Oni Ramirez has worked in construction since he came to the U.S. from Mexico at 18. He started in residential construction but later developed an expertise in water and wastewater projects.
He worked in California for 13 years and then moved to Georgia, where he caught Haskell’s eye. Leaders enlisted him as a Superintendent and immediately assigned him to a challenging project.
The fast-growing City of St. Petersburg had outgrown its water treatment facilities. State and federal authorities investigated the city after millions of gallons of sewage overflowed from existing plants. The city was under a consent order from the state to upgrade its treatment facilities ASAP or face a hefty fine.
“We hired Oni right when we started that project,” Senior Project Manager Josh LeFevre said. “It was a targeted hire. We needed someone with a lot of hands-on experience with wastewater.
“There was a hard deadline. We had an aggressive schedule for a broad range of improvements. We worked day and night shifts, a lot of weekends,” LeFevre said. “Oni was awesome. He’s a doer. You can give him a challenging problem and he figures it out and gets it done on time. He was big part of the field leadership. We finished everything on time.”
Ramirez said that project was a good experience for him, partly because it introduced him to Haskell, and partly because one of his daughters also worked on it as a project coordinator.
“It was really good to work with her,” Ramirez said. “We shared an apartment. I don’t know how to cook, so she cooked for me.”
Ramirez has two daughters and a son, all grown.
Working for Haskell means traveling all over the country, but Ramirez said that when he’s on the road, he can go home to the Atlanta, Georgia, suburb of Dacula every other week to see his family.
“I’m happy Haskell gives us that opportunity,” Ramirez said. “That’s how I’ve been able to travel so much.”
Traveling also introduced him to kayaking. Ramirez said he loves to take to the water, whether it’s a river or the ocean.
Ramirez is currently Project Superintendent on an industrial wastewater treatment plant upgrade and expansion for Grifols, a Barcelona-based multinational pharmaceutical company, at its North Fractionation Facility in Clayton, North Carolina.
Project Manager Jon Fouty said the project involves a lot of coordination between subcontractors and equipment providers.
“Everyone is going to have issues, but it’s how those issues are handled that really counts,” Fouty said. “Oni makes sure to bring those issues to light ASAP and work with the trades to get them resolved. He’s very professional. His main priority is getting the project done and whether the customer feels taken care of. I look forward to closing out this project with him.”
Haskell is hiring! Check out our many opportunities to start – or jump-start – your construction career with the chance to learn from and work with the best in the industry.
