April 10th is our 90th Anniversary! For the month of April, we want to highlight our team members – past and present – especially during this trying time. We are fortunate to work in an essential industry, and don’t take the responsibility lightly. Without out our team members, Turner Dairy as we know it would not be possible.
We are fortunate to have many team members stay with us for most or all of their careers. As of 2020 we have 56 team members who have been with us for more than 20 years! 7 of which have been part of our team for 40+ years!
Currently, we have 205 team members, 86 of them being driver-salesmen, and 11 being part of the Turner Family.
As you may remember from a previous blog, Charles G. Turner, started Turner Dairy Farms with four cows on rented property in Penn Hills in 1930. He had left his father’s farmland in Wilkinsburg in 1929 following a dispute regarding whether he could extend credit to customers on his delivery route who had been hit hard by the Great Depression. When his father refused, Charlie Turner took his three cows and moved way out into the country – Penn Hills – to start his own dairy and extended credit to his customers.
(Original Farm House)
Charlie’s first employee was Grace Frye. Grace was in integral part of our history. She rented Charlie her property in Penn Hills under the agreement that he would pay the property taxes so that she would not lose the land during the Great Depression. She then became Charlie’s first employee and took care of milking the cows and keeping up with the barns. She also helped in the plant with bottling and receiving milk. Thanks to Grace, we are able to continue Charlie’s legacy and more importantly follow his motto, “Perfect Products. Perfect Service. Treat People Right.”
(Grace Frye)
Every year the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette runs a program called Top Workplaces — a way to let employers have a third-party poll their workers on how they perceive their jobs and the organization’s operations. The process takes a few months and generates rankings of the Pittsburgh region’s Top Workplaces. Turner’s has consistently participated in the Post Gazette’s Pittsburgh’s Top Places to Work over the past 10 years. From 2011 to 2018, we have participated 4 times. In 2018 we placed in the top 25 for mid-size companies.
Last year – 2019 – we had three driver-salesman inducted into the Food Service Distributors Hall of Fame! To be a candidate you have zero moving violations in the past 5 years and no vehicle accidents in 25 years service.
For the duration of April, we will be putting a spotlight on some our employees and their daily duties as a team member of Turner Dairy Farms! Follow along on social media with #Turners90.
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