Press release 1/4/2018
Fabricated Metals LLC, a Louisville manufacturer of industrial products, announces that after 52 years of service, Don Curtsinger, Vice President of Sales, has retired.
Few people can claim 52 years of continuous employment, but fewer still can claim it under three different generations of family leaders. Even less could claim to be the 20th employee at a company that now employs over 285.
Don studied drafting at Ahrens Trade School and graduated in 1963. He started working at the Kilroy Company doing drafting. After just a year, he got a tip from a friend that a little company he had never heard of was hiring. Mr. Tony Diebold, the company’s founder, offered him a job paying $2.25/hour- a $0.75/hour raise- and Don started at Fabricated Metals on May 17, 1965. Don began in drafting, creating drawings for products customers wanted to buy. In addition to drafting, Don’s duties included purchasing and eventually sales. Don has now worked for three generations of Diebold family business leaders, providing critical leadership and continuity after the unexpected deaths of both the founder in 1971 and later his son in 2014.
Don’s career spans the industrial, dot.com and now the digital ages. When he started, the Book of Lists, telephone book and rotary dial telephone were the favored tools of prospecting. You wrote letters to customers, and memos communicated office policies. You called on customers wearing suit and tie. You used your hands, pencil and paper to create all mechanical drawings. A lot of employees, especially in family businesses, don’t make the transition to keep up with technological changes. That was never the case for Don. Today he uses email, the cell phone and LinkedIn for prospecting. He pushed for the use of the most modern software to create 3D models of products.
Don wouldn’t say his journey has anything to do with changing technology. He would say it has everything to do with the timeless management techniques of setting goals and working with great people. He would say it is about listening to the customer and producing a high-quality product that meets their needs. He champions continuous improvement, believing that if you aren’t finding ways to make products at a lower cost your competition is.
Perhaps more important than the leadership he provides in his current role of Vice President of Sales, Don is the organization’s top cheerleader. Every day he comes to work with a can-do attitude, a smile and visible excitement to attack the challenges at hand. He takes every opportunity to share his enthusiasm with his co-workers, to inspire them to take advantage of the opportunities they have in front of them. He’s continued to work so long not for the money, but because he believes he has the responsibility to help the company and individual team members achieve their goals. Don acts like an owner in every sense.
To remember Don’s passion for improvement, the company will name its newest manufacturing building at 6315 Kenjoy Drive the “Don Curtsinger Building.” Purchased by the company in 2003, the building sat idle collecting non-performing inventory and outdated machinery until this year. Don was the most vocal champion for transforming it into a world-class manufacturing facility, which the company finally did in 2017. Today the 72,000 square-foot building is home to the majority of the company’s railroad signal products.
For more information contact Shirley Jaggers, VP of Human Resources, at 502-363-2625 or shirleyj@strong-hold.com.
