Kimbol's vapor trail marks rocket ride through ITD

"No one rides alone" has been a rallying cry for ITD as Kimbol Allen has dealt with health issues over the past year and retires from the department in October. Throughout his 19 years with ITD, his meteoric rise has been accompanied by respect from peers and colleagues.

Kimbol started with ITD in Operations as an Engineer in Training for District 4 (south-central Idaho) in May of 1999, serving for several years as Staff Engineer under current D4 Manager Walter Burnside.

"I knew from early on that he was a unique and powerful person who would rise among his peers to be a top leader in the organization," Burnside explained. "When a staff engineer position opened in the Residency, Kimbol was just finishing up his time as an EIT. He applied for the position along with several other very good, experienced and licensed engineers. There were two things in that interview that impressed me. When asked about strengths and weaknesses, he spoke in a humble way of where he could be a better person, a better engineer and a better leader. Secondly, he spoke about his vision and how he looked forward to helping others, supporting the team, and showing he had ideas and desires to help ITD be the best it could be.

"What I heard and saw at that interview confirmed what I had already seen working together. It was apparent Kimbol had the potential for greatness!"

What Burnside saw next impressed him even more.

"Working as my staff engineer, he got better every day. He complimented me very well, bringing strength to my own weaker areas, supporting me in every way and just excelling in each of his assignments, administration of contracts, and working with staff."

Nathan Jerke, who was the D4 communications guru when Kimbol was at the district, and is now a project manager, recalls Kimbol being referred to as a Chosen One and Shooting Star.

“He was already a resident engineer when I started, and everyone talked about how fast they thought he would climb the ladder,” Jerke added.

As expected, Kimbol was promoted to D6 (Eastern Idaho) as District Engineer in 2014.

"When he was promoted to D6 Engineer, I knew what I had always saw in him was being recognized by others," Burnside said.

"He is and always will be my very dear friend," Burnside added.

Former D6 Communications man Bruce King lamented that “Headquarters is taking our best,” after HQ dipped into the District 6 talent pool to snag Blake Rindlisbacher in 2014, then reached back into the same pool less than two years later to grab Kimbol.

Editor's Note: I had the good fortunte to work with Kimbol on several issues here at HQ, most recently a winter road-treatment issue on Idaho Highway 21 last winter, and have found him to be a great ambassador for the department, a great representative of ITD to the public and stakeholders, and an even better human being.

Kimbol is a good man who will be missed at ITD.

 

Published 08-10-18