Ken Bratz is a Palestine, Texas native. Being raised by an entrepreneurial father created a desire to follow the path of independence. Working in the family service station from the time he could reach the center of the windshield, Ken learned about customers and the importance of good service. Having to "check up" the register and post bills while in high school added to the practical skills that would be needed later.

Ken's first job after graduation from Texas A&M was as a computer operator for Texaco's R&D Lab in Houston. The input was paper tape and octal switches with the memory being four Ampex one inch tape units with forty seconds of memory. Ken wrote their operations manual while learning the system. The computer was a TIAC, Texas Instruments Automated Computer. This job was short lived because before the first year had ended, Navarro College had offered him a teaching job and that was the start of the training career.

Teaching finally got Ken back to Texas A&M with the Engineering Extension Service. The work there evolved into course development and preparing students for management positions.

Ken started TAMCO in 1972 as Technical Assistance and Materials Company. The first products were ignition system simulation units sold to the Texas Prison System. Since then, things have come a long way.

TAMCO evolved into an organization that services several thousand customers each year. The dream became a reality. The challenge changed to the integration of technology into training and doing things quicker, better, smarter, and more cost effective.

With the downward spiral in the economy, focus changed on how to make the organization work. A name change came about as well as a renewing of focus – leadership within organizations.

Ken is a high energy person who loves this stuff. Having Patsy (wife) as a partner makes the work even more exciting. Patsy can make some of the conferences which sort of qualifies as a mini-vacation. That's the excuse, anyway.

Ken's hobbies are reading, writing, experiential activities, playing with the grand kids, and teaching a Sunday School class. A piddler at heart, Ken loves to mess around in his shop and build things. When time permits, he dusts off the ham equipment (WA5JUM or WA5JUM.com) and makes sure it still works.

Contact Ken at LR&C 1-800-657-2235 or via e-mail at ken@kenbratz.com