CPS Holtwood: People Power
July 5, 2012 For full-service ag retailer Crop Production Services (CPS), Holtwood, PA, a well-trained field of employees is the driving force behind the company’s success. “We at CPS Holtwood view environmental stewardship as a core element of our business,” says manager Richard Crawford. “We have invested and continue to invest hours of training for our employees on all categories of the DuPont Environmental Respect Award. This training improves our operations and lessens the likelihood of an environmental issue associated with our operations.”
With the wide range of services the retail outfit offers, among them package and bulk chemical sales, liquid fertilizer sales and custom application of both chemical and fertilizer, maintaining a safe and up-to-code facility is just as important as employee training.
“With the number of services we provide, its important to continually look at improving the physical structure of our branch,” says Crawford. “In 2009, we spent $37,000 repairing and improving the unload and load pads for chemical and liquid fertilizer transfers. These improvements helped us fully comply with the changing bulk pesticide storage and transfer regulations.”
Increased community outreach efforts are also a pillar of the CPS Holtwood philosophy. “CPS Holtwood exhibits the highest level of professionalism to the surrounding agricultural community,” says Crawford. “We accomplish this in a number of ways, one being that our employees are allowed to seek external training as it pertains to their job tasks. We also hold annual grower appreciation meetings as well as technical meetings for the products we sell.”
The local school’s FFA program is another recipient of CPS Holtwood’s culture of outreach, according to Crawford. “Another group we have contributed to is the local school’s FFA group. All of this outreach helps promote the importance of agriculture to the local and regional economy here in Southeastern Pennsylvania.”
“In a world where farmable lands are decreasing for other uses such as development, we feel we are doing our part to promote agriculture as a viable lifestyle and business,” he adds. “Image is extremely important to us and we strive to project a positive image of our operations, which is done through our best practices and outreach.”
Note: Crop Production Services (CPS), Holtwood, PA, is a 2012 state Environmental Respect Award winner. For more information on this program, which is sponsored by DuPont, click here.
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