Have you been to a Puppy PAW-ty???

We hosted our first Puppy PAW-ty recently at our office. Wayside Waifs brought in four adorable 8-week-old puppies!

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!

By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers
Photos courtesy of  David Strickland, COO of Kenton Brothers

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!The holiday season is upon us! On December 9th, the Kenton Brothers team celebrated the holidays with our annual Christmas party at Chicken N Pickle in Overland Park, Kansas.

We are so fortunate to not only have colleagues who are incredibly talented and hardworking, but we also like spending time with each other!

The evening started off with a Happy Hour and socializing in the BE AMAZING room with games of Foosball, Ping Pong and Shuffle Board. Next, dinner was served!

Later in the evening, we had our awards ceremony. The award winners are voted by their peers to take home a prize! Here at Kenton Brothers, we believe firmly that it’s important to celebrate individuals who live the KB way, take pride in their work and go above and beyond to provide not only extraordinary service quality to our customers, but also to their teammates and partnerships alike.

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!  12 Days of Security

Congratulations to this year’s award winners!

The MVP Award– We wouldn’t be KB without them! – Gene Ross
The Moving Mountains Award– Person who best exemplifies the KB Way – Paul Bennett
The Road Warrior—Technician who traveled the most—Jeff Evers
The MacGyver Award– Finds a way to get it done! – Shawn Hamilton
The “Give A Damn” Award– Danielle Hoover
The Clean Truck Award– Cleanest most organized technician van – Jeremy Shinneman
The KB Pride Award – Vince Gelei
The Lone Wolf Award– Highest Sales Year – Luke Bergin

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards! 2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!

In 2023, we started a new Sales Masters Award ceremony, presenting jackets to our top selling sales consultants in two categories:

The Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!

Stacy Wessing, Luke Bergin, Kevin Whaley

The Million Dollar Sales Club

2023 KENTON BROTHERS ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY RECAP and Sales Masters Awards!

Neal Bellamy, Erik Andress and Jon Gann

Congratulations to our super Security Consultants!

For additional gift giving fun, we conducted a raffle for all party goers and prizes were handed out as for that as well. To end the evening, we shared drinks, laughs, stories and more ultra-competitive, top tier pickleball! Special thank you to our KB Kulture Club for your contributions and organizing the award winners! We hope you are enjoying the holidays!

Halloween Party Recap – Chili Cook-off Results – And Best Costume Award!

By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

Every year on Halloween, the Kenton Brothers Systems for Security Team gets together for our Annual Chili Cook-off to crown the year’s best chili! Employee focus is one of our core values. Taking time to break bread together and to take a moment and connect over a meal is an important part of supporting that core value.

Halloween Party Recap Halloween Party Recap

We are a very competitive group so we certainly have to find out whose chili is best!

This year the votes came in and Paul Bennett, Operations Manager got the most votes. Congratulations Paul!
Halloween Party Recap

We also crowned the KB team member with the best Best Costume.

That award goes to “Syndrome” by Danielle Hoover just edging out Spider-Man by Colby Eli.  Congratulations Danielle!
Halloween Party Recap

We hope you all had a safe and spooky Halloween!!!

 Halloween Party Recap Halloween Party Recap

Our Technician’s Secret Sauce: Ongoing training, learning from peers and working as a team.

By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

I want to take a moment and talk about our amazing commercial security technicians. Technicians are where the rubber meets the road for Kenton Brothers. They are the ones who solve problems every day and make the systems work to protect people, property, and possessions.

Kenton Brothers Technician Training

It all starts with training.

Kenton Brothers supports many different technologies and products. Some of our team supports keying, master key systems, safety deposit boxes, safes, and more. Another part of our team supports commercial access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and analytics. Some of our people know a little bit about all of it… and some of them know a lot about some of it.

With such a wide breadth and depth related to what they do, training is incredibly important. When a technician starts with Kenton Brothers, we have them do several training classes to get up to speed. It gives newer security technicians an introduction to the way we provide commercial security solutions and the language that we use. Ongoing training gives the more experienced technicians a refresher. After earning their stripes, a career development plan is created to help them learn new or deeper skills to make them even more versatile and capable.

Kenton Brothers Technician Training

Learning from peers.

Training and classes can get you so far, but learning from your fellow technicians is just as valuable. Seasoned technicians take their skills and turn them into an art. Several on our team have been a part of Kenton Brothers for over a decade. They take great pride in their work and have learned how to hone their craft. Part of being a craftsman is teaching the next person how to be an artist themselves. Thankfully, our technicians love to share their knowledge with newer technicians.

Availability.

I also want to give some appreciation to our team for always being available. Sure, like many service based companies we have an after-hours program. This gives you peace of mind that your company can be secure even after many of us have gone home for the day. But this is more than that. Our technicians pick up the phone when another tech needs help. There are many oddities in the security world and sometimes you need a “phone a friend” to figure out what you’re looking at. I am proud of the fact that our team is great about helping each other out, even when it isn’t easy or required.

The Kenton Brothers technicians are the best team I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. They are some of the best in their industry, with a ton of knowledge and great big hearts.

If you want to be part of a team like that, and are willing to put in the work to become one of the best, give us a shout at careers@kentonbrothers.com. We are always looking for experienced security techs as well as good people who are ready to start a new career in commercial security!

The Big Cheese Trophy for Best Mac-N-Cheese Goes To…

The Big Cheese Trophy for Best Mac-N-Cheese

By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers

Where did Macaroni and Cheese come from?

Food historians can trace the beginnings of Macaroni and Cheese back to thirteenth century Italy. In a text called the Liber de Coquina, we find the earliest written recipe for mac-n-cheese, written in Latin. The recipe called for macaroni pasta to be cooked in water and tossed with grated cheese. (Real cheese, not the bright orange powdered stuff that was to come.)

The Mac-N-Cheese Contest!

At Kenton Brothers, our Kulture Club hosts an annual Mac-N-Cheese contest in honor of America’s favorite comfort food.

Many of our teammates with culinary prowess come out of the kitchen to show their best Mac-N-Cheese concoctions. We had six entries this year. Every dish was slightly different and included various mix-ins. Some of these ingredients included sausage, multiple types of cheeses, spicy potato chip toppings and more. All of the entries were delicious!

The Big Cheese Trophy for Best Mac-N-Cheese The Big Cheese Trophy for Best Mac-N-Cheese

And the winner is…

This year’s favorite, as voted by his peers, included peas and ham and was cooked up by Derek Strandburg. Last year’s winner was Erik Andress, and we thought it would be appropriate for him to pass on the Big Cheese trophy to Derek (see photo).

Congrats on an excellent Mac-N-Cheese Derek!