TOM SISKO

"When I came here it was everything I wanted to do."

Some dime store philosopher once said, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Well don't try to sell that idea to Tom Sisko because details are what he's all about.

"Anything that's involved in this building is what I do," and you can tell by the way Tom Sisko makes this statement that no detail is too small. On his ever present clipboard he keeps track of the latest "fire I'm putting out" as well as the next ten things that need to be done.

Self admittedly "protective" of his people, Sisko will tell you flat out, "The staff I have, they are second to none." And the respect is mutual. "He's a good man to work for, very meticulous, you know what's expected. He has that education that we learned through the school of hard knocks," says one coworker.

"They know I've done it," says Sisko. "I've helped them; I've picked orders; I've moved trucks; I did whatever I had to do to help them and they know I'm behind them 100%."

His hard working background is a point of pride for Tom Sisko, who started working as a child in his grandfather's Arsenal Sausage Company. "We'd come in on Saturday and make boxes or whatever we had to do," remembers Sisko. "Then I trained to be a certified sausage maker. I can make hot dogs, I can make kolbassi, I can make hot sausage, kishka, headcheese, and all the Polish ethnic things we made. That's our background; we're Polish hard working people is what we are."

When Tom's dad died in 1988 his mom decided to close the doors of Arsenal Holiday Meats and retire to the California desert. It was the end of a family history and a trade Tom says he still sometimes misses. "Hot sausage, I used to make the best hot sausage. It's real simple: a little extra salt here and a little oleoresin of paprika, it was pretty good. I do miss that."

The closing of Arsenal Meats left Tom looking for work. Realizing he needed more education to get into management anywhere outside of his family's business, he headed back to school.

As Community College of Allegheny County and LaRoche College prepared him for his sheepskin, Joe Monteverde took him in and taught him the produce business. "I'm forever thankful to Joe Monteverde, who has passed away now. He was a tough guy to work for but he showed me the difference between endive and escarole."

Later, while working at Alliant Foods, Sisko heard about the opening for an operations manager at Consumers Produce and sent his resume. Consumers Produce President Alan Siger called him the next day for an interview and it proved to be a perfect chemistry. "Everyone wants to work for themselves and everything, but this way I'm almost working for myself, " says Sisko. "Alan is a good kind of leader in that he tells you what he wants done and then you do it."

By his own estimate Tom says he spends 75% of his time as one of The Freshness Professionals. Gone long before his wife and three kids climb out of bed, Sisko is usually on the job between 4:30 and 6:00 in the morning, and he rarely leaves before four or five in the afternoon. But arriving home at that hour allows Tom to spend time with his children, attend their concerts, and take his son to Cub Scouts. Sunday is the only day Tom does not schedule time in the office, and he dedicates that day to enjoying his family and working off stress at the gym. While the family likes to get away to the South Carolina beaches, Tom says he hasn't taken a vacation since July of 1998.

While he enjoys time with his family, Tom Sisko's mind is never far from Railroad Street. He's always just a phone call away. "My wife is extremely understanding about this. She knows anytime there's a problem they'll page me no matter what time it is. And if I have to come in, I come in. It's what I do."

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