Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 61F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 61F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Jeff Boeckenstedt holds his first paycheck stub from when he started at Dyersville Die Cast when he was 18, as well as the first toy farm machine he was awarded as an anniversary gift and a carved wooden duck he was given for his last anniversary.
Jeff Boeckenstedt holds his first paycheck stub from when he started at Dyersville Die Cast when he was 18, as well as the first toy farm machine he was awarded as an anniversary gift and a carved wooden duck he was given for his last anniversary.
Jeff Boeckenstedt started his first job on his 18th birthday at Dyersville Die Cast, breaking off 1/16 front-end parts for toy assembly after high school. Forty years later at the age of 58, he’s retiring from the same company after working his way up and filling many positions over the years.
“My family members all had long careers,” said Boeckenstedt. “My oldest brother had 40 years at Ertls, my next oldest had 43 there, a sister with a whole career at the Iowa City Hospital, sisters-in-law who had their entire life in banking and two brothers in banking. It kind of runs in the family between siblings and in-laws because we learned from mom and dad to work hard in long careers.”
Dyersville Die Cast was founded in 1970 by Joe Ertl and was primarily a toy company until it changed direction in 2000 with a die-cast expansion. The toy business was shrinking and the company saw opportunities to change its focus to die casting, becoming a custom instead of capture manufacturer. This means, that instead of making their own products, they used their equipment with customer designs and research and development. They also do particle painting and computer numeric control (CNC) machining. Jane Ertl, daughter of the founder and a member of ownership and management, said she remembers the day Boeckensted first applied for a job at the company.
“I remember sitting at the desk in my office the day Jeff walked in the door and applied for a job,” said Ertl. “I knew of Jeff since we went to the same high school, but later when I learned he walked in on his birthday, I think that was cool. It was a priority for him on his birthday to find a job.”
After graduating high school, Boeckenstedt started working in die casting and became full-time, using his background of growing up on a farm to recognize the proper parts for the farm toys.
“When I got in here it was basically toys for the first couple of decades,” said Boeckenstedt. “Thanks to my background on the farm, I knew how these toys were put together. What fenders were, rooftops, mufflers, I think that helped quite a bit.”
Boeckenstedt also attended many farm progress shows over the years to sell toys and worked in many different departments, such as die-cast, managing CNC, and more, both learning and teaching. He was also responsible for coming up with the company’s slogan, “Good Parts on Time.”
According to Boeckenstedt, the family-owned nature of the business created an environment that made him want to stay and build his production management skills. From Christmas parties, unique anniversary gifts, and even meeting his wife at Dyersville Die Cast, he considers his 40 years a worthwhile career.
“The biggest part of it was working for a family-owned business,” he said. “When you hear about other businesses coming and going, I felt confident that a family business would always be around. Once I was at the halfway point of my career, I knew it was where my career would finish and I’d continue growing with the business.”
Ertl said, “We are very fortunate to have a group of people who basically grew up together in the industry, and Jeff and I are part of that group. Because we’re a small privately-owned company, we got a lot of opportunities to be decision-makers and do some creative things over the years which, if we were in a larger place, I don’t think we would have had. It was a baptism by fire at times. We had a lot of freedom and we worked well together.”
Boeckenstedt takes pride in his work, accomplishments and ability to solve problems. He plans to spend his retirement pursuing golf, woodworking, gardening, projects around the house and cruises with his wife in their convertible.
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Invalid password or account does not exist
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.
Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
A receipt was sent to your email.