40 AT 40: Richard Owens
Job Title: Global Purchasing Manager

The people are what sets Bandit Lites apart from the rest of the industry. Once a week, for 40 weeks, Bandit will showcase an employee that has made a substantial contribution to the company, whether it be in an office, on the road or somewhere in between. Bandit would not be celebrating its 40th Anniversary without the hard work and dedication of every one these employees.*

*Employee Spotlights are released in no particular order.

As Global Purchasing Manager, Richard Owens deals with all the intricacies of what the company purchases through their accounting system. Owens works with the sales department to make sure they get the right product in the right timeframe. He also works with the Technical Services Department to make sure they have the parts they need. Now very established in purchasing, Richard Owens started out at Bandit Lites in installations. Here are a few questions we asked to get to know him a little better.

Q. How did you get involved in this industry? With Bandit?
A. That’s a good one. In the mid-70s, I was sitting in the middle of an Opera production in Austria. It was Don Giovanni and there’s a scene where a statue comes to life and the lights changed and the fog came out. I was about eight years old and I thought, ‘I want to do that!’ My parents were involved in Opera so I was always around a theater. Then, in the early 80s, I went to see The Who and my best friend and I looked at each other and decided right there that we wanted to be rock & roll lighting designers. I ended up going to an arts conservatory school in North Carolina for my education in Technical Design and Production. I was working in Knoxville for a community theater and then got a job at Bandit doing installations.

I started out doing installation/sales then moved to installations/purchasing to purchasing as my primary function and now I’m more deeply involved in the accounting process. I’ve been in purchasing for about eight years. It was 5-6 years from the time I got started to when I got sick and I had to find an “office job” but it was a good move for the company because they desperately needed someone in the position.

Q. How have your past experiences helped you in what you do now?
A. The biggest gain for me was in having knowledge of the technical production. I’m not just an accountant that got a job running software. I’m actually a former technician that has stood out there trying to make Cyberlights work on stage, who’s tried to figured out why the fog machines aren’t working. I was an opening act designer, so it gives me an advantage when I hear people say, ‘provide this product with this cable,’ and I know that the product and cable do not go together. For the most part, I know the equipment we’re buying so I don’t have to learn as much about what we’re trying to do. It helps me make sure I’m doing the best job for the company.

Q. Do you have a favorite memory working in entertainment lighting?
A. The first large project I worked on for Bandit Lites was Garth Brooks’ world tour 1996-1998. We did all this crazy work in blizzard conditions. No one could get anywhere and we were sleeping in the shop or in hotel rooms within walking distance. My responsibility was to do one thing to the chain motors. I don’t know a lot about chain motors but I do know enough to do that one thing. I did that for all the chain motors for Garth Brooks and then he came to Knoxville to do a show. My wife at the time and I looked at each other thinking the show was not going to be any fun- we didn’t like Garth Brooks and we didn’t know his music. It ended up being the best rock & roll concert I’ve ever seen. I had a great time. And the best part about it was sitting there and knowing that everything was moving because I did that one little thing to all the chain motors.

Q. What is the best part of working for Bandit Lites?
A. The advantage of working for a company like Bandit Lites is that we have a boss whose primary concern is our (the employees) well-being. It’s hard to quantify that because if you’re talking about the current economic approach, it’s more along the lines of trying to make as much money for the top people as you can and get out and take it all. But here it’s really a team effort and I’m proud to be a part of it.