In 1984, Mark Pirtle joined Luxco® after a recommendation from a neighbor. In his 35 years at the company, he has seen almost all facets of Luxco’s Kemper plant and knows it like the back of his hand.

Mark started out as Miscellaneous, spending his first few years at Luxco stacking full cases off the lines into pallets. “When I started, there were no palletizers, so we did it all by hand – hard to believe it now with all the equipment we have,” he reminisces.

He then moved on to the bottle shop as an Inspector, where he made sure the bottles on the lines were ready to be filled. After a few years, he became a Utility Packer, counting orders and running the packing machines that place bottles in boxes. He then moved on to be a Bottle Dumper, where he spent a few years dumping bottles on the line, running the filler machines and changing out the juice when needed.

Then he became a Label Operator, working the equipment that labels bottles for more than a decade, until he got his current position of Processor.

“What’s changed the most in my time here at Luxco has been the equipment for sure,” he says. “For those of us at the plant, it’s amazing to see how efficient technology has become and how much our processes have changed over the years.”

What hasn’t changed, he says, is the family-oriented business model he has shared with his colleagues all these years. “I am now the second most senior employee at the plant. I would not have made it this long if I didn’t like what I do and if I didn’t feel secure in my job,” says Mark. “The Lux family, first Paul and then Donn, have done so much for us and they always show their appreciation for our work.”

Mark and his wife, Jill, have two grown children and seven grandchildren. When not at work, he enjoys time with his family, fishing and riding his road bike – he estimates he rides 10- 15,000 miles per year. “I always say, this is my work family – I am 99% Pirtle and 1% Luxco in my DNA!”

Congratulations Mark on 35 years of service at Luxco!