1971 was the year that Kentucky Machine & Engineering came into existence. The dream of Chappell and Karen Allen. 1971 was a good year! Here are some interesting facts about 1971
Richard Nixon was president
Apollo 14 Lands on the Moon
Starbucks is founded
Disney World in Orlando opened
The first pocket calculator was introduced by Texas Instruments
The average cost of a new home was $25,250.00
The average income was $10,600.00
A gallon of gas was 40 cents
Movie Ticket was $1.50
Cadiz Machine & Tool/KME was established
A lot has changed in our world since 1971 and Kentucky Machine has been able to adapt to all those changes and we are excited about what the future holds. In December 1971, Cadiz Machine & tool, on Nunn Boulevard, was opened by Chappell & Karen Allen. They had 3 employees and 2 active customers. Chappell knew that in order to make his vision a reality he needed more customers, which would lead to more employees. Nothing was off-limits! They made shotgun wads for Smith and Wesson. After that, they built boat trailers with Chappell hauling trailers all over. By diversifying and adding new customers, he was able to purchase Viking Engineering in 1976 and Cadiz Machine and Tool moved to their current location on Glenwood Mill Road and KME was started. The 13- acre campus had a 7500 square foot facility and the foundry building. There have been four additions over the past 40 years and currently stands at 40,000 square feet. They also added a 20,000 square foot facility that is known as the GE building. There is currently 77,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
Loyal Customers have made this growth possible. In 1976 there were 15 active customers, today they are proud to say that they service over 60 active customers, in 23 different states and over the years have shipped projects to 5 foreign countries.
The growth they’ve experienced over the past 50 years is directly related to and achieved only by the greatest employees a company could have. Both past and present, KME has been blessed with the most dedicated employees. They currently have 41 employees and over 40% have been with the company for 20+ years.
The family has played a major role and support factor for their success. They’ve had 27 family members working at KME for the past 50 years and 11 are currently on staff. It’s very easy in a small business, with several family members that are in a decision-making capacity, to be consumed 24/7 by the business. But from the beginning Chappel set boundaries—Family Gatherings were meant to be for a family with no business discussed and most know that Karen and Chappel are all about family gatherings.
Proud to be a part of the wonderful community of Cadiz and Trigg County for the past 50 years. It’s literally a lifetime movie! A young man grows up in Trigg County, joins the army for a few years, moves to Illinois, meets his soul mate, starts a family, and moves back to his hometown to start a business! Chappel always believed in giving back to the community, which he loved so much. The Allen family has put over 1.5 million dollars back into this community through the school system, rotary, senior adults, scholarship, Genesis Express, church, and more.
There’s a body of research that affirms that the longer a company sustains its founders’ mentality, the longer it sustains its growth, KME has certainly done that and they are proud to say they will continue to sustain that mentality through a 3rd generation (with Kyle Allen on board)
As with any journey in life, there will be challenges! This journey without a doubt has had its challenges, but KME has survived 7 recessions, including the great recession of 2007-2009 and they continue to move forward during the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges that the current landscape of our country and our industry presents on a daily basis. The foundation was built back in 1971 and will continue to take this company to new heights
Steve Allen, President
Kentucky Machine and Engineering TIME.