Meet the Team – Anton
Innovative, unique, and compassionate – the three words that Anton Storch uses to describe Top Country could also be used to describe him just as effectively. Anton, a keen pig shooter, fiancé, and father of two, soon to be three boys, has just passed the nine-year mark here at Top Country.
If you’ve been to the site to pick up a product, you’ll have met him. He’s always up for a chat with the customers as he loads a ute and is always willing to help them out in any way he can. When asked, his colleagues said “If you go to him with a problem, you know it’s going to be fixed. He is so willing to help others – whether it’s coming in to mix feed early for a customer, or welding a new hoof stand for someone from scrap metal, he’ll help you, and he’ll take pride in doing it. Anton is always the first one to shout when you bump into him at the pub!”
Starting here as a teenager, Anton moved through the ranks from a laborer, to running his own mixing crew, to finally taking up the mantle and controlling the operations as the Feedmill Manager. Not happy with a ‘near enough is good enough’ attitude, Anton loves the competition that every day brings in his role. He is constantly bringing new ideas to the table to help streamline production and encourages his crew to do the same.
Anton thinks his crew are reliable, hardworking and finds them to be a really enjoyable team to work with. And his mill crew seem just as pleased with him! They like that he “…doesn’t get cranky or stressed, he doesn’t talk down to you and shows you everything in a helpful way. He gives everyone a fair go.” They think he’s a good leader, and creates a great environment to work in. Though he’ll make sure they’re paying attention as “…he’s a bit of a prankster, a joker; you can’t ever take your eye off him.”
Managing Director, Stephen Aisthorpe, has worked with Anton these past nine years, and “Since Anton has become mill manager, he has done nothing but take the company forward and really cleaned the site up. Physically cleaned, yes, but also always the first to suggest ideas for improving processes, particularly manufacturing. He is the leader in the mill, deservedly so, as he does a very good job of that.”
Anton has found that “working with YT [Andrew Whyte, General Manager] and him helping push me professionally and personally has been one of the things I will be most grateful for. He has giving me more opportunity within the company than I could have ever hoped for, and I cannot thank him enough for that.”
Andrew is proud to be working with him, as “Anton’s the sort of bloke who steps up and takes ownership of the business, and he wants to be thorough with everything. Anton always leads by example, and because he does that he’s very well respected by both staff and leadership. He’s the first one here in the morning, and the last one to leave most days. He’s a true leader.”
When asked what legacy he’d want to leave behind, Anton is humble and compassionate, simply stating “I want to be known as the bloke who’ll stop and help you change a tyre.”