Success Stories

Josh moved to Yankton this May to accept a position at Manitou Group. “Their team is very personable, so when their Quality Engineer position came open, I decided to apply for it.” Josh shared, “They brought me to Yankton for an interview. Just meeting who I would be working with really drew me here – if you enjoy who you work with coming into work is a lot easier every day.”

“I grew up in Brookings. I went to South Dakota State University and got my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering,” the recent graduate explained, “helping out on the farm, around John Deere, the color doesn’t matter to me. Manitou’s work with outdoor equipment was a big plus. I like to stay busy and coming here presented a lot of opportunities for me to stay busy – they make a very innovative product. Being part of the future is a great experience.”

“As a Quality Engineer, I bridge the gaps between suppliers and welders. I’ll see what the size ranges are to see if the supplier is supplying the right size part. My job is to make things more efficient,” Josh described his position, “but each day is different. Some days it’s a lot out on the floor, and other days it’s emailing or working on spreadsheets, because we’re constantly making improvements or changes to the processes as we come up with ideas.”

“Being an engineer, you can have all of these vast ideas and you actually get to pursue them. That’s what lead me to become a Mechanical Engineer.” From his childhood, through high school and college, Josh always enjoyed building and designing new things. “I had an internship while in college, part of a Quality Engineer position. Quality Engineers have a lot of opportunities – an internship showed me that – when Manitou had a Quality Engineer position, I took my shot and landed home.”

“I was quite surprised when I was first interviewing here – I drove around to get a feel for the layout of the town – you go past Mount Marty College, and Holy Cow! It’s a like a whole another town down by the lake and river!” The young man loves the recreational opportunities that being near the Missouri River and Lewis & Clark Lake afford. “In Yankton on the river, there’s a lot of scenery to take in. I enjoy riding my motorcycle around. I have my choice of what to do on weekends. Do I want to go for a motorcycle ride down the river? I can go camping. There’s a lot of opportunities just outside of town down by the river.”

For Josh, the best thing about Yankton is its location. “It’s not too far from Sioux Falls, it’s not too far from my grandparents’ farm in Tripp, it’s not too far from Omaha if I want to take a vacation – but also Yankton itself – the opportunities with its growth, all the businesses in town, the river – it’s really endless for what someone could do here in Yankton or how they could grow, there’s so many opportunities and I really like that.”

We asked Josh what he would say to someone considering moving to Yankton and pursuing a similar path. Josh responded, “I would say that their opportunities are vast, and there are other manufacturing companies here, where, if, unfortunately, you don’t like where you’re at, you can move. Everyone here at Manitou and in Yankton has been great to me. I would say they wouldn’t feel constrained or like their voice isn’t heard – and getting recognition is a great opportunity for anyone coming out of college or looking for a job at Manitou!”