McKesson leader gets first look at Clear Lake

(Above) John Hammergren (center) chairman and CEO of McKesson Pharmaceuticals, met with (L-R) Mayor Nelson Crabb, Speaker of the Iowa House Linda Upmeyer, State Senator Amanda Ragan and City Administrator Scott Flory.

-Submitted photo.

The leader of Clear Lake’s newest prized industry visited the McKesson Pharmaceutical Distribution Center for the first time last week.

John Hammergren, chairman and CEO of McKesson, which is currently ranked fifth among Fortune 100 companies, toured the 340,000 square foot, $80 million plant, lunched with employees, and met with local and state officials during a whirlwind trip to Clear Lake Monday, June 13.

“Things are going incredibly well here— between the workforce and the state-of-the-art facility, we are able to execute on everything and provide great service,” said Hammergren.

Customer service was a message the leader shared with the approximate 100 employees who have begun work at the facility.  The Alexandria, Minn., native said the principles under which McKesson operates are shared in Clear Lake and that was an important consideration in locating the warehouse and distribution center here.

“The values of McKesson really matched up well with the values of Clear Lake and that was wonderful to hear,” said Clear Lake Mayor Nelson Crabb, who along with City Administrator Scott Flory, Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer and State Senator Amanda Ragan visited the McKesson plant and met with its leadership.

“He’s one of the most powerful, with regard to a major business in this country— in the world— and to come to Clear Lake, Iowa to look at his new building that we have here was a real honor,” said Crabb.  “He also shared with employees their importance to the company and reminded them that the medicine they put in a tote today could save

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a life tomorrow.”

Hammergren was joined in Clear Lake by Bill Balaun, senior vice president of McKesson’s North Central Region, and Larry Secrest, vice president and general manager of sales and operations for the North Central Region.

The men explained that the company’s newest distribution facility in Clear Lake was five years in the making.

“We identified the challenges and opportunities,” said Balaun.  “We needed to be able to service our customer base and have room to grow.  We also looked at the workforce and Clear Lake was our choice.”

A huge amount of secrecy preceded the announcement of McKesson as the mystery tenant in the city’s Larry Luker Memorial Industial Park.  The company leaders said that was necessary out of respect to McKesson employees at two distribution centers which would be closed as their operations were moved to Clear Lake.  McKesson simply outgrew the centers, said Balaun.

“Our employees are a big part of our success and out of respect to our employment base— some with 17 and 18-years tenure, we wanted to reserve that conversation,” he said.

Chris Van Norman, director of operations at the distribution center, said interest has been high from those who want to join the McKesson team in Clear Lake.  About 1,400 persons attended two job fairs and more are planned later this summer and early fall.  He expects staffing to be at full level, in excess of 200, by early next year.

Clear Lake City Administrator Scott Flory said he has been at the McKesson facility several times since it became operational in May.  However, meeting Hammergren was a special thrill.

“I would consider it one of the highlights of my professional career to have spent nearly three hours with Mr. Hammergren at the Clear Lake distribution center,” said Flory.  “He was very complementary towards the City of Clear Lake government and our working relationship in bringing the new distribution center to Iowa.”

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