‘60s by students at Bismarck State College. Story and pictures on pp. 3-5.
Always Forward with Student Project
By Dick Hedahl
In the mid ‘60s Bismarck Junior College (now Bismarck State College) Auto Tech and Auto Collision
Tech faculty and students took on a special project. It was very fun – a 1957 Ford with two front
ends. It looked like it was both coming and going. It
was a two-year project, finished in April 1968. Last
month in the newsletter we feature Rich Malsam,
long-time and now retiring Collision Tech instructor at
BSC. Rich worked on the car as a student when it
was being built.
This May the website www.BringaTrailer.com
found the car for sale on eBay in Connecticut. The
car has been sold, but the eBay listing is still up:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182124220910?
rmvSB=true
It is a fun story about the project the teachers
and students of the school put together as a parade
car, show car, and great learning experiment for the
students. BringaTrailer called it “Push Me-Pull You.”
BSC called it the Always Forward Ford.
I remember seeing the car at the school and in
parades in the ‘70s. The teachers and students had
lots of fun driving it both ways. Have a look at the
pictures. It looks well done by the guys back in 1968.
With or without the background story, it’s a cool
car, but here’s the rest of the story. I talked to Hank
Vannett who was head of the department when it
began in 1966. He’s in his 80s now, and still sharp as
a tack. Hank told me that in 1966 when BJC added
vocational programs including the automotive pro-
grams, he needed cars for the students to work
on. They had two donated 1957 Fords in the lot. He
decided he could create a project for the students
to work on by cutting them both in half and joining
them together as the Always-Forward Ford.
Rich Malsam told me the engineering was in fact
pretty primitive. The back end was actually a Jeep
front wheels and steering, so it could steer on both
ends. The connection between the front and back
gas pedal and clutch was done with cables. It didn’t
work very well, but for parades, it was huge fun.
BJC was part of Bismarck Public Schools in those
days, and when Superintendent of Schools Robert
(continued on p. 4)
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(continued from p. 3)
Miller saw it, he was enthralled. He showed it to the
rest of the school board. Everyone loved the idea. It
took two years to build, but the result was a parade
favorite. Eventually there was disagreement between the college administration and the instructors
over what to do with the car, and Rich Malsam was
the only one who was willing to drive it in parades at
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the time. So they decided to sell it in the ‘80s to end
the bickering. Tim Lenertz, the high school auto body
instructor, bought it. Eventually he sold it too. It ended up in the junkyard where the guy from Connecticut found it and restored it.
We didn’t track down the names of the students
in the pictures, but Hank told me that the student
(continued on p. 5)
Page 4 top: one of the pictures
from BringaTrailer. Page 4 bottom: The students who worked on
the car. Page 5 at right: another
shot from BaT. Page 5 below: The
car on display at Kirkwood Mall in
Bismarck. Page 5 bottom: another
pose of the student with instructors
Hank Vannett (left with the white
shop coat) and Oscar Nybacken
(right with shop coat).
(BSC photos used with permission)
(continued from p. 4)
rosters for those years are in the BSC archives, so they
probably could be identified. Meanwhile, show this to
some of your body shop customers. I bet somebody
will recognize these guys.
What a great example of innovative learning, complex problem-solving, and even community pride for
the guys who got to work on the car and then see it
in parades. In case the car ever finds its way back to
Bismarck, Hank says he still has one of the keys for
the car.
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Williston Store to Get a New Building
Our Hedahls Auto Plus store in
Williston is getting a new building. We committed to build it in
May, and it should be ready for
our folks to move into in September. We will have lots more
room and much better parking
and access. We also have one
of the best corners in Williston,
just north of the Highway 2 bypass intersection in north Williston. It is a 10,000 sq ft building
with 12 ft ceilings. We will control the whole building, but will
lease out 2000 sq ft, so that we
will have an opportunity to use
the extra space in the future.
Top at right: Left to right, Williston Store Manage Kevin Falcon and Hedahls Chief Operations Officer Larry Lysengen on the new
lot. Above: Artist’s rendition of the new building west view.
Redfield Car
Show – July 9
Our Redfield store is hosting
the second annual Redfield
Car Show on July 9. In its debut last year, the show exceeded expectations and
space, and this year will be at
the City Park on Redfield Lake
west of town on Highway 12.
If you love cars, it’s the place
to be on Saturday, July 9.
Make plans now to be there.
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IDEAS FOR BETTER SELLING:
Man or Woman —
Be a Knight to Those in Need
I’ve heard the word chivalry many times and had an idea it
meant, for the most part, being a nice person. Then the other day I
held the door open for a couple of elderly ladies. They said thank
you. Then luckily I was wearing my hearing aids because after the
thank-you one said to the other, “See, I told you chivalry is not
dead.” The other one replied, “Not dead, but it is very weak.”
Well, I decided to find out what the heck this medieval word
really meant. So here’s what I learned about chivalry from Google:
It stems from the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral,
and social code. It defines the combination of qualities expected
to be an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, court justice – and
a readiness to help those in need.
So the next question has to be is chivalry weak, dying, or dead. I gotta tell you, in my opinion, it is still
alive. I have a four-and-a-half-year-old grandson who races to a door to hold it open for someone, and I
see lots of folks being nice to other folks. But then again I really believe that we live in one of the most polite areas in the US. So look around and when you have a chance, be a little chivalrous and give a hand
to someone in need. You will truly be someone’s knight in shining armor. Enjoy. Thanks, Dale
10th Annual Hedahls Fun Run – Saturday, July 16
Bismarck Hedahls Auto Plus
The Route
west parking lot
Registration begins at 10:45 am
Run leaves at 11:30 am
Lots of door prizes & cash prizes (high-low split — 100% payback)
Motorcycles
 Custom Cars
 Custom Trucks
 Exotics
 Rag Tops
 Daily Drivers





To St. Anthony for brunch
To Flasher
To Elgin
To Glen Ullin for cash drawings
Back to Bismarck

Total miles = 169
All traffic laws apply. Hedahls is not
responsible for accidents or injury.
A chase vehicle and trailer will be
provided.
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Milbank Manager Also Fights
Fires for Milbank Community
Parts store manager by day, firefighting hero by night—that’s the dual
identity that Milbank manager Kevin Schuelke has for his community. A fire
on May 4 at Titan Machinery in Milbank included multiple explosions and
resulted in a total loss for the building. No nearby buildings were damaged
in the fire and no injuries were reported, no doubt due to the efforts of
Schuelke, who serves as the Milbank Fire Chief.
Check out the TV news report featuring Schuelke at http://
www.keloland.com/news/article/news/titan-machinery-moving-forwardafter-milbank-fire .
Titan Machinery is headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota, specializing in sales and services of agricultural and construction equipment.
Apparently, the fire began at the south end of
the building, where the shop is located. Followup news reports say the cause of the fire is unknown, but also not suspicious. Coverage also
highlights the efforts of Titan to continue to serve
area farmers, especially during this critical planting season.
Kevin, thank you for your good work for your
community. Milbank is lucky to have you, and so
are we!
Annual ESOP Evaluation
By Dick Hedahl
We have had our company evaluated each year since we launched the ESOP with attached 401(k)
in 1986. Our evaluator is an independent certified appraiser who specializes in ESOP’s. Our evaluator
uses publicly traded companies in our industry and other financial measures to compare our performance and profitability in order to give us a fair
valuation.
When we were flying high with the boom of
the oil business and high prices on agricultural
Log on to your ESOP account at http://
commodities, our valuation went up very rapidwww.alerusretirementsolutions.com/ to manly. Now that the markets have calmed down
age and monitor your ESOP and 401(k) investagain, we have seen a softness in our evaluaments. Go to the Participant Login. If you
tion. Hedahls was profitable again in 2015, but not
have not yet set up an online account for your
as good as the three previous years. We are down
ESOP, signing up now will help you understand
from last year, but still a good value for all of
how your retirement investment is doing.
us. And since Hedahls matches with 50 cents on
You can also find the website by going to
the dollar on up to 6% of your income that you inour www.Hedahls.com website, Employees
vest in the ESOP, it is a very nice return with every
page, and clicking on the Access Your ESOP
dollar invested each year.
401(k) account link on our website.
We have made adjustments in our operation
If you do not have a User ID, please conto address the new market realities, so we expect
tact the Alerus Financial Call Center at 1-8002016 again to be profitable for Hedahls.
433-1685. They can walk you through the proThank all of you for your hard work and dedicess.
cation to your company and your customers.
Checking ESOP Online
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