Sheffield

It can mean a robot installed decades before automation became a manufacturing buzzword.

It can mean building a child care center across the street from the plant, opening an on-site health care clinic, or establishing an engineering presence in Ames to reach talent who might not initially envision a career in Sheffield, Iowa.

And sometimes, innovation starts with an idea that has little expectation of generating a financial return at all.

That combination of ingenuity, long-term thinking, and willingness to act has helped Sukup grow from a rural Iowa family business into an international manufacturer serving customers around the world.

Emily Schmidt, the company's chief administrative officer and general counsel and a third-generation member of the Sukup family, joined me at the Farm Progress Show in September to talk about how the company is preparing for its next generation.

Sukup remains headquartered in Sheffield, a community of roughly 1,200 people 75 miles north of Ames.

Each workday, Schmidt said, about 600 employees come into the community to work.

That creates a fundamental workforce challenge.