Sing To Retire In May

After serving Sidney Sugars and the community for nearly ten years, Steve Sing, Sidney Sugars General Manager, will retire effective the end of May. During his tenure, Sing has seen many changes at the factory and he has helped initiate and implement goals for the sugar plant to meet.

"We've made changes at the factory in efforts to improve the processing as much as possible," Sing remarks. "We always strive to be more efficient at what we do."

Sing has emphasized safety procedures and training along with quality of the product as his main focus throughout his ten years with the Sidney Sugars factory. "Safety and making sure that we produce a high quality product that gives customers what they are looking for has been my major emphasis," he comments. "Two years ago United Sugar won an award for the sugar they supplied for Ocean Spray Cranberry juice. That sugar all came from this plant, so we look at it as our award, as we supplied the sugar that met the goals of the customer. We also have had no customer complaints for the past seven months from any of our customers; we've met the customer quality parameters and had all the paperwork in order."

He continues, "Three years ago we began producing cordial sugar, which is sold to distillers for making clear liquids. This sugar isn't more pure, but it does have color specifications so we must make sure that all the molasses gets washed off the crystals, making them absolutely white. We've been providing this sugar for three years and every year we have received increased requests for this sugar. Even though we're an older plant, we still can make white sugar."

Safety also has taken top priority with Sing. "Safety has been very important," he remarks. "It is everyone's job to be safe and to do a better job with safety. We've held training sessions on safety issues."

Over the past several years, Sing has seen manpower issues become increasingly more difficult to solve, a problem that likely will not correct itself in the near future. "When I first came, there was no oil boom, but now there is and that has impacted us," Sing says. "Like everyone else, it is a struggle to get help for the factory. We have always experienced problems hiring people for a month at harvest, but now that has carried over into the factory as well."

Sing has witnessed several capital expenditure programs carried out at the factory over the past decade, and he expects the new general manager will oversee more of these expenditures. "We spent $1.5 million for improvements and added low raw pans from Hereford, Texas that allowed us to boil more efficiently," Sing comments. "There will be a $2.5 million environmental project coming up this summer to put in an aerobic digestion system in our water treatment system in order to meet new state standards. The water will be cleaner than the river, and we will still use it for irrigation purposes."

Sing points out that all factory staff deserves credit for any successes that occurred under his leadership. "I didn't accomplish anything on my own," he states. "The reception I got when I came here was great, and people have been excellent to work with. It was difficult for me when I first arrived here as my background was in agriculture, not in the factory, but the people here were outstanding and they knew what to do. Although it was a challenge at first to learn the ropes, it was also fun and I got a lot of help from the staff that was here."

Sing has enjoyed his time in Sidney and appreciates this community. "Sidney is a good town," he says. "Opportunity exists here, and there are always things to do, places to volunteer, and ways to get involved. Sidney is not lacking; we do have a variety. This is a good place and the people are friendly."

Sing has family in Minnesota, so after retirement he expects to spend part of his time in Sidney and part of his time in Minnesota. He also plans to do some traveling. "At this point the plans are to spend summers in Minnesota and winters in Sidney," Sing concludes. "We have family in Minnesota, so the amount of time we spend in either place will depend on family circumstances."