Milestone Anniversary for Haldorson

Gene Haldorson was recently recognized as the longest tenured employee at VAA with 35 years of service. His influence on company culture as a mentor to the next generation and with almost four decades of experience in the engineering industry has not gone unnoticed.

A graduate from Minneapolis’ Dunwoody College of Technology and a former Partner of VAA, Haldorson’s career began at a design-build firm drawing grain handling facilities and feed manufacturing plants. Eventually he joined VAA’s then sister company, Grain Facility Design (GFD) in 1981. Pushing to establish GFD’s reputation in the industry, Haldorson helped propel GFD’s name into the agricultural spotlight. Within four years of joining VAA he was managing projects from Iowa to Montana. With the closing of GFD in 1990, he joined VAA to focus on facility design and process/equipment layout. Today, Haldorson’s approach to establishing and maintaining long-term client relationships has contributed to the firm’s business philosophy.

“You meet a lot of people in the industry and you want to be in a career where it is not just about the work – it is about the people and the value of relationships you have impacting the work you do together. It is more rewarding when you truly feel you have accomplished something together,” said Haldorson.

In honor of his 35 years at VAA, the three CEO’s (in photo L to R: current CEO, Jeff Schrock; former CEO, Scott Stangeland; and founder, Dick Van Sickle) shared their gratitude working with Haldorson and presented him with a custom plaque featuring one of his hand-drawn projects, a grain unit train facility in Dickinson, North Dakota.