Regional clients, business leaders and industry professionals recently joined Haskell team members to commemorate the company’s Salt Lake City office, which has grown exponentially since its 2018 inception. Opening with a small staff of eight, the office now boasts about 65 employees and serves as the company's Western Regional Operations Center.
"The revenue growth, support, relocations, and new hires have just been amazing," said Travis Taylor, Haskell Director of Construction. "We’ve got about three-quarters of a billion dollars, and about a dozen customers actively supported out of this office. That’s something to be proud of. It's not an easy thing to start up a new office with new people and get that kind of accomplishment.”
As a consistently top-ranked firm and as a local team, Haskell takes its work and the trust of its clients seriously, said Haskell’s Religious and Cultural Director Bill Rudder. “So, it’s important that we pause now and then to celebrate our successes with those who help make that happen, both internally and externally.”
Clients who attended the celebration expressed appreciation for Haskell’s local presence and collaborative work on projects.
"We are glad to see Haskell's growth here in Salt Lake City,” said Cory Karl, Construction Project Management Senior Director for long-term client Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church). “Their commitment to serving us as a client has always been recognized, and we look forward to their continued partnership."
The celebration incorporated a ribbon-cutting and honored Salt Lake City’s German heritage and the festive time of year with an Oktoberfest theme, which attendees took seriously. Many dressed in lederhosen and dirndls as they competed in games, such as Hammerschlagen (nail driving) and Masskrugstemmen (stein holding). Siegfried's Delicatessen, which specializes in German food, catered the event with traditional fare, including wiener schnitzel and spaetzle with gravy.
“I think this was a great way to officially open up the office in a way that allowed us to showcase the culture and spirit the office adds to the Haskell family and brand,” Haskell Process Engineer Evan Dodd said.
Shared Values
Utah’s rugged beauty, sturdy economic infrastructure, and a population that prides itself on an innovative and hardworking honeybee mentality have made Salt Lake City a prime location for Haskell’s western hub.
“The values here in Salt Lake and the surrounding region pair well with our own Haskell values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust,” Taylor said. “When you join these forces in a dynamic and collaborative partnership, the result is extraordinary.”
The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) recently recognized one such partnership between Haskell and the Church with a National Merit Award for the Quito Temple design-build project in Ecuador.
“Our criteria for these important structures can be stringent and challenging, with an emphasis on achieving the highest level of quality and craftsmanship possible in both the selection of materials and execution of the work,” Church Project Manager Duane Cheney said in a letter to DBIA. “The Church decided that a design-build delivery method utilizing Haskell’s strong record of implementing very successful design-build projects on an international scale combined with Haskell’s growing temple experience would most effectively meet our schedule, scope, and budget criteria. Haskell proved to have all the proper resources to design, engineer and deliver the specific processes that we required and expected for this project.”
Following are some of the local and regional markets in which Haskell specializes:
Religious & Cultural
Creating religious and cultural facilities presents unique requirements and challenges. Faith knows no borders, so international reach often is a must. But more importantly, places of worship, museums and other cultural locations require an ability to understand and accommodate the needs and expectations of highly discerning clients. Haskell’s collaborative approach and philosophy of adopting the customer’s goals as its own enables its teams to deliver where others fall short.
The company’s capabilities and worldwide connections ensure high-quality results quickly and affordably. Haskell brings to religious and cultural projects the scale to facilitate needs globally and a highly skilled workforce to execute the intricate finishes that grace houses of worship. Its design-build heritage makes it a leader in providing turnkey services, and its capacity for value engineering and regionalization allows it to convert a client’s known methods and materials to locally available options.
Consumer Products
From analysis and design to controls and installation, Haskell ensures that clients’ internal operations and manufacturing facility function as a single optimized and integrated system. Its engineers are equipment agnostic, allowing them the flexibility to source the best pieces to fit each project’s budget and schedule. From groundbreaking to certified occupancy, no one can deliver large-scale industrial plant construction faster.
Decades of experience in industrial construction have given Haskell the knowledge necessary to build turnkey capital projects quickly. The secret: team integration. With process, packaging, design and construction teams communicating and collaborating under one roof, it can quickly assess and overcome challenges during project execution. Subject matter experts provide essential leadership in the field, and self-performed construction services, such as steel fabrication and concrete work, often are vital in keeping projects on schedule.
Food & Beverage
The food and beverage industry is continuously changing, which makes the operational landscape a complex recipe of technology, regulation and safety assurance. Whether plans include launching an innovative new product, expanding capacity for a high-growth product or storing the product in the supply chain, Haskell’s industry experts are attuned to each project's unique logistics and regulatory needs.
Ranked the No. 1 Food & Beverage Manufacturing Contractor by Engineering News-Record (ENR) two of the past three years, Haskell’s expertise spans the grocery aisles, from emerging sustainable proteins and prepackaged food service items to confectionery sweets and baked snacks. Its priority is providing food and beverage clients with a world-class experience in processing, packaging and facilities projects.
Water Solutions
Many of Haskell’s industrial and municipal customers have growing concerns about aging and inadequate water infrastructure, heightening environmental regulations and water scarcity. As a knowledgeable partner in your overall goals and a single point of accountability for your water and wastewater needs, Haskell applies deep technical understanding, a history of performance and extensive resources to tackling complex and essential projects. The outcomes include performance optimization, effective operator training, efficient system start-up and maintenance best practices.
The Utah Division of Water Resources calls the state’s water future one of its most significant challenges. By 2050, Utah’s population is predicted to increase from about 2 million to more than 5 million. If current per capita water use rates remain steady, this population increase will result in water diversions of nearly 2 million acre-feet annually, up from the current 900,000.
As competition over Utah’s diminishing water resources continue to increase, it’s becoming more critical than ever for manufacturers and municipalities to employ innovative and sustainable water solutions. Haskell’s water experts are experienced in crafting unique solutions for various needs and challenges.
Integrated Sustainability
Sustainable design and construction are deeply integrated processes that begin at project conception, and successful initiatives take a high level of involvement throughout the project lifecycle. That deep integration makes Haskell’s integrated design-build methodology ideally suited to creating responsible, sustainable projects that enhance our communities.
ENR recently ranked Haskell as the No. 1 Green Manufacturing and Industrial Contractor and Designer. The team of accredited professionals and LEED-experienced design and construction personnel develop and implement efficient, cost-effective programs that infuse projects with sustainable elements, with or without a formal LEED certification process.
At Home in Salt Lake
With four years behind and many more ahead, the work and fun are just starting. As a top-rated firm in Best Places to Work, Best Companies to Work For, CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, Training, Healthiest Companies and Companies with Heart, Haskell team members make it their job to overachieve.
“You have a great group of employees working there and it shows!” said event attendee and Salt Lake City Chamber member Diana Young. “Definitely one of the best ribbon-cuttings I have been to.”
The Haskell Salt Lake City team looks forward to continuing to exceed expectations for many years - and projects - to come. Whether you plan to renovate an existing warehouse into a food and beverage manufacturing facility or your city requires innovative water solutions, contact our Salt Lake City Office to learn more about how partnering with Haskell could benefit your enterprise’s unique goals and vision.
