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May 20, 2004
Brian Talbert is putting together a killer crew
of kayakers that are making great strides in building boats. We
were only making about 20 boats per day at the most one week ago.
Now we can make 35 boats per day with only 5 guys, and by next Wednesday
we will be making 60 boats per day. This means we will be able to
catch up with our demand in 30 days.
We have Josh, a local fireman turned kayaker,
who learned at Rock Island, and is the silent madman. Head to the
grindstone, quality, and a great attitude make this guy an awesome
addition to the team.
We have Jase, Bino’s son. Jase is full
of personality, confidence, skill, kayaking ability, and has experience
in the factory environment. Of course, the Jackson Kayak “factory”
is quite different from most, but I see great potential in Jase
and hope to keep him forever. Jase is also quite the fearless daredevil.
He is responsible for hanging our sweet ropeswing that we all played
on yesterday after work. Of course, he had to climb up the cliff,
and jump off hanging by his legs, then do a dive, very cool trick.
Did I mention that the “bar” that is now attached to
the rope swing is one of our composite beams? How cool is that!
What a great test of strength. Jase certainly believes in it!
We also have Don from the Ocoee. Don has been
around rafting and kayaking forever, it seems and he can get things
done. He has to empty his coke bottle of spit about every couple
of hours because he likes his chew. You have to have some chew in
the plant to call it a true southern facility. Don is the “old
guy” of the group along with Neil.
Neil is another guy who comes in and gets things
done. Age doesn’t always mean experience, quality, or motivation,
but Neil is on fire and is not tired of life. He is prepared to
bust out boats.
Joe goes to Tennessee Tech for Nursing and his
goal is to travel as a kayaker and be the medical specialist on
expeditions. Joe learned to kayak at Rock Island and can be found
in the hole when it is running. Joe is only 19 years old, but does
not suffer from lack of maturity, and has been waiting for work
with us since I announced the company and we finally got him in
about a month ago, bonus.
Hal, our retired Air Force Major, mathematician,
has been holding down the fort along with Will Mattux since day
one. Hal had to have shoulder surgery and is in a sling and can’t
assemble boats now. We will use him for his brains in the coming
weeks. Hal is a great paddler that hasn’t been able to paddle
a Jackson Kayak yet, which is very depressing, considering how hard
he has worked on the boats. He will start again next week when he
can afford to bump his arm.
Oh yea,
EJ
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