Tom Henihan
Express Staff
@SmokyRiverExprs
Gilbert and Kim Bessette own and operate K.G.B.7 Enterprizes Inc. a machining business located on the west side of Highway 2 just south of Nampa.
Gilbert Bessette has been a machinist in this region since he was eighteen and has worked with Boucher’s Sawmill and been a machinist for Accurate Hydraulic in Peace River.
He also operated a machine shop in Manning for a number of years, worked for the sawmill in Red Earth but for over the ten years has operated K.G.B.7 Enterprizes at the Nampa location, a property the Bessettes have owned since 1988.
“Well, Gilbert has always pretty well done it on his own, but he has been doing it from this yard here for ten to 12 years,” says Kim adding, “He is pretty amazing at what he does and I do everything else. I basically do all the books, answer the phones and I can run the band saw or the milling machine from time to time if Gilbert sets it up.”
“Right now I’m making a part for this farm implement that is thirty years old,” says Gilbert. “The block that is broken is solid and doesn’t usually break down, so nobody has stocked the part for twenty years.”
K.G.B.7 has a fully equipped shop capable of taking on an extensive range of projects such as fabricating parts for farm implements and other heavy machinery, trucks, bobcats, snowploughs, right across the spectrum.
It also has a unique hydraulic press; a mammoth machine that has an estimated capability of pressing 750 tons though the Bessettes use it conservatively, pressing to a maximum of 250 tons.
Whether it’s the farm implement currently being worked on, replacing the cylinder in a thirty-five foot long industrial scissors used in demolition or modifying a tractor’s GPS steering system, no matter if the job is big or small the same exacting tolerances and meticulous attention to detail are always applied.
There is no job to complex or unusual for Gilbert Bessette. In fact, he appears to welcome the challenge, having the experience, versatility and inventiveness to offer creative solutions to every clients’ unique requirements.
While K.G.B.7 Enterprizes operates a full seven days a week through the summer, Gilbert and Kim say the winter months have been slow and they are looking to generate more business through wintertime.
“Winter customers would be good, like the snowplows, the sand trucks, making spare parts even if we give them a break in shop rates,” says Gilbert.
Most clients drop off their equipment for repair at the K.G.B.7 yard but Gilbert makes his rounds twice a week to the sawmill, picking up broken parts and dropping off the ones he has repaired.
“For me the sawmill is the only winter work that I have. If it is a mild winter things don’t breakdown but if it is a cold winter I will be doing a lot of thousand dollar shafts,” he says.
“We do steel sales also,” says Kim. “If somebody needs some kind of steel we order it from General Metals, right now mostly for farmers and the Sawmill.
The entrance to K.G.B.7’s yard and shop is situation immediately south of the billboards marking the line between Smoky River MD and Northern Sunrise County on Highway 2.