Jtek Engineering was started in 2003 as a single person contract design company. After 9/11, I was laid off from my deign engineering job in the industrial printing field. I decided to give contracting a try not wanting to have to drive great distances for employment. Contracting was fun and I ended up with quite a few customers with on-going work very quickly. One of my customers was Hed cycling which was quite interesting and fun. I remain friends with them to this day.
Around 2004 I came out with the shiftmate. It has been a very successful product. It was at this point I decided to start selling more of my own products and expand. It was difficult to do this and maintain income. I continued to keep a heavy load of customers contracting, so this made it hard to move things along.
In the fall of 2006 I purchased and older CNC machine off ebay. I wanted to speed up the R&D process and do it all in house. Contracting with outside shops can be slow and sometimes I just wanted to tweak things a little. The used machine was a lot of work learning how to operate and program. They breakdown too! In 2007, I purchased two more CNC's that needed lots of work and fixed them up. The shop is in pretty good shape now day's. I still have a few bug's I need to work out but it has finally paid off.
Unfortunately in early 2007 I was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. I continue to fight this disease and it's been very difficult. I am forced to spend a lot of time in bed. I have quit the contracting and after a period of not knowing what to do, have turned ownership of the business over to my son Ryan to operate. It's been a big job getting him up to speed on things but he's doing well with it all and wish him the best luck with it.
Sincerely,
Jay Guthrie
Jtek Engineering
Dear Friends & Customers,
We are deeply saddened to inform you that Jay Guthrie lost his long battle with cancer on June 27, 2010. Jay founded Jtek Engineering in 2003 where he combined his love of cycling with his natural mechanical and design abilities. This year Jay was able to transition his business to his son Ryan and was very proud to see it continue successfully.
Sincerely,
Ann L. Guthrie
7/15/2010
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