Dr. Dale Fortner is Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Sandridge Crafted Foods His role includes leadership development, personnel coaching, and community and government relations.

Before joining Sandridge in 2013, Fortner was a 30-year educator. He taught high school English, coached sports, served as a principal, and finished his career with 12 years as superintendent of the Wadsworth (Ohio) City School District.

But as he approached mandatory retirement age, Fortner wasn’t ready to stop working. A friend suggested he look at the private sector – and specifically Sandridge.

“This was obviously a new field for me, but there were a lot of things in my history that translated well to what they wanted to do with the HR position,” Fortner says. “We’re trying to be a caring, supportive environment where people enjoy coming to work and don’t feel a need to go home to complain…. We want them to feel this is a long-term path where they’re learning, contributing and making a difference.”

Under Fortner’s stewardship, the company provides career planning for employees at all levels; a full-time Wellbeing Coordinator to support employees in their financial, mental-health and other often-overlooked needs; an apprentice truck driver program; an Emerging Leadership Development Program for middle managers; and a Promising Leader Development Program for other high-performing employees. A new “culture coordinator” function supports the Sandridge commitment to an employee-centered culture.

Fortner earned a bachelor’s degree in English from The College of Wooster; a master’s in education from The University of Akron; and a doctorate in Administrative Leadership for Teaching and Learning at Walden University, Minneapolis.

He and his wife live in Wadsworth, where they raised five daughters. He played football and tennis in college, flew hang gliders before he was married, and now enjoys working around the house. “I’d rather have a hammer in my hand than a nine-iron,” he says.