Ledwell Team

Juan has worked in the Electronics Department at Ledwell for over a decade. Almost every piece of equipment that Ledwell develops has Juan’s handy work. 

Through the years, he has built many wireless remotes that operate feed trailers and rollbacks.

“Building the circuit boards for our remotes has been the most challenging task over the years. They are very delicate,” Juan said; “it’s amazing to me that a small piece I put together goes on to operate trucks and trailers.”

Working on remotes has been his favorite project to date.

Presently, he is assembling air solenoids and wiring harnesses for moving parts on equipment.

Juan and his wife of 26 years, Jandi, have three children and one grandchild. They have dedicated their lives to giving back to the community in the form of fostering.  

“It has been a blessing to help families when they need it the most,” Juan said. 

Not only is Juan a dedicated employee, but he is also dedicated to his community.

Robert West lives by words taught to him by his father – Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

“I try to be like my father who has excellent work ethics. Is honest and hardworking,” he said.

If you were to ask his co-workers at Ledwell East in North Carlina, they would say the same thing about Robert, who started working at Ledwell almost seven years ago.

He has performed many duties over the years from working in the shop to purchasing. Robert currently oversees the Parts Department in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

“Helping customers solve issues is the most challenging, but most rewarding part of my day,” he said. 

One of his most memorable projects has been organizing a parts pallet rack system to help with efficiency in the shop.

Working in industrial supply and specialty feeds prepared Robert for his current position.

“Ledwell has been the most interesting and fun job. I have learned so much with the new technology with our Smart Feed Trailers and updating equipment,” Robert said. “I’ve had great teachers over the years and look up to them.”

Robert and his wife, Jackie, have two sons – one of whom works in the shop at Ledwell East. His favorite pastime is fishing. When he isn’t fishing you might find him playing guitar or target shooting.

When Josh Deaton left his job as a structural welder at a paper mill seven years ago, he knew he had a lot to learn–but he was ready for the challenge.

“Currently, I weld aluminum feed trailers,” he said. “That is a whole other world to what I was doing before, and would never have learned that if I hadn’t started working at Ledwell.”

One of his favorite projects over the years has been a Low Center of Gravity Feed Trailer. This particular feed trailer was very unique. It included a self-contained motor on the front and a vacuum reclaimer at the rear. 

“I think I enjoyed this one so much because of how it needed to be built,” Josh said. “The front had a lot of structure and was similar to what I have welded in the past.”

Josh said his wife of six years, Christina, inspired him to get into welding. 

“She made me a better person,” he said. 

The two have a son and daughter, and the family enjoys hiking in the mountains and sitting on the porch swing.

For international sales manager Art Lasanta, Ledwell wasn’t his first experience working with trucks.

“I started off in this industry,” he said. “My first job around trucks was in rebuilding transmissions and rear ends. That led to dismantling trucks for the guys who rebuilt them, and then I ran the scrap yard where we dismantled trucks for resale.”

Art Lasanta, top row, third from left

Art’s work at the scrap yard led him to sales.

“Because of my Spanish capabilities, I just started selling stuff,” he said. “Then I moved on to selling garbage trucks for 20 years.”

Here at Ledwell, Art is the sales representative for most international clients. He said large feed companies in Mexico make up the majority of his sales, but he has sold trucks worldwide—the Caribbean, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and more.

“I travel around a lot of small, unusual places,” he said. “I’m usually in a small agricultural town that’s out in the country. It’s interesting to see Mexico outside of the large cities.”

One unusual place he has sold a Ledwell truck is the Island of Montserrat.

“It’s a British colony in the Caribbean,” he said. “A volcano destroyed half of the island about ten years ago, so now only about 4,000 people are living on the island. I sold their public works department a vacuum truck for the island’s septic system.”

Art said connecting with others is his favorite thing about working for Ledwell.

“I love getting to meet new people and maintaining contacts with employees, being part of the team, and building relationships with the customers,” he said. “Getting to know them and working with them over the years, you form a friendship, a bond. That’s the most enjoyable part of my job, other than the moment you make the sale.”

The best career lesson Art has learned so far: just keep going.

“Keep moving forward,” he said. “You can’t worry about what already happened. You’ve got to pop your head up and move forward; don’t stop.”

Art and his wife live in Lakeland, Florida. They have five adult children and 11 grandkids. In his spare time, Art enjoys being handy around the yard and enjoying outdoor life in Central Florida—kayaking, fishing, and camping. Most of his coworkers don’t know this, but Art is an advanced scuba diver, though he doesn’t have a chance to dive often.

He said his personal motto is simple: be nice to people.

“I enjoy what I do,” Art said. “Interacting with the people and the customers—it’s been a great experience.”

When you work as a team you can accomplish any task. 

“Anything that comes through our bay, we can get it done,” said James Beard, who has worked at Ledwell since 2004.

James has worked on a variety of equipment since beginning his career at Ledwell. He has built everything from dump trucks to bulk haul feed bodies. 

“It just comes naturally over the years,” he said. 

James said there are times when something unusual or new comes through the shop, creating an opportunity to expand his knowledge.

 “One of the most challenging projects I’ve had was a snowplow and dump truck combo,” he said. “There were lots of valves in tight places. We had to use special tools to tighten them all.”

James and his wife of 15 years enjoy traveling to festivals and camping with their 16-year-old son. He is an avid runner who often enters local 5K runs. In fact, you might even see him running around the facility during his lunch break.

James said family and church are where he finds peace. 

“Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said.