Our "Stars of Keystone's Staff" series includes some basic info and insight into one of our staff members. We hope these posts will provide you a look into who makes up our diverse, supportive, and knowledgeable staff.
This week's post shares some insider info about a member of our Executive Managment Team. Read on to learn something new about James...
Basic Stats:
Name of Staff Member: James Burts
Year Hired: 1992 (27 years ago) -- Yikes! That’s a long time!!!
Current Job Title: Executive Vice President, Lead dishwasher, Junior Assistant Gopher 2nd Class
Getting to Know You Q&A:
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: Being a small company, no day is ever the same as any other day we’ve ever had. There is no routine, boring day of doing the same thing for the 1,000th day in a row. I really like how many different things I get to do here, how many hats I wind up wearing. Also, I really appreciate how what we do really makes a difference to the Patrons that KLAS helps serve. I think that it’s true of all of Keystone’s staff, but knowing that at the end of the day we’re really helping make people’s lives better is a huge draw for me.
Q: What did you do before working for Keystone?
A: I started working for Keystone as a summer job, while I was studying Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. My first tasks were helping write documentation for KLAS v2 and then v3. Over time, my work grew to writing some reports on the side, which turned to joining and eventually leading the software development team, and ultimately led to my current position.
Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?
A: Making stuff, strangely most of my hobbies involve fire or excessive heat. I do glassblowing. I do metalwork. Lately, my son’s been really excited with creating electric vehicles, so we’ve been working on the welding, metal fabrication, and electronics for that. Currently, we’re building our own version of a OneWheel, and have an EV club that he’s involved in where they’re starting to build their second electric go cart.
Q: If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
A: Probably Bermuda. I’ve done a few trips there, and really love it. The snorkelling is fantastic, and I hope to learn to do some scuba there.
Q: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and what are their names?
A: We have a dog, a Shiba Inu named Kuma.
