“When I started this business 50 years ago, I never once thought of what it might become. I just knew that I didn’t want to work for someone. I had to have room to chase after my own ideas and create things — innovative and new things.”
– Jon Kinzenbaw
We were approaching our 50th year in business and it occurred to some of us —mainly my wife, Marcia, daughter, Susie, son, Jonathan, and a few members of the Kinze Senior Leadership Team — we should do something special to commemorate that half-century.
More than just tell the story of how Kinze Manufacturing began and how far we’ve come, we wanted to celebrate its culture, which is the basis of our success. We decided that a book was a way of telling our story that would stand the test of time. (Purchase the book here.) Fifty more years from now, regardless of what technological changes come in the way we communicate, this book will still function as it was intended. It’s the simple story of how our company fought the industry giants and grew to one of the largest privately held farm equipment manufacturers in the world.
This book is dedicated to our employees and our customers. Our employees, numbering more than a thousand over the years, have made a difference in our community, in our customers’ lives, and in the lives of my family and me. There are too many to name individually, but we thank you for a job well done.
Finally, this book is a testament of the continued work of God in all of our lives. Through the faithful prayers of our employees, customers, friends and family, we have been able to stand strong through the many years of legal battles and various challenges that were intent on destroying the company and the livelihood of so many. It is only by the grace of God that we persevered and all glory goes to Him for these victories.
– Jon Kinzenbaw, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Kinze Manufacturing
