40 – 45 Year Award Recipients

Each year, Kurt recognizes service anniversaries for employees at every 5 year milestone. This year, our Service Award recipients totaled 810 years of service!

We also had four employees celebrate anniversaries of 40 or 45 years of service!

Bryan Wagner

Bryan Wagner

Bryan started at Kurt working in a part-time Assembler role 45 years ago. Since then, he was an Engineer, and was promoted into an Engineering Manager role, and eventually moved into a Division Manager position, responsible for our Machining Division. When asked about his favorite memory of Kurt, he said the people.

He believes people stay at Kurt because of the culture; the people are great, employees are treated fairly and treated well, the Company takes care of the employees, and everybody is a part of the same family.

When Bryan isn’t a work, he enjoys walking his dogs at his cabin in northern Minnesota. He enjoys woodworking and photography.

Dan Duclos

Dan Duclos

Dan started working at Kurt on a part-time basis as a Mill Machinist 40 years ago. He moved into a full time position, running machines.  He later went to school for electronics and continued to work while pursuing his degree. At that time, he moved into Maintenance, and started to help with building machines. When things were slow, he helped the Master Electrician and eventually became an Electrician himself. Dan has met a lot of good people while working at Kurt and has stayed at Kurt for so long because he has always been satisfied with the work he was doing. 

When Dan isn’t at work, he enjoys deer hunting and fishing at his lake home.

Shelly McCarthy

Shelly McCarthy

Shelly has been employed by Kurt’s Machining Division for 40 years! During her time at Kurt, she has worked various assignments, typically in the Assembly or Machining Departments. When asked about what has changed the most at Kurt, Shelly said the people. While we have many long-term employees, a lot of different faces have passed through the doors over the years. She has made many close friends at Kurt and there has been a lot of fun and good memories. Shelly believes people stay at Kurt because of the comfortable setting. There is a lot of variety in the work, and there are good opportunities.

Shelly enjoys relaxing at home when she’s not at work.

Mike Magnuson

Mike Magnuson

Mike celebrates 40 years with Kurt this year!  During his years of service, he has worked in various roles, starting in Metal Finish and later moving into Machine Operation and Inspection. Mike recalls earlier times, where we had more employees, smaller single operation machines and it took so much longer to move parts through the shop. Technology has changed a lot, with larger machines that do multiple operations.  Some of his favorite memories include company picnics in the early days; where employees would gather at a lake with their families. Everybody played games and had fun.  The employees feel like a second family to Mike, which is why he has stayed at Kurt for 40 years!

When he’s not at work, Mike spends time with his family, often at his grandchildren’s sporting events.