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AG CAREERS<br />
toy tractors together…<br />
Members of the Flenker family (from left) are Brooklynn, Nick, Melissa,<br />
Brock, Bryce, Kim (in driver’s seat), Haley, Lana, Grant, Adeline, Nate,<br />
Pearl, Roland, Angie, and Charlotte. Nick and Melissa are the parents<br />
of Brooklynn, Bryce, and Brock; Grant and Haley are the parents of<br />
Lana; Nate and Angie are the parents of Charlotte, Adeline, Pearl, and<br />
Roland; and Kim is the father of Nick, Nate, and Grant.<br />
EASTERN IOWA FARMER PHOTO / NANCY MAYFIELD<br />
GRANT<br />
CLASS OF<br />
2012<br />
NATE<br />
CLASS OF<br />
2000<br />
payroll and books. Middle brother Nate serves<br />
as vice president and head mechanic, and<br />
youngest brother Grant manages dispatch and<br />
operations. All three brothers drive full-time<br />
and manage to fit the other duties that come<br />
with running a company into their schedules.<br />
“Most of the time we spend one to two<br />
hours once we finish hauling catching up and<br />
preparing for the next day. This can be anything<br />
from loading the night before to doing<br />
repairs and washing trucks,” Nate said.<br />
The long hours and double duties sometimes<br />
make it difficult to make plans, but they<br />
eifarmer.com<br />
still believe that working together and<br />
owning their own business is worth it.<br />
“We wouldn’t want it any other way,”<br />
Nick said. “We always assumed we would<br />
work together when we got older, because<br />
we grew up farming together, grew up playing<br />
with toy tractors together when we were<br />
kids. It just seemed natural that we would do<br />
this together, too.”<br />
Owning the trucking company together is<br />
not the only thing they do as a team. They<br />
NICK<br />
CLASS OF<br />
1999<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong>Iowa<strong>Farmer</strong>_South_Fall2023.indd 45<br />
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