OKLAHOMA CITY, OK Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc. announces the hiring of James Powell as Director of Paving & Minerals. Powell will be responsible for leading the direction of Kirby-Smith's newly formed Paving & Minerals Division, which will serve the heavy equipment distributor's customer-base involved in asphalt & concrete paving, soil stabilization, and compaction. He will work closely with Kirby-Smith's manufacturing partners for industrial equipment, including the Wirtgen Group and LeeBoy. Powell's office will be stationed at Kirby-Smith's Dallas, Texas, branch.

An Arizona native, Powell has more than 10 years of experience in the heavy equipment sales industry. He was a key contributor in introducing the Wirtgen Group equipment line into the Arizona market through a local dealer in 2008-2011, and served as a Regional Manager for a west coast paving equipment company. Powell also boasts a 16-year career as a heavy equipment operator and supervisor, which has helped provide him with a first-hand understanding of his customers' complex equipment needs to meet the demanding challenges they face on the job-site. Kirby-Smith Machinery's COO, Jeff Weller, praised him for his ability to identify and empathize with customer issues.

"The thing you first notice about Jim is how second-nature this industry is to him," said Weller. "His father was a contractor, which gave Jim an early start in this business. As someone who has served as both an equipment operator and supervisor, he clearly understands the challenges that our customers face each day. I'm amazed at how clearly and thoroughly he understands the impact of a paver going offline, or of a mix issue coming from the plant. You can tell he has seen first-hand the effect of weather delays and being short-handed on a project. Jim's experience and empathy will serve him well as our new Director of Paving & Minerals, and I firmly believe he will be a key asset towards our continued growth as a company. I'm impressed with his team-building skills and the ownership he has taken to improve the customer experience we offer as a company, as it relates to Wirtgen family of products."

Powell is eager to familiarize himself with Kirby-Smith's customers, and has high expectations to provide them the best experience possible.

"Gaining customer knowledge is my immediate focus in order to provide the Kirby-Smith customer-base the best experience in compaction, paving and soil stabilization," said Powell. "Having a strong construction background has paid dividends for me in empathizing with customer issues, and I can promise them that, face-to-face, we are going to come up with the right solutions to solve them."