28 Candles
May 24, 2010
This month, we’re celebrating our 28th birthday. But before we blew out the candles and cut the cake, we asked a couple of Exmarkites to help us look back and reflect on the good times by sharing their fondest, proudest memories while working here. Without further adieu, here’s Cindy Jurgens and Greg Licht, two family members with a long tenure of making kick-butt Exmark mowers sharing their favorite moments with us.
Cindy Jurgens, Continuous Improvement Analyst
I started working here in 1982, shortly after Exmark was founded. There were seven of us back then, which meant we worked closely together, ate lunch together and helped each other out whenever someone needed it. Though I have a great collection of stories and memories, the one that really stands out, which also happens to be my proudest moment at Exmark, was when I received my Lean Green Belt. I took different courses, completed 100 credit hours over 2 years, lead a project with more than $10,000 in savings and gave a final presentation to earn my belt. I am honored to say that today I am a Kaizen facilitator at Exmark, helping us become more efficient, more focused and better at what we do. Now that will stay with me forever.
Greg Licht, Materials Manager
Having worked here since 1984, I have a lot of memories stored up. But the one that comes to mind is the day a full trailer tipped over right outside of the building and mowers went everywhere. It was a particularly hot day in Beatrice—so hot, in fact, the asphalt near the ditch literally melted. When the trailer was being moved to the street, the asphalt buckled and the trailer fell on its side. Man, it was a mess. But everyone came together and worked as a team to get the mowers back on the trailer and ready to go. It was the camaraderie that really stands out in my mind. I loved seeing everybody pitching in, staying late and making sure the mowers were taken care of. That’s the thing about this place—no matter how big we get, people are always ready to pitch in.