Employee Spotlight: John Bacon

In this month’s employee spotlight, we caught up with Senior Electrical and Controls Engineer John Bacon, who has been at Elm for an amazing 37 years!

Q: How long have you been working at Elm? 

A: I started at Elm on November 9, 1987.

Q: What brought you to Elm/how did you get your start here? 

A: Bob Bacon recruited me to Elm. I was working at a sawmill for a year and a half and that whole time he kept saying, “you have to come to Elm it’s a great place to work.”

He would say, “you will have many more future opportunities here than at the mill.” 

Well, he finally wore me down and I decided to give it a try, despite the fact that at the time it was quite a substantial pay cut. Being only 17 years old, they wouldn’t let me go on jobs so I used to work in the shop sweeping the floors, taking out the trash and putting away stock. Back then we used to work every Saturday until 1 p.m. when the founder Bob Schmidt would buy everyone working in the shop that particular day lunch from McDonald’s.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your role at Elm? 

A: Today I am a Senior Electrical and Controls Engineer. What that means is I do a combination of electrical control’s wiring, design and different types of controls components programming. In engineering we program Human Machine Interface (HMI touchscreens, equipment and system interface devices), Programmable Logic Controllers, (PLCs, system brains and decision-making components), Robots (to move things), Variable Speed Drives (devices that spin motors), Servo Drives (also devices that spin motors, but with high precision), Sensors etc. Based on our customers’ needs or project requirements, we combine these small components into a larger system that becomes the machinery to move stuff, fluids, powders, plastic pellets, etc., that our customers use to produce their products.

Q: What are some of the things you enjoy most about working at Elm?

A: I enjoy most the different places we work and the customers we work for. In engineering, many of our projects are not greenfield sites. They are established companies with existing machinery they need to upgrade or new machinery they are building and hire Elm to assist with, or to provide a process and equipment. Many times I learn the most on these projects from the operators and people on the floor.  They are the ones living these jobs and equipment every day. When Elm is successful I know we have provided a piece of equipment or system that’s safe, works well and helps our customers for many years. It’s pretty cool to me when we do a job, we do it well and we get called back for future opportunities. Many of us have repeat customers we have been working with for years and years. That is very gratifying to me.

Q: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences at Elm?

A: Not to sound cliché and use the expression we all have heard a hundred times, but one of the things I find most rewarding is my co-workers. 

I am truly amazed at what we all do every day — especially on some of the larger projects we have been on and how we all have come together getting those projects done. Too many times to count we are on jobs with deadlines that truly seem unattainable, but we all come together, living out of a suitcase, long days, nights, weekends, holidays and somehow we all just do our jobs and get it done, while still focused on safety for ourselves, each other and our clients. From the support teams and folks behind the scenes to the individuals on the road each day, and everybody in between, I have seen my co-workers continue to do amazing things.

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not working?

A: I like to skeet shoot and reload shotgun shells.

Q: Do you have a particular hobby, talent, or interesting fact that co-workers may not know about?

A: It’s not a hobby or talent but it’s something my co-workers probably do not know. My mom came from a very large family and I am the youngest of 35 Cousins. On a recent family get together I commented to my cousin, Karen, that after a conversation with another older cousin, Karen, I said, “You know Karen #1 is much friendlier than you, Karen #2.”

Without skipping a beat, Karen #2 said, “well, coming from John #4 I’m not too concerned about what you have to say!”

I thought that was extremely funny.