Jim Gookin recently announced that he will be retiring this May after a tenure of 37 years with Viking Engineering & Development.
Over the past 37 years, Jim Gookin has been one of the most recognized voices and best known people in the pallet industry. If you have ever owned a piece of Viking equipment, you have experienced his vast knowledge of service and troubleshooting. Few people in Viking’s history have tackled a more diverse set of roles in their career than Jim.
Jim started his tenure with Viking in 1979 as a field service technician. Over the next 10 years he became a manager of 31 technicians with some based in Japan and Australia. Earl from Rogers Pallets in Arkansas was impressed with Jim and Viking Service from the very beginning, “I didn’t think it was possible but Jim and another service technician were able to set up two Viking machines in the same week.”
In the 90’s Jim spent his time running the marketing division and even directed Viking’s Las Vegas tradeshow, Pallets West, for six years. His time in marketing included many articles written for industry publications, specifically Pallet Enterprise. Ed Brindley from the Pallet Enterprise reflects back, “Over the years I have been impressed by Jim’s positive attitude and his willingness to assist our many pallet friends.” Earl always liked the positive attitude and a warm greeting of “My Friend” when Jim would answer the phone.
As the turn of the century came around, Jim made one last move to Viking’s call center, troubleshooting customers’ machine questions. Over the years his impact within the call center stretched worldwide.
Darren Turner from Pontrilas Timber in the United Kingdom said, “Viking service is second to none.” The Pallet Group’s owner Gill Viera, based out of Canada, had this to say, “Viking’s call center is brilliant. They can be blindfolded over the phone and still fix a machine.”
In his retirement, Jim looks forward to spending time with his family and helping his son-in-law build his woodworking business. The pallet industry wishes him good luck in his retirement and says a big “Thank You” to Jim for his 37 years of service while working for Viking Engineering.
Ed Brindley remarked, “I will miss my friend Jim Gookin when his positive voice is no longer on the other end of the phone. I may have made thousands of friends in the pallet business, but few have impressed me like Jim has.”
In honor of the standard set by Jim, Viking will continue excellence in customer support, including new tools such as a new online Parts Store and a Pallet Production Portal to help customers take their business to the next level.
