Dear
egg buyer,
We
are very pleased to introduce another member of our Country Hen Team:
JIM ROUSSEAU
Sales Manager
I was born and grew up
in a city called Gardner, MA. I joined
the Boy Scouts of America at age 6 loving it so much I participated in this
great organization for 12 years, proudly earning the title of Eagle Scout while
learning great moral values, ethics and skills. I started working at The
Country Hen right out of high school in the summer of 2000. I had originally
applied for a part-time position collecting eggs on weekends to earn money to
put toward my plan to further my education at The New England Institute of
Technology in the coming semester. The Processing Manager on the farm at that
time was a wonderful woman named Gail Dumas who took me under her wing (if
you’ll pardon the colloquialism) offering me a Full Time position working on the
processing line whenever I was on breaks from school. I considered myself to be
very fortunate for this offer as the only work experience I had to offer from
past employment was as having been a dishwasher at The Old Mill Restaurant. Gail
believed in my potential and gave me the job. I completed my Associates Degree
in Electronic Systems Repair then returned to full time work at the farm while
I searched for a job in my chosen field of study. The economy took a heavy hit
after the terrible events of 9/11/01 acts of terrorism threw our great country
into such turmoil. Jobs in my chosen field of study became difficult to find,
but as it happens I found my interests in pursuing a serious career in the egg
industry to outweigh my former interest in computers. I give full credit for
this life transformation to Gail Dumas who never stopped believing in me.
I worked in a wide
variety of positions in processing to include packing cartons into cases,
loading the machines, being a “Candler” for a short time and then became a
machine operator learning the ropes as an apprentice of sorts under Gail’s
patient guidance. A tragic accident robbed
us of our beloved processing manager Gail and the General Manager Bob
Beauregard promoted me to her position. Gail was the person who brought me into
this great company, if it were not for her I would not be here today. Thank you
so much Gail. I did my best to honor her memory as I took on what had been her
responsibilities. Surrounded by fond memories as I worked was bitter sweet. I
decided in 2005 to leave processing to take an open sales position. Jim Barry
was happy to put me in the driver’s seat despite the fact that I was just a
quiet, shy kid with no experience at all in sales. Jim molded me into a real
salesman in no time, then before long I found myself being trained right beside
him to take up his position upon his retirement. It has been an “eggciting”
adventure these past 14 years with this great company. I feel truly blessed and
will never forget my roots.
I give thanks to George
Bass, the founder of this wonderful company, Gail Dumas for the doors she
opened for me, Jim Barry for adding his support to my “routes” and everyone
else here at The Country Hen for all of the hard work they do each and every
day.
The work here is good,
honest and rewarding in so many ways, but it is not without its humorous
moments. One of my favorite true stories is an event that happened back when I
was working in processing. I was walking outside when a car pulled into the
parking lot, raced up to where I was standing and the very excited driver poked
his head out to ask me “How many can I take?” Confused by the question I asked
“how many what?” He replied; “Free hens” in a serious manner. I told the man we
are not giving our hens away, the driver then said “But your sign on the road
says “FREE WALKING HENS.” He was still quite serious until I explained that our
sign meant the hens are not in cages. The driver looked very saddened and a
little embarrassed. He rolled up his window and drove off without another word.
Since then, we have changed the sign at the road to read “cage-free” hens to
stave off any future confusion.
