The U.S. Custom Harvesters Hall of Fame

INDUCTEES OF USCHI HALL OF FAME

Mike Barnett, Western, MO - (2009)

I can only hope that those of you reading this have had the opportunity to work with, enjoy the company of, or know Mike Barnett. Mike has served capably as a member of the John Deere Harvester Works Harvest CORPS, or Customer Support team since 1991. Mikes good humor, consistent timely and accurate responses and personal dedication have served his company and his customers well over the course of the last 18 years.

Born November 26, 1953, Mike is the eldest of the 9 children of Hank and Joann Barnett. He was raised in the little town of Garden City in Western, MO.

Mike began his career with John Deere on the 25th of September 1973 as a warehouse worker and fork truck driver. Mike capably served in this role until 1991 when John Deere’s Kansas City Branch and John Deere Harvester Works teamed to form a unit known as Harvest CORPS. Mike’s supervisor at the time obviously saw a diamond in the rough as he approached Mike about supporting the parts van activities of this team along with others from the branch warehouse. This was a turning point for Mike as well as the harvesters he has since supported.

Over the course of the last 18 years, Mike has held many different positions with John Deere. From his time in the warehouse, to the 2 years in Parts Marketing, the 7 as a Combine Product Specialist, or the last 3 years as Senior Service Representative for John Deere Harvester Works, Mike has worked relentlessly to ensure that support provided to Custom Harvesters continues to improve year after year. He set the bar high and maintained a first class organization over all of the years. Time after time Mike’s attention to the detailed parts list, equipment procurement, staffing challenges, product issues and extended hours have limited the amount of frustration and downtime custom harvesters and dealers experienced when issues arose. It is difficult to quantify the countless hours of Mike’s career and life that have been dedicated to the customers he supports. Year round, Mike’s dedication has been seen as he answers the calls, finds the parts, or solves the problems.

For those of you not fortunate to know Mike personally, you may not realize some of his other skills. His quick wit and humor allow him make the very best out of every challenging situation. Mike also has some unique culinary skills. He could compete against the best chefs in the world when it comes to cooking a 18 steaks with all the fixin’s using three portable gas grills on the tailgate of two pickup trucks in hotel parking lot after a thunderstorm. Another unique thing about Mike is that he does not require sleep. Mike can go three months averaging 4 hours of sleep a night and still be pleasant to the people around him.

One other thing about Mike is that he has never met a stranger. Mike continues to build relationships with those that he meets from Munday, TX to Conrad, MT. These relationships allow him to make any place a home away from home. When Mike was being selected for this honor, many of these people were asked to write letters of support for Mike and what he has accomplished. These excerpts from comments about Mike show the influence he has had on so many over the years.

• “This man is all business during the day and most people probably could not take the tolerance of all of us phoning him numerous times an hour when those wonderful $350,000.00 goddesses of green paint won’t run!!”
• “Mike has went above and beyond his normal duties to help facilitate many of us harvesters and promote this organization.”
• “All the B-S aside I will say Mike is one of the most dedicated guys you could ever ask to help you. He comes from the old school if you have a problem; he gets it taken care of, no mater if it is past work hours or a weekend. Its not very often you find this kind of dedication in today’s work force.”
• “Mike is what the John Deere Customer Support Team is all about. He always puts John Deere's customers first.”
• “He has shown and is still showing me the dedication and urgency that one must have to provide the type of support John Deere is known to provide to its customers.”
• “When dictionaries update their definitions on words and how they fit with current culture, Mike is the example that is used for updating and defining customer service, dedication and culture.”
• “Any company would be proud to have Mike as an employee, but I’m proud to call him a friend.”
• “His dedication to your members and your organization has been unmatched by anyone I have worked with.”
• “Mike Barnett is a great steward of John Deere’s reputation to support our products and more importantly, a key group of customers, the United States Custom Harvesters.”
• “As leader of our Harvest Support initiative for custom harvesters for the past 18 years, Mike has represented John Deere in a manner consistent with the famous words attributed to our company’s founder, John Deere, who said “I’ll never put my name on a product that doesn’t have in it the best that is in me”.”
• “His dedication to this group of customers; providing the most timely information and assistance; and going above and beyond to keep their machines in the field are a testament to the commitment he has made to USCH.”
• “His tireless energy, strong product and parts knowledge and positive attitude have cemented the Harvest C.O.R.P.S. and gained the respect of Custom Harvesters.”
• “I know that during these 18 years Mike has devoted tireless efforts towards a common goal of providing your members the type of product support they require and deserve.”
• “Nobody has worked harder for the Customer than Mike Barnett.”
• “There are very few “sure things” in life, but there is one that has literally been passed down through generations of harvesters and customer support team members. If you pick up a telephone and dial 309-235-0074, there is a person who answers the phone ready to help in any way possible.”
• “He could write a book on going above and beyond and having a lot of fun in the process.”
• “A good friend of mine always told me that it takes a special kind of person to do this job. The older I get, I realize he was talking about guys like Mike Barnett.”
• “Mike was and is one of the most dedicated persons I know, to his job, Company and to the customer and not necessarily in that order.”
• “Mike not only pushes himself to provide the highest level of support, but he sets an example for those around him to follow.”
• “Mike always has the customer’s best interest in mind and does what ever is necessary to get a customer running again after a failure.”

As you can see by the comments above Mike Barnett has worked selflessly over the years supporting customers and forming lasting relationships with countless numbers of harvesters. Mike is not the type of person that expects or even enjoys the fanfare associated with this type of honor, but definitely deserves it. Mike may someday retire from the supporting the Harvest, but it is safe to say that he will never be able to abandon or forget it. Supporting harvest is such an intertwined part of his life, that it can not simply end with a career.