b'The story of Spartan Light Metal Products reads like a chapter out of the textbook of The American Dream. Founded in Sparta, Illinois by German immigrant Henry Jubel, the company owes its steady growth to somefamiliar valueshard work, innovation and a company culture of doing right by everyone.No wonder we work so well together.This year, we delivered a new, 135,000-square-foot die cast manufacturing facility in Mexico, Missouri. The facility supports advanced robotic manufacturing andR&D capabilities that Spartan uses to deliver the next generation of lighter, more efficient vehicles. Four years ago, The Korte Company delivered a 92,000-square-foot expansion to their existingfacility in Sparta.Today, Spartan continues to lead the industry andtheir products can be found in one out of every threecars on the road.KORTE|YEAR IN REVIEW TOM LYERLATOM LYERLALike many married men with children, In other words, Toms job was to shoot atFor almost four decades, Tom Lyerla has been shopping with his a hundred moving targets, each with the wife and daughters. same bullseyeget the job done.the buck stopped with Tom. He hit every target. But hes the sort who preferred to hangLike the Glen Campbell Goodtime Theatre back from the action, roving the perimeterin Branson, Missouri. Crews were stillDead center. of a store to check for smooth drywall,blasting rock just seven months out from seamless flooring transitions and the deadline, but Tom had it under control. thinking about how hed have done Glen and the band performed in the new the project differently. venue right on schedule.And thats when he was off the clock. Or the Universal Studios theme park in Florida, and its frequent change orders During his 37 years at The Korte Company,from the parks architects. As opening day Tom earned a reputation of being one of theapproached, everything was readydown worst punch list people. If there was anto the verdant leaves of the 40-foot-tall imperfection, he caught it. palm trees that evoked the signature palm-Tom spent most of his career as a projectlined Hollywood Boulevard. manager, where he was responsible forTom had knocked the punch list down to half everything. Every board cut, every yard ofa page. For an entire theme park.concrete poured, every subcontractor on every job site. Every day.P_41 P_42'