TERRITORY DETAILS:

Office location: work from home in northern Michigan, with daily travel to farms in your territory
Approximate coverage area by county: Mecosta, Isabella, Midland, Bay, Osceola, Clare, Gladwin, Arenac, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, and Iosco.
Application deadline: April 15, 2024

YOUR PURPOSE:

Experience a career working with CentralStar Cooperative, a member of the Select Sires Federation and the largest Dairy Herd Information (DHI) program in the United States. The individual in this position will drive to customer farms and work with owners and managers for the goal of selling genetics, herd-management products, dairy technology, consulting services, DHI milk testing, diagnostic-testing options, and more.

ABOUT CENTRALSTAR COOPERATIVE:

CentralStar’s goal of enhancing producer profitability through integrated services is fulfilled by incorporating an array of products and services critical to dairy-and-beef-farm prosperity. CentralStar’s product and service offerings include Accelerated Genetics, GenerVations and Select Sires genetics; extensive artificial-insemination (A.I.) technician service; genetic, reproduction, and dairy-records consultation; DHI services; diagnostic testing; herd-management products; research and development; and more. CentralStar’s administration and warehouse facilities are located in Lansing, Mich., and Waupun, Wis., with laboratories in Grand Ledge, Mich., and Kaukauna, Wis. The cooperative serves dairy and beef producers throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana, with additional DHI territory in various surrounding states. For more information, visit CentralStar Cooperative Inc. at www.mycentralstar.com.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Day-to-day responsibilities:

• Oversee a developed sales territory for semen, product, consulting, and testing services;
• Build relationships with prospective clients and maintain partnerships with current clients within the defined territory;
• Manage and assist a seasoned group of Artificial-Insemination (A.I.) Specialists, including providing relief A.I. service on an emergency basis;
• Co-manage integral key accounts with other staff members;
• Work closely with other key staff to coordinate on-farm records analysis, reproductive consultation, and genetic-mating needs for dairy producers and their management teams;
• Prospect clientele to grow sales;
• Oversee customer-account receivables;
• Strive to continually build trust, value others, communicate effectively, drive execution, foster innovation, focus on the customer, collaborate with others, solve problems creatively and demonstrate high integrity, modeling these behaviors for those you work with;
• Consistently demonstrate a thorough knowledge of and support for CentralStar’s mission, vision, culture initiative, policies and procedures, confidentiality standards, and the code of ethical behavior; and
• Other duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS/QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in dairy/animal science, agribusiness, or related area (or equivalent experience)
• Minimum 3-5 years of experience in the dairy-cattle industry is preferred
• Previous sales and management experience preferred
• Excellent written and communication skills;
• Positive work ethic with a service-orientated attitude;
• Self-motivated with the ability to work on your own and in a team structure;
• Proven organizational and leadership skills;
• Ability to adapt and learn new technologies;
• Strong computer skills required; experience with Microsoft office programs (PowerPoint, Excel, and Word) preferred;
• Exceptional public-speaking skills, including pre-speech preparation, dynamic delivery efforts, and the ability to interact with the audience and answer questions;
• Some hands-on artificial-insemination experience in dairy and/or beef cattle;
• Must be able to lift product and climb steps;
• Valid driver’s license and safe driving record;
• Dairy-cattle-genetic and/or reproductive-program background preferred;
• Experience in dairy and/or agricultural sales preferred; and
• Knowledge of overall beef-cattle genetics and production preferred, but not required.

BENEFITS:

• Competitive base salary and commission with potential growth;
• Paid training;
• Paid time off;
• Health-, dental-, and vision-insurance options;
• Flexible-spending account;
• 401 (k) – retirement savings plan with up to 4% match;
• Company-sponsored life insurance and long-term-disability insurance;
• Optional short-term-disability insurance;
• Continuing-education opportunities;
• Employee-assistance program;
• Employee-awards program; and
• Company sales vehicle.