For the love of the sport

Janne Sinkkonen’s favourite activity is working in the forest with a tractor.

Janne Sinkkonen, Director for Tractor Attachment Business, joined Kesla in 2011. Before that, he worked as Sales Manager at Hankkija.

“For the love of the sport! The forest has always been number one for me,” says Janne Sinkkonen when asked for his reason for the transfer to Kesla.

Love for the forest has determined the life of the agrologist since childhood. His face melts into a smile when he talks about Patu – the concept of the tractor world, as he puts it. Patu was once Kesla’s legendary product and the world’s best-selling loader brand. A pioneer in its field. “Working in the forest with a tractor – it was something special even as a child. When I was allowed to drive a Patu, it was something amazing! The machine was agile and handled what previously had to be done by hand.” Forest management is still Sinkkonen’s most beloved hobby, involving two absolutely vital things – Kesla and Valtra. Sinkkonen attaches the utmost importance to the cooperation with Valtra, which started in 2016.

“Hankkija was undoubtedly the best possible partner for Kesla for a long time. But the world changes. In Finland, the number of farms has been declining throughout our EU membership. Hankkija, on the other hand, was not a partner through which new export opportunities could be opened to Kesla.” Kesla wanted to export. At the same time, the long-term partner’s business seemed to be more focused on gardening and leisure activities than on forestry and machine trade.

"As a Kesla team member, I wondered if it supported our brand in any way anymore. At the same time Valtra seemed like a brand with strong products and a sharp focus to work on the machine side."

When the cooperation between AGCO Finland and Kesla was announced in early 2016, Urakointi Uutiset magazine titled its article “AGCO and Kesla engaged”. Listening to Janne Sinkkonen, it is easy to become convinced that the engagement has deepened into passionate love:

Kesla and Valtra are finding their way to new export markets together. We can expand from the forest to new areas. The world’s population is growing, and food and machines to produce it are needed. We have a growing share to gain in food production as well as in, for example, the public cleaning of urban centres. We can replace many machines cost-effectively by connecting a Kesla crane directly to a tractor. Let’s make the whole thing work like a Swiss army knife – one machine, a hundred jobs.

Janne Sinkkonen joined another employer at the beginning of 2021.