Thomas Kimble started his 33-year career working for the company on May 13, 1992, which was then named Wampler Longacre Chicken, Inc. He started working for the company, after graduating high school, in the Sanitation department. After four years of sanitation, in 1996, he transferred to the Pullet department, and stayed in that job until 2004 when he was promoted to crew foreman. Thomas continued to advance his career in 2008 when he obtained his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), which gave him more options in his role in the department for having qualifications to drive a truck. He is still working in the Pullet Service department as the Pullet Crew supervisor.
I asked Thomas how much has changed since he started working for the company, and he said there have been many different changes. Although the pullet department management hasn’t really changed much, there are now several training classes that are required and they are using different bird breeds.
Thomas and I talked about the supervisors and managers he has worked for during his years with the company. He said he had some good ones, Jimmy Stump, Paul Rohrbaugh, Dave Coyle and Craig Hannas, to name a few. He really enjoys working with his current manager, Michael Mallow.
When I asked Thomas about the most memorable event he remembers since he started working, he said it would be when he was asked to run the Pullet crew. The Moorefield and Broadway complex’s breeding program was then run separately and in about 2010, the company decided to combine the two crews. Thomas was asked to run the combined crew and is still running them together. He also remembers the flood in 1996 when there were so many chicken losses and clean up that had to be done.
When Thomas isn’t working, he likes to spend time with his family. He likes deer and turkey hunting and going fishing. His nine-year-old son hunts with him and this year he got his first deer, which Thomas is pretty proud of!
What does the future hold for Thomas? He wants to keep working until the time comes when he can retire. He will also continue hunting and fishing and spending time with family. Living close to the Smoke Hole River, where he likes to fish, he can get a lot of fishing time in too!
Thank you, Thomas, for your dedication, hard work and loyalty to our Company!
About Pilgrim’s
Pilgrim’s employs more than 56,000 people and operates protein processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K. and continental Europe. The Company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.
