Branch Served:
- US Air Force (15 years 29 days)
About Jayar Kindsvogel
Jayar Kindsvogel grew up in Mandan, ND, graduated from Mandan High School, and enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school as a Fighter Jet F-15 Eagle Crew Chief.
He has always been a gearhead who likes to work with his hands.
“Making jets fly was something I truly enjoyed,” Jayar said. After 15 years in the Air Force, he was medically boarded and honorably discharged/retired. So Jayar, his wife, and three daughters packed up their house in Las Vegas and moved back to North Dakota. From there, Jayar began working as the lead mechanic on skid steers at Twin City implement in Mandan. He worked there for one year before starting at Center Machine Inc. Eventually, he became the shop manager and finally the owner-operator.
Q. What was deployment like?
A: There are lots of mixed feelings that go along with deployments. On one hand, I was excited to go perform the tasks I had trained to do, to defend our country, fly, fight, and win. On the other hand, it is scary, and really hard to be away from your family, wife, and kids and just knowing you are going to miss milestones while you are deployed.
Q. What was your first job after service and what was that experience like?
A: I was a skid steer mechanic. After working on Fighter Jets for 15 years, it was kind of a smooth transition to working on construction and farm equipment. Equipment is equipment whether it’s farm equipment, construction equipment, or airplane equipment—they all generally work the same. The work transition was smooth except for the environment. There was no comradery like in the military. In the civilian workforce, you go to work and then you go home. You have nothing to do with the other employees except when you are at work. You do nothing with these other individuals unless it is during duty hours. Which to someone coming out of the military is weird. In the military, you don’t really separate your work from home life. You hang out with your fellow work crew in the military.
Q. Did you have any struggles after returning to civilian life?
A: Oh heck yeah. There are struggles even now after 13 years of returning to civilian life. Togetherness and the one goal that the military has compared to the everyday life of a civilian is hard to get used to.
Q: Can you tell me about your company?
A: Center Machine Inc. was founded in 1985. We are a metal fabrication welding shop. We support the general public, farmers, coal mines, power plants, and government projects around the State of North Dakota. We can fabricate one-off items or production parts. CMI has a welding service truck to perform repairs onsite. One other item that sets us apart from some other shops is we have what’s called line boring equipment. This equipment is in a trailer for the portable machining capabilities onsite or in our shop. Line boring is where we take a worn-out hole on say a loader arm where the bucket attaches, we overbore the hole, weld it up, and bore it out to fit the factory bushings or pins. This saves the owners possibly thousands of dollars.
Q: What does a normal day on the job look like for you?
A: This is another tough question, there is no normal day when you own and operate a business. Generally, my day consists of helping customers, keeping the employees on task, and ensuring they know what the customers want to be repaired or fabricated. I also order parts and materials, look at incoming jobs, and bid jobs as necessary. I also rush parts to projects when on a time constraint. And I inspect finished products to ensure they’re done to the best of our ability and the customer’s liking.
Q: How did your family react when you told them you were pursuing service?
A: My family was excited but my mom was a little scared.
Q: What do you remember about your first day of business?
A: I was working as the shop manager prior to buying the business in October of 2022. Prior to ownership, I was given the authority to take the reins and kind of run the business to a certain degree. So the first day of ownership was the same as the days prior, except now I had to make sure we could pay the bills. And all the responsibility falls on myself to ensure every one of my employees is able to put groceries on the table.
Q: Has your service experience changed your business mindset?
A: I feel my military experience has set me up to run a business. The training I have received in the US Air Force has set me up for success in the business world.
Q: Have you found any specific resources or support networks that have been instrumental in your entrepreneurial journey as a veteran?
A: I have to give a huge shoutout to the North Dakota APEX Accelerator Team. They have helped me the whole way in writing a business plan to becoming SBA certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business. And working on government contracts. They have been a great team to work with and I continue to work with them.
Q: Who are your biggest mentors?
A: My mother Sheryl Kindsvogel taught me to never give up no matter how hard it gets and to keep fighting!
Also, my grandfathers, Ernie Seeman and Richard Muth, taught me that a hard day’s work is the best medicine.
Q: What advice do you have for others considering enlisting?
A: Just do it, if you have an idea to grow your business and make it better for your employees do it! Your employees will give back to you if you take care of them.
Q: What advice do you have for other businesses out there?
A: Lock in the job you want, and leave your home state. See the world, have fun.
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303 Jennings Ave, Center, ND 58530
