Viterra seeking to fill critical roles in industry

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Heather Cameron
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During the 2024 Ag Expo there was an event called “thinkAg: Career Fair” hosted by Ag for Life and youth from Coalhurst, Kate Andrews School, Picture Butte, Cardston, W.R. Myers in Taber, and Warner School came to learn from professionals associated with the agriculture industry. During that event, Andrew Klassen, Regional Marketing Manager, and Derek Wentz, another manager, spoke about career opportunities within Viterra.

Klassen stated that Viterra is one of the largest agricultural companies in the world with a network that allows for different opportunities.

Viterra’s head office, Klassen said, is in Regina, Sask. and the company itself has been around for over 100 years working with growers. Viterra, Klassen said, also has an extensive network within 37 countries with 18,000 people, and their network includes over 200 vessels going back and forth on the ocean nonstop, moving product and bridging the gap between the grower and the end users. To highlight Viterra’s work on the water, Klassen showed a map of port terminals the company uses, including one in Thunder Bay and one in Montreal, saying that they also have a very good foothold in the U.S.

“Our basic approach is sustainability,” said Klassen. “We want to safeguard our people in the communities around us. It’s based on four pillars: health and safety, the environment, community and human rights, and food and feed safety.”

There are a lot of different roles, Klassen said, between operations, between trades, with engineers, within grain marketing, and corporate roles.

Wentz then highlighted a few of the roles. Facility assistant, Wentz said, is an entry level position and includes helping load rail cars, assisting in cleaning grain, and housekeeping. The sales portion, on the other hand, Wentz said, includes being directly involved with the producers one-on-one and developing communications with them. Wentz emphasized that he found the job very rewarding as far as getting to know people in the area you work. 

“We just are looking for somebody that has a passion for it and is interested in growing and learning in the ag industry,” said Wentz. “We feel our job is very important to get product to the end users. A lot of the products that we handle will all end up into a food situation, so one way or another, we’re a big part of that chain and we really enjoy what we do.”