Name: Jake Rieck
Hometown: Leigh, NE
Service Technician
When Jake was told he was nominated as Fremont’s Pride of Platte Valley, his response went something like this: “Oh, heck no! Pick someone else. I hate being in the spotlight.”
Jake would rather keep his head down and get to work than be recognized. That work ethic is one of the reasons why he is an asset in the shop at Fremont.
“Jake is a self-motivated employee,” said Pat Arnold, Fremont service manager. “He gets the job done in a timely manner.”
Jake is pretty straightforward. He enjoys his role as service technician because the income supports his family, and he understands the equipment. He chose to work on green equipment because he got tired of working on red machines.
“My mom wanted me to be a lawyer. I didn’t want that much school,” Jake said. “I chose this because it’s something I’m good at and only took two years of school before going full-time.”
Jake has a twin brother, Joenah, who works as a service technician at Platte Valley Equipment in Humphrey. Both Jake and Joenah graduated from Northeast Community College with degrees in Diesel Tech.
Growing up on his family’s farm in Leigh, Jake learned how to grow crops and raise cattle. If he could do it all again, he would probably become a veterinarian because he enjoys working with livestock.
Jake enjoys the freedom he has in his role as a technician. His knowledge of the equipment – what it does and how it should run – helps him build rapport with customers. His goal is to make sure customers have good things to say about his work.
Jake works just as hard outside of work as he does when he’s on call. Jake spends his free time caring for his cattle, farming, and hanging out with his wife and daughter. While she’s not quite old enough to understand everything yet, Jake enjoys teaching his daughter to be independent.
“She’ll help bottle-feed calves when she needs to. She thinks she knows how to fix everything, but at this point she just ends up breaking it,” Jake said with a laugh.
Congratulations on being Fremont’s Pride of Platte Valley!