When Juan Carlos Salom joined Haskell in 2008, he brought 25 years of well-rounded experience as a structural engineer, design manager and senior design manager in Venezuela and the United States. Even though he had varied experience for numerous companies, Haskell’s culture shocked him.
“There were a significant number of teammates with more than 30 years of service with the company,” Salom said. “When I noticed that, I said to myself, ‘There must be something good here for them to stay that long in one place.’”
Salom, who was recently promoted to Vice President, found a highly collaborative environment where safety, quality, relationships and client success are valued above all. It was a perfect fit, and he has spent the past 15 years developing opportunities and fostering relationships that inspire and motivate team members.
“Not only at the project level, but I need to be intentional to do it at the enterprise level,” he said. “I am sure new opportunities will challenge us, and I know the company leadership counts on me to actively participate and lead efforts to successfully overcome those challenges and make the most of those opportunities.”
He joined the company as Project Principal and Engineering Manager and was promoted to Director of Project Development in 2011. Over the next decade, his project experience evolved into a role leading dairy projects. During an enterprise-wide restructuring in 2023, Haskell created a specified Dairy Division and named Salom its leader.
A leader in manufacturing systems for the Food and Beverage industries, Haskell has the cross-disciplinary capabilities to perform the engineer, procure, construct (EPC) delivery of complex production lines, from the reception of raw materials to the loading of finished products.
Dairy production is a specialized type of production for which it is uniquely qualified. Having already built its own process engineering group, Haskell acquired Beloit, Wisconsin-based Seiberling, the engineering consulting firm specializing in designing complex process systems with innovative and integrated clean-in-place (CIP) and steam-in-place (SIP) capabilities.
“The packaging team can do anything, and they have the ability to support dairy,” Salom said. “But the key is that we have the process design team that knows the dairy processing from milk receiving to delivering to the fillers.
“Dairy processing is one thing, but the clean-in-place (CIP) cleaning all that system when you switch products or every so many hours is as important as the design of the dairy process. They are pioneers of the CIP system. Those two combined are a keystone for the dairy division.”
Salom and his team developed a half-dozen new projects in the division’s first official year. Growing Dairy into a standalone market is his focus. Making Haskell even better as a whole is his goal.
“Haskell has never walked away from a financially challenged project. We stick with it until the end. We do not cut corners to reduce losses. We will always deliver high-quality projects. Our reputation is more important than the profits we can make. Happy customers and team members are the key to our success.”
Haskell offers clients the assurance that their projects will be completed safely, on time, within budget and with the least possible risk exposure. Contact us to discuss your facilities needs.
Promoting and expanding diversity and inclusion is a strategic pillar of Haskell’s long-term vision and is foundational to creating a team member experience of significance, success and satisfaction. Haskell Together is our intentional and consistent initiative to promote open dialogue and bring about positive change.
