I recently had the pleasure of attending my first Jenike holiday get-together at our global headquarters in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. The event was the culmination of another successful year in terms of business and personnel growth, and a way for all of us to enjoy each others’ company in a relaxed atmosphere. We welcomed new employees from around the globe as they joined us for an intensive six-week training session; we celebrated the opening of our new office in Brazil; and and we recognized some important milestones for two of our outstanding engineers.
Jairo Paternina has been with J&J for 5 years now, and in that time he has been involved in analyzing and solving caking problems in the food and chemical industry. He is also active in troubleshooting and recommending corrective actions for solids flow problems, providing recommendations to avoid solid flow related problems in new installations, as well as designing customized handling equipment. Jairo was clearly embarrassed by all the attention but he seemed to wear it well.
In addition, our Senior Consultant Brian Pittenger celebrated 20 years with J&J this year. Since joining J&J, he has designed bulk solids storage and handling systems ranging from conditioning and purging silos for food, chemicals, and petrochemicals, to simple and accurate batch dosing systems in processing plants, to developing anti-segregation systems for powdered metals and pharmaceuticals. 
He spoke eloquently and from the heart about his many years at J&J – so much so that when he was finished speaking nobody wanted to “roast” him. A missed opportunity perhaps, or the result of a clever marketing ploy on Brian’s part all along!
All in all I would say everyone had a fantastic time and it certainly solidified in my mind why J&J is such a wonderful company to work for.
