As Minnesota Corrugated Box, Inc. celebrates its 30th anniversary, we would like to recognize our employees who have been with us for all or nearly all of those 30 years. Today we will recognize our very first employee and our very first production employee.

Cheryl Christensen was Minnesota Corrugated’s very first non-owner employee. Her hire date was Aug. 1, 1983, and she came to MCB with industry experience. That was a good thing because Cheryl was “the office” for quite a few months handling all of the office bookwork with the exception of payroll and accounts payable. Her duties included customer service, answering the phone and taking orders, ordering paper, inventory and billing. Her first desk was an old door set up on sawhorses! And when the office work was done, she went out into the plant to help out with production. Thirty years later, Cheryl is one of six MCB customer service representatives. She serves customers in southeastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. Though Cheryl’s job description is similar to that in 1983, how she accomplishes that task has changed drastically. Her tools have changed from telephone and pencil and paper to computers, software, email and electronic data transfer, with the telephone being the only constant through those years. What has not changed is Cheryl’s dedication to serving the customer, her excellent knowledge of the industry, and her unfailing commitment to accuracy in her work. Cheryl is married to Buck Christensen and resides in Albert Lea. She has one daughter, Krista, who lives in the Twin Cities. Outside of work, Cheryl can be found riding her Harley, up North fishing, or on a good day, doing both!

Dave Flugum was the very first non-owner production employee of Minnesota Corrugated. As a result he has done it all in production. Dave began work at MCB in September of 1983 after graduating from Mankato State with a teaching degree. With teaching jobs hard to find, Dave decided to give MCB a try since it was close to his hometown of Glenville. Dave worked on every production machine, but eventually graduated to letter press operator, then flexo operator, before a four year stint in the Air Force as a C-130 Mechanic from 1986 to 1990. Dave was welcomed back in 1990 and continued as a flexo operator until joining the design department in 1996. Dave started as a design apprentice but quickly learned the art of ordering and maintaining printing plates and cutting dies. His time as a machine operator served him well in understanding how plates and dies must perform in production. Dave’s wealth of knowledge makes him MCB’s “go-to-guy” for production, fellow designers and vendors when it comes to plates and dies. Although it was not planned that way, that teaching degree has served Dave and MCB well! Dave is married to Kim and resides in Austin. He has one daughter, Brooke, who will be starting college this fall. Dave’s hobbies include golf and attending all of Brooke’s activities.

 

Tammie Krebsbach
Minnesota Corrugated Box