packaging technician

truck driver

millwright

process technician

foreman

American Crystal Sugar Company

The first week we didn't work because of a rain out, gusty winds, stagnant cold, nonstop dirt from trucks and beets, persisting mud, choking on diesel smoke, loud whirring industrial bangs, scrapes, grinds, having to cycle out the same clothes at times during a stretch of work days since you couldn't get to the laundromat, subsisting off Dollar General for all your groceries since the only other Grocery store in the town you are staying in closes at 5pm, 4 days of not working because of a blizzard, rushing back to camp, waiting for a shower to empty out and still having to go back to campsite, hookup to the electricity so I can get heat going in my van and making my dinner before sleep, overall working THE WORST reported year in the history of the American Crystal Sugars harvesting the job dragging on for the entirety of the month of October. Despite all this, I was granted many great things working for American Crystal Sugar/ Express Employment, a scenic campground, a very giving and understanding crew of supervisors, great money, a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of brotherhood and camaraderie with fellow workers and foremen, truck drivers giving your crew candy, and other freedoms not given by most 9-5 type jobs.  A typical day for me being a day crew member, was waking up at roughly 5:40am, getting ready by 6:30, prepping my van for driving, talking with my coworkers and foreman and scalehouse ladies, clocking in at 7:00, doing stretches, then driving down to my assigned piler. The work days were long(12 hours or less if the weather halted things), they can be in some pretty harsh conditions, below 30, at worst near the end of harvest was in the teens. The employers will tell you from the get go what you're getting yourself into, some people took it lightly and ended up leaving before the actual end of the harvest. This job is for people who aren't afraid to basically go through some of the worst conditions a job(and Mother Nature) can throw at you, for only a short time and come out with a decent amount of money, maybe some new friends, new skills, and maybe even a new perspective on working and life overall.

I worked at ACS for many years.  Prior to 2010 this was a good place of employment.  People made it a career.  Everyone generally cared for each other.  We made it a priority to leave the shift in good shape for our reliefs.  We broke production and safetly records.  I am proud to be a part of that. 

Corporate always claimed that the employees were it's best asset and we believed that.  There were elaborate employee appreciation dinners catered to the shifts in celebration as well as jacket give aways and other bonuses.  This in now a thing of the past.

Now it has drastically changed.  Unexperienced and careless workers make it unsafe for everyone.  Management favortism is rampant.  Promotion is based on nepotism, favortism and if you suck up.  

The higher level process techician training used to be an elite program for the most experienced employees.  We had to pass a series of exams to qualify.  Now these exams don't exist.  High level training is non existent.  People are promoted prematurely to a high level which has resulted in lower production as well as higher accident rates.    

Benefits and retirement are not as good with the new contract, especially for workers who are not "grandfathered" in to the old contract.  Corporate is again threatening to lock out it's workers in 2017.

I am just doing my time until retirement.

I was a Production Supervisor in the Crookston, MN plant, I was able to see not only the Management side of things but also the union side as well. This is nothing short of a hostile work environment for not only the union folks but also the lower management folks as well. I was called into the office numerous times for not only stupid stuff that typical employees complained about but for things that made no sense at all! Everything is hush hush around the plant, the pay is very substandard for the union environment, however the pay was good for the production supervisors. My boss made 98,000 a year for sitting on his butt doing nothing but emails when I made 60,000 working my tail off. I received no formal training what so ever!!!! I also never even received new employee orientation, I was just handed a white hat and said here you go now figure out your job. As a manager you should be trained on company policies and procedures so you know what your enforcing. I have been in the food industry for over 15 years and at this plant anything with common sense is strictly out the door. Once again this is a very poor place to work unless you have exhausted all other avenues. If possible get in with the union so you have a leg to stand on when American Crystal thinks you did something wrong!

I have worked here for several years, it's a decent job. It certainly is not a boring place to work, lots of stuff to do. Saftey is taught very well. You learn alot. Acsc offers pretty solid benefits. Especially for people who want to pursue a higher education in a technical/mechanical field. 
The people can be interesting. You'll meet people who are there for the same reason you are. You'll also meet people who live eat and breathe American Crystal politics and drama. Do not trust easy. I have met more nice people than toxic people. Still, it's not fun being thrown under the bus. Do your best to watch your own back. Someone tried getting me fired because I did my job very well. Figure that one out? Luckily my boss at the time moved me to a better station, away from the unwarranted drama. 
The work environment in the facility ranges from hot, smelly, sticky, dusty, humid, muddy or bitterly cold depending on the time of the year. Usually it's always smelly and muddy on the exterior grounds of the facility. 

As a college educated electronic controls technician, the people I work with daily treat me with respect, and I love that.  As an E&I shop, we have constant opportunities to expand our skills and try out new technology to solve any re-occurring problems, which is exciting.  We are reassured that our input will be taken into consideration, but to those of us who do not see what goes on behind the scenes, many times these appear to be false promises.  The benefits package used to be very competitive, but it has since become very outdated in todays market, including a humorous retirement package that needs a rework.  For the industry, I feel that conditions are cleaner than most, for a sugar beet processing facility.  The rotating shift “Dupont” schedule is fairly exhausting, having worked it for years, and depending on company needs, you may be required to come in for overtime quite often, negating the benefit of having a “week off” every month.  All in all, there is a lot of time for refining and building your own skills, as there is a lot of down time on night shift and weekend shifts when things are quiet, however that is entirely up to the employee to utilize that time.  

This company is disorganized, chaotic, poorly run and zero training.  They throw you into jobs you have no idea what is even going on.  A trained circus monkey can do most of the jobs here but they expect you to understand the process and know how to do a job with little to no training.  The people spend most of there time looking for ways to get out of work and when there not doing that they sit around and talk trash about each other behind each others backs.  

Very small and boring town unless you just want to kill some animals and get drunk.  Its an old oil town so the locals are all very jaded.  They go thru employees like water on a hot day due to the company culture and horrible management.  The coworkers are very clicky.  Its like high school or more grade school here.  

Its an interesting process learning how sugar is made from beets but other than that its a typical factory job.

The pay is pretty good 26 to $28 an hour. My only gripe is overtime is on an as-needed basis. The people they are friendly and down-to-earth. It has a good safety culture that is based on "common sense". The maintenance shop has a great understanding of what it takes to actually get something fixed as far as time. They want things fixed as promptly as possible. With the understanding that it might take all day. They don't expect you to be a miracle worker. As far as tools they have everything in the book. If they don't something will be improvised or the tool will be purchased. For the plant itself it has very clean places and very dirty places. It has a lot of steam lines so prepare to be hot. All the sugar is ran through high temperature  piping system to keep it liquid. They have a annual $100 boot voucher. If you want a steady paycheck and a decent wage and aren't scared to get dirty this is the job for you. I would recommend this job to anybody.

Extremely poor training, clique environment, narcissism marked by a lack of empathy and constant gossiping and trash talking. LAZY co workers who btw ARE SLEEPING on the job and getting pay raises. Sleeping is clearly marked in company policy that is grounds for termination. Of course I won't throw someone under the bus, but it sets a standard. Poor management and poor encouragement. Lack of clear direction and questionable certainty if you can advance. Seniority takes precedence regardless of qualification. Micromanaged, even after you haven't been given proper training. Co Workers who try to pull their weight around you. Co workers who complain about being bored, but do no actual work and avoid/try to get out of doing work. Then brag about doing no work. Disgusting place to work, disrespectful Co workers. Bottom of the barrel job. People constantly talk behind people's back. 

The management side is full of nepotism and favoritism. You always eventually learn most in management was related to or friends with someone that would have affected their hiring/promotion. Many farmers would be terribly upset to see the way their money is spent on "Tommy boy" level college graduates who mis-manage production and employees and spend money on security cameras to watch from their chairs instead of getting out on the floor like responsible managers. Curious that over 90% of the management in these factories all grew up nearby and have connections to those above them. Apparently all the smartest best qualified people on the planet grow up within  so many miles of sugar factories! Inadequate managers that would never hold the same position anywhere else like to throw their weight around, simply because they have power over others and make it an absolutely terrible place to work.

the main thing i disliked about working here is the rotating shifts. you always work a twelve hour shift but it will go 3 day shifts, 3 days off, come back and do 3 nights, and have 3 off, 3 days, one off, 3 nights, 3 off. 4 days on, and then 7 days off. and then repeat that sequence every month. the reason i didnt like this, is it was messing up my ability to sleep having to readjust all the time. and the fumes in the building caused me to get sick quite often which i normally am rarely sick. the things i liked are that i was responsible for myself. and didnt have to be told anything. i worked at my own pace and had lots of down time on the job since i was so fast. we got breaks every 2 hours which was a big plus.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Packaging technician 8 salaries reported	$31.00 per hour
Truck driver 8 salaries reported	$24.52 per hour
Millwright 21 salaries reported	$36.28 per hour
Process technician 21 salaries reported	$29.66 per hour
Foreman 6 salaries reported	$34.40 per hour

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