Where Are They Now?
Harvey Villegas has worked at Bovine Supply Line for nearly 20 years. “It’s been a really great job for me,” he said. “When I first got hired, they told me the guys that get hired don’t ever leave. I didn’t believe it, but here I am still working there. I love my job. I don’t ever have a day where I don’t want to go to work.”
Villegas graduated from Dublin High School in 2004, and went to Tarleton to study business. To make some money on the side, he started working at Bovine Supply Line after a friend told him about the job. Villegas worked in the warehouse and made deliveries, and after a couple of years he decided he’d rather work full time and left college.
In 2008, he was promoted to sales manager for the company, and has held the position ever since. Villegas focuses on sanitation equipment. “It’s a one man show,” he said. “I help the dairies get what they need for their herd, like pharmaceuticals and sanitation systems.”
Dairy sanitation systems are important for proper farm operations. All the milking equipment must be thoroughly cleaned every day, so no harmful bacteria can grow. “They sanitize their whole system with our soaps and chemicals, and I have to make sure they are used properly and in the right amount of time,” he said.
Villegas works 9-5, but is on call for whenever dairies need help with their equipment. “Sometimes I’ll get a call at three in the morning and have to go help,” he said.
He makes visits to around 30 clients on a regular schedule. “I like the interaction with the dairymen and the employees,” he said. “They’re more friends than clients now.”
Villegas also has a good relationship with the vendor he sells for through Bovine Supply Line, IBA Dairy Supplies. “When I first started, I was selling some $400,000 a year,” he said. “Now I’m up to $1.3 million. So I was awarded their 13 Star Award.”
Villegas plans to stay with Bovine Supply Line for the rest of his career, and hopes to buy a share of the company at some point.
When he’s not working, Villegas enjoys spending time with his wife Tiffany and their two children, Emma, 15 and Matthew, 13. His parents, Marcos and Rosa Villegas, still live in Dublin.
He also spends free time taking part in varmint hunting contests with his friends. “We hunt varmints like coyotes, raccoons, and bobcats,” he said. “For the contest you go in and you try to kill as much as you can.”
Throughout his adult life, Villegas has found inspiration in his wife and high school sweetheart Tiffany Villegas. “She’s always pushed me to do great. You know, that old saying, ‘Behind every great man, and there’s a great woman’? I believe that 100 percent. She’s always been my cheerleader and always pushed me to do better and be better.”
Villegas is proud of his personal and professional growth he’s been able to achieve with help from his family. “I didn’t come from a wealthy family,” he said. “We grew up poor, but it’s a different lifestyle now. We’ve worked hard to get to the position we are in now. [My wife and I] wanted better lives for our kids, just like my parents wanted for me.”
Villegas advice to Dublin graduates is to work hard for their goals. “Believe in your dreams, and don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something,” he said.
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.