Our Community Leadership Award Honors KK Integrated Logistics

January 17, 2024

We presented the Community Leadership Award to KK Integrated Logistics (KKIL) for its remarkable transformation and integral role in hosting the commissioning of the USS Marinette.

“The team at KK Integrated Logistics really stepped up after their devastating fire. They put in countless hours to overcome the obstacles and deliver one of the most pivotal community events in decades, bringing together community members from all walks to experience this once in a lifetime event,” said Daniel J. Peterson, SNBT Executive Chairman.

Now in its fifth year, the award highlights one of our Core Values: Community Leadership, and is given annually to a person, a business, or a non-profit organization. In 2022, we presented this same award to the Menominee Fire Department for their brave actions responding to the fire on the shore of the Menominee River Industrial area. KKIL was one of the businesses sustaining damage as a result of the massive blaze which lasted 15 days and brought reinforcements from 73 regional fire departments.

“I am honored and humbled that, as a company, KKIL would be recognized with the same award as those emergency responders. We’re just grateful for everything they did for us, and it is an honor to even be mentioned with them after all they endured,” said Cynthia Kuber, KKIL President.

“To us, this award isn’t as much about the act of hosting the USS Marinette Commissioning Ceremony. It’s more about the great lengths to which our crews went for the cleanup and rebuilding of the entire site so the commissioning could even occur,” she continued. “The task alone of being the host was huge, but it was compounded by what we were going through as a result of the fire. Our teams rallied around it. Having the commissioning gave our team a focus and a sense of pride. Rebuilding from the fire, though it was extremely grueling, became a task they took extremely personal. It was icing on the cake.”

As promised, the site was ready in time for the USS Marinette Commissioning Ceremony, and no traces of the site destruction were visible to the public. It is a testament to crew members from KKIL who rebuilt the space and made it ready in just a few short months. For this reason, they were honored for their monumental accomplishment and received the Community Leadership Award at a small ceremony.

The award is a miniature replica of the sculpture “Eye of the Storm” created by local artist Rusty Wolfe and erected on the our Marinette Campus. Wolfe and Kim Brooks received the inaugural award from us for their leadership in the public art movement. Past recipients also include: essential healthcare workers of Aurora Medical Center Bay Area, businessman Mike Biehl, and the Menominee Fire Department.