When Biljana Dewsbury was honored with the 2021 STEP Ahead Award from The Manufacturing Institute, she found it humbling. In the nearly three years she has been with John Deere at Augusta, she just felt like she was doing her job.
“But our leadership obviously felt that I went above and beyond to obviously improve our factories safety, quality and efficiency,” said Dewsbury. “And then also try to encourage other women to join me in that effort.”
The Manufacturing Institute is a non-profit organization devoted to supporting and educating skilled workers. Its Science, Technology, Engineering and Production—or STEP—Women’s Initiative is a program that aims to empower women in the manufacturing industry.
Dewsbury was one of 130 women who were presented this year with the Manufacturing Institute’s annual STEP Ahead award to recognize successful women industry leaders.
Dewsbury’s contribution to John Deere’s operations have been considerable. While she’s been working in the Augusta area for three years, she’s been with the company for about 11 years, originally a corporate paralegal. After completing her MBA, Dewsbury began seeking for opportunities beyond the company’s legal department.
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Dewsbury job shadowed in one of the factories and liked it so much she applied for a job in operations as a production supervisor. Transferring from legal to production operations is not exactly a typical path, she notes.
“It’s a big step. It’s a big change,” she said. “That’s why I think it’s not common, because it’s very uncomfortable. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just you’re learning something you’ve never done before.”
As a production supervisor Dewsbury worked in labor relations, which she describes as a human resources department for production employees, helping the build combines. She would eventually apply for a continuous improvement position at the John Deere center in Grovetown, which is how she ended up moving from Iowa to the Augusta area. She’s now the orders fulfillment process operations manager.
Since Dewsbury has been in Augusta, she and her team have launched several safety and quality initiatives. One of them is an employee resource group called Women in Operations, which is “focused on attracting, developing and retaining female talent” in manufacturing.
Alongside a passion for learning and a competitive drive that led her to a dramatic career transition, as well as a major relocation several states away to her present role, Dewsbury is motivated by an enthusiasm for encouraging women to embrace opportunities in manufacturing. She notes that before leaving paralegal work, she had never been in a manufacturing facility before. Now she has been recognized for helping bring successful new innovations to factory operations.
“There’s a notion out there that women don’t wear steel-toed boots,” said Dewsbury. “We do, and I want to be that person to tell them you can do it, and I will help you.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
