Part of Jess’ job responsibilities is leading the finance component of the mergers-and-acquisition team, which made Fred one of her unofficial bosses. Working with him, she has been instrumental in the company’s closing of a number of deals, including the Planters® snack nuts business, the largest acquisition in the 131-year history of Hormel Foods.
“It was certainly a big project,” Jess says. “With M&A, there’s volatility. There are times when it goes silent, and times when it’s your full-time job plus. You have to be nimble.”
Jess is adept at managing her time and responsibilities. She is likewise not afraid to speak up and even to disagree with more senior members of the team.
“We are really good at separating task conflict and relationship conflict. Fred is the master at that. There have been so many times when he and I haven’t agreed, and it hasn’t come close to harming our relationship. He never had an issue giving me the room and respect to express my opinion,” she says.
That’s heady stuff for someone who not so long ago was a summer intern working on her undergraduate degree at New Mexico State University. Upon graduation, Jess immediately began pursuing her master’s degree and then looked again to Hormel Foods to begin her career. The company not only has given her countless opportunities, she found her life partner there, something else she said she would never do.
And yet, Jess met her husband, Dan Blomberg, on a blind date arranged by co-workers. Because he is a night lead supervisor at the Austin (Minn.) Plant, she knows she would never have crossed paths with him otherwise, given their different schedules. The stroke of serendipity has resulted in a union based on a shared love of church, tent camping, their dog Wally, and best of all, the son who is on the way.
Looking back on things, Jess must surely know now what to wish for. It’s everything she has, all rolled up in a Hormel Foods shirt.
“Getting the jersey is so great. Getting it from someone you respect and hope to emulate … I’m going to remember it for the rest of my career.”
