Staff Spotlight: Gregg Puhl

How did you get into the trim collection business? When I was a kid sweeping floors in my dad’s business, I would hear the stories about my grandfather’s business over the years. He installed waste collection systems for shoe factories. The stories intrigued me. Dad would come home from jobs and bring me and my sister sample story books and hot rod magazines. We loved being among the first to see these publications. On weekends when I would clean the shop, dad would bring me into the office at lunch and I would watch him design systems on the old mechanical drafting board. I would roll up there next to him and watch him model up a system. The cyclones always caught my eye. When dad finally let me work for him, I was sent to manage a two-year project in Illinois that spanned three factories. The rest is history.

Pictured right: Gregg Puhl at about age 21 next to a switch valve.

What do you like most about being in this business? It’s the relationships. Over the years, the engineers and the production managers in the companies we serve have become friends of mine. And I enjoy my daily interactions with the staff at G.F. Puhl.

What kinds of client projects are your favorites? Designing and installing new systems is fun but I really like fixing systems that aren’t performing well. It’s rewarding to go into a plant, identify the problems, come up with a solution, implement it, and then see how happy the client is when everything works.

What countries have Puhl systems? We’ve installed systems in Poland, Mexico, China, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

What was the most memorable project outside of North America? A recent project in Poland was memorable because of the food, the beer, the culture and the history.

When you’re not running your business, what do you do for fun and relaxation? I love spending time with my wife, my family and Mr. Baker, our Shih Tzu. We enjoy boating, deep sea fishing and taking vacations together. Destin, Florida is one of our favorite spots.