Drew Kiffmeyer

Working at Karian Peterson has been an eye-opener into the power line industry. During powerline school, I was able to work for 3 weeks in between semesters. Since then, I have been looking forward to the knowledge I would gain in the years to come. I was lucky enough to have a foreman/co-workers who would teach me, and I have been trying to absorb it all ever since. I have completed my first step in the apprenticeship program at Karian Peterson through the MREA. I ordered, and am currently waiting for, my second step books. I was given my rubber sleeves with the recommendation of my foreman, and I have recently gained a lot of hot hours doing single and three-phase changeouts, swinging taps, crossarm changeouts, single and three-phase OCR changeouts, insulated jumper installation, rubber cover-up on phases, and insulator changeouts, underground transformer changeouts, mud-sucked operation. Along with new construction, I have had experience operating a digger to set poles, lean poles, load/unload reels, and perform various other digger operations.

Going to power line school in Granite Falls, where my wife is from, I worked for a local contractor, as I have done carpentry work previously. After a few short months, we grew a good relationship, and he would send me to different job sites to ensure work would be done accordingly. We framed houses, decks, garages, as well as did siding and shingle installation.

Working at Structural Companies, we would construct pole sheds, cattle barns, horse arenas, and pole-framed houses. I would run the skid loader to drill the holes with an auger attachment, scale trusses to secure to the building, tin the roof with large metal sheets, frame window and door frames, and install trim prior to sheeting the building. Needed to establish elevation using a laser level and transducer to scribe a perfectly level line around the building. Read and understand blueprints to ensure the building was built per the engineer's design. Install lumber framing and bracing for high winds, snow load, and rain deterrent. After several months foreman would go and check out the next job and leave me in charge of the other guys with confidence it would be built up to code/ his expectations.

I grew up working on a family friend's dairy/crop farm and grew to appreciate working on agricultural equipment from an early age. Geringhoff is a corn/bean combine header manufacturer/service company. It is a German company that recently came over to the United States in 2010 in order to spread the production of the headers. I was a part of the assembly side for the first 6-7 months, where we would read the blueprints and ensure we had all necessary parts in stock. We would then take an already welded frame and install the computer systems, hydraulic lines, electronics/wiring harness, necessary equipment per the customer's order, and run a test to make sure everything was within spec. After moving to the service side, we would take in the header, assess for damage, and run diagnostic tests. After determining the issue, we would order and replace anything broken, and also look for potential near future problems and fix them as necessary.

I have always been interested in running equipment, working outside, and running my own company. After starting out mowing lawns on the weekends, it shortly turned into clients inquiring about landscaping projects, tree removal, snow removal, fence construction, and many other projects. I would meet with clients and go through their visions, and explain the process of what would need to take place and why. After working through the kinks, I would then go back and design a 3D model of their project in a computer program and show them. If a price was negotiated, work would begin. I would perform most of the work myself until I was able to hire a couple of people, and then I would be able to produce a more efficient work schedule. I would keep track of all billing expenses and make invoices and collect payment once client was satisfied with the work that had been done.

At General Rental working there throughout my high school days after school and between practices we would go through equipment that was returned and make sure it was in good operating condition to send out to the next customer such as skid loaders, mini excavators, scissor lifts, and many other pieces of equipment.