Pair of Douglas Machining Services CNC Operators Earn Prestigious Honor Together
Zak Douglas (pictured above left) and Ben Neefe (above right) have known each other since they were about eight years old. They’ve been best friends since fourth grade and lived together after high school for a couple years.
At Douglas Machining Services, they’ve worked together since the middle of 2021. This past summer, they joined the company’s second shift together, with Zak leading the work on the mills and Ben spearheading production on the lathes.
Therefore, it’s only fitting that Zak and Ben are now the first co-employees of the month at Douglas’ parent company.
Compass Precision has named Zak and Ben its Employees of the Month for November 2025. It’s the first time ever Compass has awarded the honor to a pair of employees in a single month.
”When we established our second shift last summer, we were concerned about getting experienced CNC machinists to work this time slot,” stated Ben Kubis, who shares general management responsibility at Douglas with Christina Douglas. But once Ben and Zak committed to second shift and settled in, everything pretty much took off.”
The Compass Precision Employee of the Month program began in March 2020. Including Zak and Ben, 69 employees have received the award over the past five and a half years.
Zak and Ben are the 10th and 11th employees, respectively, to earn the honor at Douglas. Machinist Dan Thesing was the most recent recipient of the award at the Winona, Minnesota Compass operating company in June 2025.
”Ben and Zak have great futures with us,” explained Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “That’s what I told them when I visited Douglas a couple of weeks ago. I love these guys and everything they do to make Douglas successful.”
Although just a few years out of high school, Zak and Ben both spoke of their relationship as if they have been friends for decades and decades. That relationship led them to working together at Douglas.
Zak’s father, Dan Douglas, founded the machine shop in 2005. Zak grew up around machining and regularly helped around the shop during middle and high school.
After high school, Zak began working full-time at the operating company. About a year later, Zak presented an opportunity to Ben to join him at Douglas.
“My dad asked one day, ‘Hey, do you have any friends who would want to come and work?’ He wanted to find someone who wouldn’t be job hopping.”
“I know he’s not a bum,” Zak said tongue-in-cheek of his friend. “Ben has always been a hard worker. So, I recommended him.”
Zak called his friend to ask if he would be interested. Ben, who was working at Menards at the time, described the call as “out of the blue.”
Ben didn’t have any manufacturing experience other than taking some basic machining classes in high school. But after a tour of the shop, Ben received a job offer and accepted the opportunity.
Because Ben primarily works on lathes and Zak focuses on mills, the two friends work on opposite sides of the shop. But in July, they began working together on Douglas’ new second shift.
Zak and Ben are the operating company’s two leaders on the second shift, which also features three other employees. They ensure Douglas’ machines continue to fulfill customer needs after normal business hours.
“We know what’s going on around here, so Ben and I try to help the other guys on our shift,” Zak said. “We assist in getting them up and running and then run our machines.”
“The biggest challenge is coming in and figuring out what’s been going on from the first shift and getting everything ready to start the second shift,” Ben added. “Figuring out what’s been running, what needs to be done, that type of stuff.”
Zak was an obvious candidate to join the second shift. He had been pushing for Douglas to start the second shift for quite some time.
Ben stated he originally planned to only stay on second shift temporarily, but he found he liked the hours better. The two friends are now capable of being fixtures on Douglas’ second shift for the foreseeable future.
With Zak and Ben leading the way, the second shift is helping Douglas grow significantly faster. Zak said he loves the freedom the operating company and the second shift provide him.
Ben called his working relationship with Zak and his other co-workers his favorite thing about the machine shop.
“The camaraderie – everyone gets along for the most part. The atmosphere is really good,” Ben said. “Also, the variety of parts we make. We have such a large customer base, so we are constantly making all sorts of different parts that can be completely different from one to the next.”
Both Zak and Ben have come a long way, but they don’t appear to have forgotten where they started. Each machinist credited Dan with their early career success.
“None of us would be here if it weren’t for him,” Zak said of his father. “It’s the butterfly effect.
“I don’t know what I would be doing if he didn’t start this place.”
Ben and Zak have shared common interests since they were kids. That continues to be the case outside of work.
The two friends often go to the gym together. They also both enjoy shooting guns and playing video games. Ben called the new Battlefield 6 their favorite video game.
Zak also likes cars. He will occasionally modify cars, but he mostly enjoys driving them.
Over recent years, Ben has taken a liking to riding motorcycles in his spare time.
Zak claimed Ben often got him into trouble when they were kids. Ben, though, would not confirm nor deny the claim.