After 49 years working for Mosaic in Louisiana, Gerard “Gip” Gipson retired on Feb. 1. In this next chapter, Gip plans to pursue his passion project of rebuilding old cars. But when he first started at Mosaic back in 1974, he didn’t even have a car. In fact, he showed up to apply on a bus.

“The way I ended up at Mosaic was almost an accident,” Gip said. “I had graduated from high school and was in a work-tech school, which today they call community college.”

Gip was taking electronics classes, but the school was 25 miles away from where he lived in Donaldsonville. He started taking the bus to class, and then the bus driver job opened up. Gip took over, taking home a net pay of $15.37 every two weeks.

“At that time, that was some good money,” he said.

Mosaic’s Faustina plant — at that time known as Williams Agriculture — was 1 mile away from his last drop off. When he heard the plant was hiring, Gip parked the big blue bus outside and filled out an application.

“The hiring manager asked me how I was going to get to work without a car,” he said. “I told him, ‘Well, if you give me a job, I can buy a car and get to work.’”

Out of more than 70 people, only Gip and one other applicant were hired. He joined the company as an operator.

“A brand-new plant was under construction when I was hired,” Gip said. “So, they set up a temporary trailer on the property for us. We went to classes to learn the processes, systems and plant operations before we started the plant.”

Those first few months spent in a classroom ended up being critical to his career. As the years progressed, Gip was able to improve processes and production based on the knowledge he had gained. He eventually was promoted to roles including release supervisor, day supervisor and superintendent. When he retired in February, he was the superintendent of phosphoric acid production, responsible for plant operations, planning
and scheduling.

“I pushed myself because I enjoyed what I was doing,” Gip said. “I made a lot of changes, but gradually I saw improvements in plant production and the quality of acid. Even now, the plant has so much potential.”

Gip’s favorite memories over the years include the time he spent passing down his knowledge to other employees as they started to advance in their careers.

“It was a sense of accomplishment when these guys understood something, when I would see that lightbulb go off in their heads,” he said. “My biggest thing was empowering them to make decisions and helping them understand the process. They loved it and they fed on it. The more you gave them, the more they wanted.”

Ron Yasurek – General Manager, Mosaic’s Louisiana Phosphate Operations, described Gip as a hard worker who strived for continuous improvement.

“Gip was a loyal and dedicated employee and friend,” Ron said. “He held himself and those around him to extremely high standards. Through the years, Gip formally and informally mentored countless people, leaving a legacy that will live on here in Louisiana and around Mosaic.”

During his 40-plus year career, Gip saw the company make positive changes too, particularly in diversity and inclusion efforts. By 2030, Mosaic has committed to have 30 percent growth in underrepresented groups in the workplace, in leadership diversity and in community investments focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives.

“I’ve been here a long time, which means I’ve seen it both ways,” he said. “But the changes Mosaic has made have been extremely impressive and I’m proud our company is moving in that direction.”

On his last day, Gip was honored with a celebration, including cake and kind remarks from people leaders and coworkers.

“That was very touching, and I was blown away,” he said. “I started making a speech, but I couldn’t complete it because I got so full of emotion. If you take my whole career and put it on a scale with the good and the bad, the good always outweighed the bad.”

And while he may be trading in his hard hat and hi-vis for car parts and clunkers, Gip says he’s only a call away.

“If they need my help with anything at any time, they can contact me,” he said.

“Because I want that place to be successful. It’s a good place with good people, and I wish them all the best.”