Meet the Team: Ramón Salazar

Eaglestone is excited to welcome a new member to our team. Ramón Salazar, Sales Engineer, may have just started with us this past month, but he has over 20 years of experience in the conveyor belt industry.

Ramón didn’t start out in the conveyor field. Although he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, he had always been a tinkerer and avid cyclist so he decided to work at a bicycle shop after college. His interest in all things mechanical took him to New Orleans, where he met an employee at a large modular belt company and got his first job in the field. From there, he spent the next two decades working with conveyors at different companies, gaining experience across the U.S. and Latin America. He eventually landed back in his home state, Illinois, where he joined the Eaglestone team.

Now that he’s found a place to settle down, Ramón, his wife, and their two Boston Terriers, (Mamma) Mia and Fernando, have taken up a new hobby: renovating on their mid-century home. Purchased from the family that commissioned the house, the sale also included the architect’s original 1957 hand-drawn blueprints.

Ramón’s goal was not to completely change the house, but simply to update it. “Although the house wasn’t perfectly cared for, it has still been well maintained. Nothing is patched poorly, which is great. When the roof started leaking, the previous owner put money into a whole new roof, keeping the home further structural damage. Luckily, that saves us a lot of hassle in the renovation. Now we can focus on cleaning, painting, and updating without stripping away the original character.”

Ramón and his wife have done just that. They didn’t tear down any walls or change the exterior of the home. By repainting, installing new bamboo flooring, and new appliances, they were able to keep the original charm of their home intact. Although Ramón did add his own personal touch: a man-cave in the basement, complete with a kegerator retrofitted into the game room’s original bar, which was hand-built by the first owner himself.