FACES OF KIRBY-SMITH MACHINERY Justin Reece turns a job he was stuck with into a career at Kirby-Smith Machinery’s Kansas City branch
J
ustin Reece didn’t grow up wanting to be a welder. He got “stuck doing it,” and decided to pursue it as a career.
There is a real ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude here.”
Reece said that kind of dedication gets noticed at KSM. “It’s like everyone “I started out of high knows everyone. The upper school with the union management knows my name boilermakers as a high and takes a personal interest. rigger putting structures There is a family atmosphere, Justin Reece, Rental and together,” explained Reece. and that’s great. It makes Sales Facilitator “Welding came with the coming to work enjoyable. job. It turned out that I was On top of that, the pay and kind of a natural at it, and with some benefits are great. I hope to retire from on-the-job training, I made it a career. here someday. That started about 12 years ago.” “I thank my friend for telling me Reece brought his talents to about Kirby-Smith, and I’m returning Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc.’s (KSM) the favor by talking to others about Kansas City, Kan., branch in 2018. joining the team,” he continued. “One Working in the shop, he fabricated person just started a few weeks ago.” items, repaired buckets and welded Outside of work, Reece spends a thumbs on the excavators. lot of time target shooting, a sport “A friend who I had worked with took a job with Kirby-Smith, and he encouraged me to look into it,” recalled Reece. “He said there was a lot of opportunity here. That definitely turned out to be the case. This branch has grown tremendously in the three-plus years that I have been here. I was one of three service technicians when I started, and now we have seven, and the store staff in total has expanded quite a bit.”
he’s been doing for more than 30 years. “My grandpa taught me about guns and gun safety at a very young age. For target shooting, I mostly like using handguns of pretty much any caliber from an average distance of about 25 feet. The idea is to rack up the most points you can on a silhouetted target.” Reece also enjoys hunting and helping the less fortunate. “Kansas City is a great community that really comes together to help those in need,” he said. “There are a lot of places you can donate time and money to, and I encourage people to do that.” ■
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Enjoys helping others Reece has grown along with the branch and was recently promoted. He now facilitates rentals and sales, which involves helping sales representatives put rental machines and attachments together to meet customer needs, arranging trucking, and assisting with sales, among other things. “We work together to provide the best service possible,” said Reece. “Sometimes that means working long hours to make sure a customer is taken care of and gets the machine they need to meet their goals and deadlines.
Justin Reece (left) helps service technician Michael Elliott in KSM’s Kansas City, Kan., shop. “We work together to provide the best service possible,” said Reece. “Sometimes that means working long hours to make sure a customer is taken care of and gets the machine they need to meet their goals and deadlines. There is a real ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude here.”
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