Name: Rod Jensen
Hometown: Fremont, NE
Service Parts Professional
Years at PVE: 11
Rod Jensen is an adventurer. Both in his personal life and in his career. When he and his wife vacation, they point the car in a general direction and end up wherever the road takes them.
“We never have a solid destination. We’ll just decide to drive and see where we go,” said Rod. “If we’re driving and see a sign for the largest ball of string or something, we’ll take a detour and check it out!”
In his career, Rod’s worked roughly 30 different jobs. He’s never been fired. Rather, he gets interested in a new challenge. His time at Platte Valley Equipment is the longest he’s ever spent with an employer.
Rod spent his career in the automotive industry prior to his role at Platte Valley. How’d he get interested in the ag side? The story is classic Rod.
He was working at an auto parts store in Fremont when his co-worker mentioned the open position at PVE. Rod jokingly asked to be connected with the hiring manager. The rest is history.
“I wanted to work at Platte Valley because it was something I’d never done,” recalled Rod. “I’d always worked in automotive – never worked in ag. But who wouldn’t want to work at a John Deere dealership!”
Even though Rod works in parts, most customers haven’t met him. Rod has a major impact on their business though. His position in service parts plays a key role in ensuring the technicians have the parts they need to get jobs done. Rod also improves efficiency by organizing parts per job segment for each technician. While it may not sound exciting on paper, Rod’s role is key to keeping customers in business and keeping the Fremont location running.
“Rod takes pride in making sure the technicians do not wait and have the correct parts and tooling needed for each job,” described Todd Roland, store lead in Fremont. “He always has a positive attitude even on stressful days. This is much appreciated by all that work with him. He works largely behind the scenes and does not often get the credit or praise he deserves.”
Rod takes his role seriously. But, not too seriously.
“You’ve got to have a sense of humor in life,” Rod advised. “If you can’t get up in the morning, look in the mirror and laugh then you may as well just stay in bed.”
In his spare time, Rod enjoys seeing the country on road trips with his wife, fishing, and exploring the Platte River from the helm of his air boat.
Congratulations on being nominated as Fremont’s Pride of Platte Valley!
