For this week’s Business Spotlight, I was able to speak with President of KDJ Sales and Services Inc, Dustin Schmidgall, and get a peek into the history of his company and what the future may look like moving forward. Started by Keith Schmidgall in Armington IL in 1978, the company originally focused on residential plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. After about 7 years, the decision was made to move the company to Mackinaw in 1985 and switch focus to doing electrical work on grain elevators. In 1987, the company moved to the Mackinaw Industrial Park, where they remain today. In 1995, KDJ added to their list of services when they added automation and control systems development.

In present day, KDJ Sales and Services has around 35 employees and the company works all around the midwest, even going as far south as Tunica MS; a distance of almost 500 miles from Mackinaw. Dustin tells me that the company “is always looking for hard working people who want to learn”, and surprised me by telling me the company offers an in-house 4 year electrical apprenticeship program, and has 2 co-op students each year. Dustin also noted that many of the company’s employees are graduates of Dee-Mack High School.

KDJ is also deeply involved with community service in the area. While working with several different community and school events, the company has also been responsible for scoreboard and light installations in our schools, as well as program ads. Another focus of community service is with the Mackinaw Rec. Program. Dustin notes that employees volunteer their time working on various boards within the community, telling me “We take pride in our community and support employees and their spouses who want to get involved in giving back by volunteering their time, skills, and equipment.”