In the year of our twentieth anniversary, we wanted to know from our most veteran colleagues how they remember their arrival at La Antigua. Today our protagonist in this space of 20Contigo is Silvia López, administrative in Gestión Agro Ganadera . Silvia is, together with Zaca and Felipe, the “veteran” of the company, so much so that she has been with the company for more years than La Quesería. Do you want to know how it can be?
Silvia, this year we celebrate 20Contigo, but tell us how and when did you start working at Gestión Agro Ganadera?
I started working with Jesús doing an internship for a course at his consulting firm. It was 3 months and in the end I stayed working for Asesoría and we had the office in Crespo Rascón just behind the Plaza. That was the first time I saw Fernando. He came to visit Jesús, they were starting to make the arrangements to create Gestión Agro Ganadera, so I was even before the company (laughs). Zaca, Felipe and I started, although I became an “official” employee of Gestión Agro Ganadera a little later; in August 1996, so I have already completed 25 years in the company.
I have always worked as a clerk, doing accounting, invoicing…, at the beginning, all kinds of administrative tasks and then, as new colleagues have joined, each one has been in charge of different things. Currently, I mainly handle the invoicing and the labor part of the company, and a little bit of everything else when my colleagues are not there or there is more work in other tasks, for example, at Christmas when the processing of orders requires more people.
Has the company changed much since you started until now?
Yes, of course it has changed. We started with just the milk business and very few people and then came a small cheese factory… We started with 3 workers and now we are 29, plus a good number of people who, even though they are not directly part of the staff, also work for the company. Together with the increase in personnel, there has been an increase in facilities, vehicles, means…
What do you like most about your job?
I guess the variety of tasks; customer issues, livestock, labor, social security, tax… Although administrative work can be more monotonous than other departments, I do and deal with very different jobs and people. But particularly, and although it may not be your question or in the sense that you have asked it, what I have liked most about my work during these more than 25 years has been to see a project grow and to feel part of it.
Do you have any memories or anecdotes to share with us?
Well, in such a long time, for sure yes, good memories and not so many others, the beginnings were difficult and it is something that all of us who have been here since the beginning always remember. But as special memories, all those that have been given by the family character that this company has always had; the Christmas dinners when there were few of us and we were all families: workers, couples and children and the most endearing personal moments of all of us that we have been part of: weddings, births, communions…
After so long in the company, does one end up feeling part of the family of Gestión Agro Ganadera, Quesería La Antigua?
I, at least, do. We have not only shared work, but also, as I mentioned before, the most special moments of our personal lives. The oldest of us have been at the communions of those who are now our colleagues, such as Alberto, Sara and Ana (I didn’t make it to Cris’ communion (laughs). We have seen how they have met and formed different couples among colleagues and we have even attended their weddings and in the same way, they have also been at mine; my wedding, the baptism and communion of my daughter….
This 2022 Quesería La Antigua will be 20 years old, hence our 20Contigo Do you have any wishes for the future?
Well… that we can all continue to see this company grow and achieve its dreams without losing its family and close essence.
