15
Jun
Corey Goss is a member of our illustrious “clean-up crew” as we term it. When Corey first started working for Hamilton Growers/Southern Valley (Hamilton Growers is the grower entity, while Southern Valley is our marketing label) he spent the early part of his employment in the fields helping to plant and pick product. After that, he moved to the clean-up crew and he’s been there ever since making his time at Southern Valley/Hamilton Growers a total of 6 years.
Corey says his job now is to “help everybody.” He does everything from loading empty bins and unloading full ones to cleaning off the packing lines to straightening and organizing box and bin inventory to dumping culls. If it involves cleaning, straightening, and sanitizing he is one of the men for the job.
Corey says he moved to Georgia from New Jersey in 2003 to be near family. He was halfway headed back to NJ when he ended up getting a job at Hamilton Growers/Southern Valley instead and decided to stay in the South. He says he likes the people here at Southern Valley and he likes the flexibility of getting to work as many hours as he wants. During the spring season, he is able to work around 14 hours a day M-F and then half days on Saturday. Sundays are optional during busy season, he says, but it is an option he often chooses. During peak season, all employees are paid a minimum of $10.59 an hour (minimum wage for Georgia is $7.25/hr) and most are eager to get all the hours they can.
All workers have to work a minimum of 7 hours per day but can choose to work longer when there is work available – which there always is during spring season. Most days Corey chooses to work longer and says his wife and two-year-old baby daughter at home are what motivate him to keep coming every day – knowing that they need him to provide for and take care of them. During the offseason, he still works here full-time, but the hours are a little more normal. When I mentioned that some people would argue that there aren’t any jobs available around here, he laughs and says, “Southern Valley’s always offering jobs” before he adds “but you better be ready to work hard.”
Regarding his job, Corey says he sees what is packed in the boxes and he thinks Southern Valley offers great product. He is proud to be one piece of getting that product to the customers. When asked what he thinks about working on a family farm and any interactions he’s had with the family, he says “Mrs. Wanda’s pretty cool.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. Not so sure “cool” is the term usually used to describe Mrs. Wanda, but I have a feeling she’ll take it!