It Didn’t Grow There! The 2017 MacGyver Award

By Gina Stuelke, CEO of Kenton Brothers, talking about the 2017 MacGyver Award winner.

We re-lived a part of our history this week in thinking of Bill Kenton. Some of you had the privilege of knowing him, the 2nd generation founding Kenton involved in the company from the time he was 12 until he passed away at 91 in 2010. In the early years of Kenton Brothers, he ran our service team.

Bill became known for his response when a technician would call the office expressing frustration at a jobsite:

“Well, IT DIDN’T GROW THERE… Figure it out!” – Bill Kenton

So in his honor, we created an award in 2015 called the MacGyver award. The purpose of this award is to recognize the KB security professional who has the tenacity and creative problem solving attitude to get the job done… while overcoming any adversity they may encounter.

If the name of the award is familiar, it’s because we took inspiration from the famous TV show and character from the 1980’s called MacGyver. MacGyver could solve any predicament with some ingenuity and the use of a paper clip or multi-tool Swiss Army knife! The definition of ‘to MacGyver’ something at KB is to fix something in a resourceful and improvisational way.

The 2017 MacGyver Award Winner

This year’s prestigious MacGyver award was presented to Vern Gangelhoff.

Vern works at our commercial counter. I’m so proud of his desire to take on just about anything, as well as his desire to attack any situation. He uses his experience and skill to just plain get ‘r done. We’re very proud of you and so appreciate your hard work! Congratulations Vern!