Knit-Rite, Kansas City, Kansas, has announced that Les Chubick, senior manager, exhibits and events, will retire on May 28, after 30 years of service. Chubick has had a role in many aspects of the company’s business, including catalog development, advertising, marketing support, sales support, exhibit management, and 20 years of liaising with Knit-Rite’s patent/trademark attorneys.
Les Chubick Photograph courtesy of Knit-Rite.
Chubick began his career with Knit-Rite in 1979 after responding to a help-wanted ad for an advertising manager. He had experienced a lull in his art-service business and wanted to pick up some freelance work. Chubick was hired as Knit-Rite’s first advertising/marketing manager.
“We are grateful for Les’ many contributions during his long tenure at Knit-Rite and wish him all the best in his future,” commented Mark Smith, Knit-Rite CEO and president.
Through the years, Chubick has had numerous supervisors, worked under five or six combinations of owner/management teams at Knit-Rite, and has experienced many industry changes.
“When I started with Knit-Rite many amputees were still wearing wood prosthetic legs,” Chubick recalled. “I’ve seen the adoption of more exotic equipment and materials that other industries were using long before O&P.” He added, “One of the things I’ve found most rewarding is the fact that we in the O&P industry design, sell, [and] make products that put people’s lives back together or make their lives better. Not a lot of businesses can say that.”
With his new-found free time, Chubick said he intends to pursue the hobbies and interests he had pushed to the wayside such as art, charities, car hobbies, and travel.
“Still, this represents another major life change and I’m going to miss the friends I’ve made here at Knit-Rite,” Chubick concluded.
