“I always had a lot of interest in mechanical things, even at an early age. I was curious about how things worked. If it had moving parts, I wanted to fix it,” says John Kelchner, advanced level maintenance welder at Schlouch Incorporated, a diversified earthmoving, utility and site development company in Blandon, Pennsylvania.
“It is certainly not an easy occupation, but back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, it was a fairly attractive career, and it was a guy thing,” he says.
This inherent interest in all things mechanical helped earn Kelchner the Association of Equipment Management Professionals’ Technician of the Year award at the group’s Equipment Shift conference in October.
Kelchner’s background is heavy on welding. He has worked in bridge construction as a foreman, done structural welding, certified welding, shear connectors, X-ray quality welding, and all-position welding. He also worked in a quarry, welding and repairing heavy equipment and fabricating parts.
At Schlouch, Kelchner continues to weld, but he’s also involved in undercarriage rebuilds, cylinder work and other routine repairs. After 21 years at the company, Kelchner says its safety culture is one reason he’s stayed. “There are no repercussions here if you stop and say, ‘I don’t think this is safe.’ If you do, we stop, and we’ll take a look at it.”
