I traveled to Alta, Iowa by way of Omaha, Nebraska last week to do a half-day training session on personal and professional development for Platinum Crush, LLC., a soybean processing company. During my three-day trip, I learned more about soybeans and the multi-billion-dollar industry than I ever thought possible. Let’s just say it impacts all of our lives in ways we likely take for granted.
How did I end up in western Iowa to do a training program? Glad you asked. Erik Lightner, a former Penn State Icers hockey player that I had the pleasure of coaching from 1990-94, just happens to be the CEO of Platinum Crush. The company is part of a fascinating industry. Erik and his leadership team are overseeing the construction of a $400 million plant that will be opening in a few months, bringing jobs and economic resources to the resort area of Storm Lake and the nearby town of Alta.
I was so impressed with everyone on the Platinum Crush leadership team and how willing they were to share during our day together. They trust each other enough to be vulnerable and have the tough conversations that are at the core of any high performing team. The leadership team was willing to share their personal core values and personal vision statements more than any group I’ve worked with in quite some time. It was inspiring to see how this relatively new team of leaders was already so secure in their jobs and lives that they trusted each other to be so open and vulnerable. Having the psychological safety to say what must be said is not going to be a challenge for this group!
Erik, a western Pennsylvania native who earned a chemical engineering degree at Penn State, has helped assemble a top-notch group of engineers, scientists, operations managers and finance staff. Most of them have some tie to the area and a few are Iowa State and Iowa grads, but all left larger corporate jobs to find their own slice of paradise at this start-up plant in a small midwestern town. A place where they could really make a difference and live a lifestyle that fit what they wanted for themselves and their families.
The ”Crushers” also have a dynamite human resources manager, the former Miss Sherry Zupko of New Jersey, who just happened to be my athletic trainer from the 1993 PSU Hockey team that I coached. Isn’t it a coincidence that the now Mrs. Sherry Lightner and Erik met because of that time with Penn State hockey.
I am not surprised that Erik and Sherry have not only had successful careers but a great marriage and family as well. Seeing Erik and Sherry so happy with their newfound purpose brought great joy to me. Their children, Erik and Lauren, are both finishing college back east and that allowed Erik and Sherry to pursue this new adventure.
This is a family that has seen the world together because of Erik’s career path. He started as a chemical engineer with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and held numerous management positions during his 21 years with the company. It took the Lightners from Decatur, Ill., to Kansas City, Mo., back to Decatur, to Lincoln, Neb., to London to Mountain Top, Pa., and finally to Singapore. An opportunity to become a vice president with The Haskell Company, a worldwide construction company, in Singapore eventually led them back to Haskell’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., for over seven years.
Erik and Sherry decided to go after a dream to take on this start-up challenge in Iowa. Storm Lake, where the Lightners reside on a golf course, is a beautiful area with many parks and an indoor water park resort, as well as being home to Buena Vista University.
My time with Erik and Sherry brought back so many memories of my time at Penn State, especially in my role as coach of the Icers. We referred to ourselves as the Icer Family and tried our best to instill values and vision to be champions on and off the ice. The Icer teams that preceded the highly successful varsity program that exists today were themselves very successful. The number of CEOs, CFOs, presidents, business owners, professors, doctors, lawyers, top salespeople and even an Emmy Award-winning director that were part of the Icer Family is quite impressive. Not just our former players either, but members of our student-run Hockey Management Association (HMA) who are now successful not just in the sports industry but throughout the world in a variety of fields and positions.
That didn’t happen by accident. We had tremendous volunteers back in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s in the form of assistant coaches, faculty advisors, academic advisors, booster club members, sponsors, the aforementioned HMA and the players’ parents. We had staff who genuinely cared about the goodwill of the student-athletes.
It brings me great joy to see how successful so many of our Icers have become. I remember when former football coach Joe Paterno was asked about what he wanted his legacy to be, his response was something to the effect of “talk to me in 20-30 years to see how many have become successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers and good husbands and fathers.” Well, if that is the metric to be used, then our Icer Family should be very proud.
It wasn’t solely because of the culture we had that these young men became successful; we were also blessed to have great student-athletes who brought tremendous academic and athletic skills with them. But I’d like to think our Icer Family certainly influenced, and in many cases helped shape, some of the young adults who were involved in our program and provided them with resources to go on to do great things.
After Friday morning coffee with Erik and Sherry and Scott and Trent, two other members of the Platinum Crush leadership team, I decided it was time to go exploring. I left the Marriott in South Sioux City, Nebraska and crossed the Big Sioux River into Sioux City, Iowa. Then hopped on Interstate 29 and drove five minutes to North Sioux City, South Dakota. Yep, three states in five minutes.
Driving all the way back from South Dakota (ha!), I visited the Old Town Historic District in Sioux City, Iowa and then watched a little of an NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Tournament that was going on at the Tyson Events Center between Bellevue University (Bellevue, Nebraska) and Northwestern College (Orange City, Iowa). For those keeping score at home, Northwestern College swept Bellevue 3-0.
On my way out of town, I visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Because my wife’s family is a descendant of the Clarks, we have always had a fascination with the Lewis and Clark adventures.
The facility was a state-of-the-art interactive museum with animatronics featuring Captains Lewis Merriweather and William Clark, President Thomas Jefferson, Sergeant Charles Floyd and plenty of interactive displays and an easy-to-follow timeline.
It was interesting to find myself in Iowa twice in the past six months. Last June, I drove with my youngest son, Ryan, to his new job in Minneapolis and we stopped in several locations in Iowa including the movie site from one of my favorite films “Field of Dreams” in Dyersville. One of my favorite scenes is of Kevin Costner’s character, Ray Kinsella, having a talk with his father, John.
John: “Is this Heaven?”
Ray: “Ha. It’s Iowa.”
John: “Iowa? I could have sworn it was Heaven.”
Well, for many of the residents of this Midwest state, that is exactly what they have found there. As for Erik, Sherry and the rest of the Platinum Crush leadership team, there is no doubt in my mind that they will continue to “crush it” in Alta, Iowa. It’s pretty rewarding knowing that Penn State hockey, and the Icer Family, played a small part in making this dream come true for the Lightners.
