From Napkin Sketches to Precision Pieces: Celebrating Kent Kudrna’s 29 Years at Steffes
For nearly three decades, Kent Kudrna has been a hands-on, hardworking machinist at Steffes. In his time with the company, he’s shown his expertise through not only the tool and die work he’s done, but through his innovative approach to each day of work. His meticulous attention to detail has consistently ensured the production of top-quality pieces, making him invaluable to Steffes for close to 29 years.
Kent has seen Steffes grow significantly since 1996 and fondly reflected on the evolution of the business. “It has absolutely changed. The company has diversified into various areas, like contract manufacturing and oil and gas, and I remember when we even made our own bricks for the heaters. We just kept growing.” He also mentioned that the staffing looked a bit different when he began this journey. “I think when I started, there were about 50 employees,” Kent said. Today, Steffes employs over 530 team members.
When talking to Kent about his favorite part of the last 29 years, he mentioned there were many fond memories, but one stands out above the rest — working on special projects with Business Owner Paul Steffes. “One of the best parts was being able to work with Paul. He’s had a lot of special projects we’ve worked on together,” he added. “He would come in Monday morning with a drawing on a napkin or sports program — we did a lot of jobs that were just scribbled on a piece of paper. He’d give me the drawing, and I was able to build and create his vision for a product. It was pretty neat having the opportunity to build those special projects with him.”
Kent also noted that the culture at Steffes was a driver for his long-term career with the company. “There’s unity. It’s a family. They care about their employees.”
We couldn’t be more grateful to Kent for his dedication to Steffes. It’s been a remarkable journey, and we thank you, Kent, for 29 wonderful years! Congratulations on your retirement!
