Meet Mike Soodeen
Title: Print Production Associate
Years at NEA: 2 years
Anybody who attended this spring’s NEA Leadership Summit and leafed through the 60-page program booklet likely took for granted the sharp graphics, vibrant colors, and crisp text.
Print quality tends to go unnoticed when it’s excellent—and it is always excellent with NEA’s Mike Soodeen.
Mike printed more than 6,000 pieces of paper for the summit, plus all of its signage, and every sheet was perfect. His commitment to quality—and cost control—is exemplary.
“If we were to send this work out, it would cost NEA 3 to 4 times more,” says Mike, who previously worked 12 years at FedEx Office. “A $300 project here is a $5,000 project somewhere else.” (A color copy at NEA? 25 cents. The same copy at FedEx? 90 cents.)
With the NEA Representative Assembly and its Conference on Racial and Social Justice fast approaching, Mike’s days are “fairly busy,” he says, laughing.
There are countless conference programs, posters, badges, materials, and more to be printed. But he knows his excellent work and his endless patience for his NEA colleagues is appreciated.
“I love customer service. I’ve been in it all my life,” he says. “It is very rewarding to hear, ‘I’ve got a tough job. I need to give it to Mike.’”
Fun Fact about Mike
Union life runs in Mike’s family. His dad was a Teamster!
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