We would like to congratulate Lewis Carter on being honored with the Innovator of The Year award at the Georgia Peanut Conference in Tifton, Georgia. Thank you for all you do for the Peanut Industry, LMC, and LMC-Ag.

LMC has welders in all sizes.

The “C” in LMC may stand for Carter but it could also stand for connection. As welding is the physical bond between two or more metals, the practice of welding is what brings all these team members together. All with different backgrounds, the task of welding is just a small part of their abilities. Granted, Whiddon probably has the most experience with welding as he’s “done it his whole life.” But one thing he likes about LMC is that there’s always something to challenge him here.

As the most recent hire, Craft splits her hands-on time in the shop with the occasional task of welding but also helping with assembly and fabrication. The other half of the day is spent in the Sales Engineering department learning the CAD aspect behind the design of LMC machinery.

Bodeen studied welding at Tulsa Welding School in Jacksonville and moved to Donalsonville to be close to her grandparents. Her two-year-old son Cassius was born in Bainbridge, Ga. Asked what she liked the most about LMC, she said, “the friendly atmosphere.”

Cowart went to school for welding in Thomasville at Southern Regional Technical College and was actually homeless and living in her car at the time she was recruited to work at LMC. After 6 years of employment, she now has a place to call home here in Donalsonville.

We are grateful for all of their talent and dedication. Their stories are not unlike many others who began their careers here at LMC. The doors of opportunity to advance themselves are connected with the basic skill set of simply knowing how to join metal together.

There is a great deal of fanfare which revolves around college athletes making known their commitment to professional teams. Not to diminish their many years of hard work and dedication but they shouldn’t be the only ones we celebrate when students enter the workforce.

“The real stars,” according to Tim Spooner, one of the instructors at Early County High School, “are the ones who can turn the lights on when the power goes out.” We could not agree with him more and this is a major reason why LMC would like to welcome two new members to our team, Amber Craft and Brandon Cook, as part of Early County High School’s first ever signing ceremony.

These two high school seniors with a passion for welding focused on LMC as their first breach into what could become a lifelong career with limitless possibilities.

Prior to the signing ceremony both Ms. Craft and Mr. Cook actually visited the LMC facility to see what it would be like to work as a welder in a professional setting. Stan Kennedy, Parts and Service Manager, was able to walk them through the process, and following the orientation, they were even given our standard welding test, which they passed with flying colors.

It’s not often we get to celebrate the youth of today, especially during a pandemic of all times. So, we would like share our gratitude to their parents, their instructor Espy Smith, Dr. Shanice Richards (Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education Director) and all the faculty and staff at Early County High School for their efforts in bringing up great students which we hope can continue their trajectory of success with LMC!

Relationships are important to foster growth regardless of the business. That said, LMC was grateful to welcome Susanne Reynolds, Amy Carter, and Marvin Bannister, representatives from Southern Regional Technical College: Bainbridge Campus.

As we all look forward to a post-Covid future, we still need to address the needs of today which include asking the tough questions of where the top talent will come from to help fill positions at LMC.

There are many challenges, both seen and unseen. With the help of SRTC, we hope to tackle them head-on with the right foresight and planning.

Marcus Carter (CEO), Stan Kennedy (Manager, Parts and Service), Buck Jones (Manager, Sales Engineering and Production), and Thomas Fye (Manager, Machine Shop) were all able to share their stories and backgrounds to help shed some light on the issues LMC is facing.

After a brief tour of the facility, plans were made for LMC to visit the SRTC campus in Bainbridge to determine how to best mesh LMC’s capabilities with SRTC’s.

The future is bright with opportunities. Luckily, we have plenty of welding hoods at the ready for the best, hard-working people!