June 9, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Novak Sanitary Service.

All Jeremy Flowers was looking for at first was more time.

Between owning a cleaning business and working part time at a gas station, “honestly, I was tired of working seven days a week for a couple years and wanted more for myself and more family time,” said Flowers, who moved to Sioux Falls from California in 2015.

A friend who had worked for Novak Sanitary Service for more than 20 years encouraged him to just try out a job as a driver.

“I tried it out for three months and really fell in love with the culture and the people,” he said. “They make it 100 times better and totally worth picking up garbage.”

He had a commercial driver’s license from time spent driving a school bus – which he said was much harder than his Novak truck – and within eight months, he had a new role at Novak.

He stepped into a lead driver position in another department and then returned to his original department as a supervisor. So in about 18 months, Flowers has been promoted twice.

“I lean on my boss, and he helps me. If I ever run into an obstacle, I definitely have the resources to help me.”

He’d heard Novak was a great place to work but didn’t really believe it, he said.

“And then it was totally worth it, and I’m beyond thankful and proud. It was culture shock in a good way,” he said. “They treat their employees like families, and it’s not just a paycheck. I was a front-line worker, and the way they show appreciation is just unlike any company I’ve seen.”

His job now involves removing obstacles for the front-line crews he supervises and “making it as easy as possible for them to handle any situations they may be having, whether it’s work-related or outside work,” Flowers said.

Next summer, he will move to a new location where he’ll take on additional responsibility.

“I’m only 26, but I’ve had enough jobs, and I never in my entire life would have pictured working in the garbage business, but also never working for a company like this,” he said.

As Flowers prepares to move out of town and up in the company, Pat Draisey has moved back.

He’s originally from Sioux Falls and began at Novak in an entry-level accounting job as an assistant controller.

In less than a year, he was promoted to a district controller.

“I ended up moving to Colorado, so I had five locations and did that two years, and then there was an opportunity to come back to Sioux Falls as a district controller with six locations,” he said.

“I have a degree in accounting and thought I’d try the numbers out for a while, and I loved every minute of the four years I was a controller, but the one thing missing was the people side of things.”

That led him to an opportunity to cross over from accounting into operations, where he became an assistant district manager in Sioux Falls.

“So I’ve had a chance to learn all the operational items, including sales, the office, pretty much the whole business,” he said. “It’s a good way to get your feet wet, and after that program, which could be from six months to two years, I’ll be asked to move to a location as a district manager.”

He has spent the past six weeks putting his new commercial driver’s license to work driving routes, which “was actually a lot of fun and gives you great appreciation for what the front-line team does every day, both physically and mentally,” he said.

He also points to Novak’s unique culture for his decision to remain with the company.

“A lot of people see the garbage industry as a rough-and-tough industry, but there are so many great people who work in this industry,” Draisey said.

“At every spot I’ve been, there have been great people. The mantra is making good thing happen for other people, and I think that holds true from the front line to the C-suite execs. Everybody cares about everybody and wants to see good things happen.”

A career experience like Flowers and Draisey had is “absolutely accessible” to others, general manager Mike Herbst said.

“We deliberately try to grow people from inside, and we always look internally to give opportunities. And it’s not just in your realm. Pat with his varied skill set went from accounting to operations, and Jeremy with his servant-leadership methodology had a short road to becoming a lead and subsequently a route supervisor, and he will continue to grow.”

Novak currently has openings for a couple of route drivers and a maintenance position.

“And those also are roles with career paths,” Herbst said. “Every job we have, every front-line person, has a growth pipeline available if they want to pursue it. So there’s a path for every employee, whether it’s in the office or in the shop, growing into management; there are always opportunities both within our team in Sioux Falls and companywide.”

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