A Jacksonville, Florida, native who joined the Marines out of high school, Wes Lancaster is now a Haskell Project Superintendent.

November 9, 2020

Haskell Superintendent Lancaster Sought Challenge of the Marines

Share
Tweet
Share
Share

What’s the fun in choosing the easy way? That’s what Wes Lancaster was thinking when he decided to join the Marine Corps after graduating high school in 1991.

“I always go for the hardest thing. I wanted to challenge myself,” Lancaster said of his decision to become a Marine rather than enlist in another branch of the service.

Lancaster, 48, is currently a Haskell project supervisor working at the Frito-Lay Site Transformation project in Perry, Georgia. The facility is the largest snack food manufacturing plant in the United States, and the project consists of a new production line and a multi-crane automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) warehouse expansion. He is responsible for site coordination and construction of the three-crane ASRS warehouse expansion.

When not on assignment, the Jacksonville, Florida, native makes his home in St. Augustine. He joined Haskell in 2006, left after a couple of years and returned to the company in 2014.

After graduating from Wolfson High School, joining the military was a natural decision since many of his family members had also been in the service. Lancaster served from 1991-95, reaching the rank of Corporal (E-4). He worked on generators as an Electrical Repairman Specialist.

Besides offering the challenge of making the cut, he reasoned, Marines service would provide the opportunity to still live near the beach.

“I like the ocean,” he said, “but I don’t want to live in the middle of it.”

His first duty station was in Okinawa, Japan. There, he made friendships that last to this day. He still checks in with old friends on Facebook.

“It was a learning experience, for sure,” he said. “I didn’t get homesick because I knew I was there for a year and made the best of it. But I was ready to come home after that year. It was the best flight ever.”

His military experience taught him how to work with people from all over the country. He developed communication skills that have transferred to his current work with Haskell.

“I know how to communicate with others no matter where they are from,” he said. “Being around different personalities, I came to understand how to work with people and get things done.”

The Haskell culture differs significantly from that of the military. Lancaster likes the interchange he can have with coworkers on every level.

“The people at Haskell are a joy to work with,” he said. “I like the low-stress environment. We address problems together. They aren’t so much problems, let’s say we are addressing opportunities together.”

Honoring Our Veterans

Haskell proudly employs veterans of the United States Armed Forces and currently has 68 team members who previously served our country. To commemorate Veterans Day, Haskell.com is spotlighting five of those team members. In addition, Haskell annually presents each veteran on our team with a special thank you gift.

As Haskell’s Workforce Development and Talent Acquisition teams continually evaluate and address the personnel needs, veterans play a greater role now than ever before.

“What we consistently find is that veterans are adaptable, dedicated professionals who understand that learning new skills is a part of every job,” said Dave Balz, who leads Workforce Development. “Whether someone has served on a submarine, as an on-the-ground war-fighter or supported through logistics and IT, they understand mission, structure, results and accountability. They also have a background of doing for the good of the team. These attributes fit hand in glove with our core values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust.”

Haskell delivers $2± billion annually in Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) and Consulting solutions to assure certainty of outcome for complex capital projects worldwide. Haskell is a global, fully integrated, single-source design-build and EPC firm with over 2,200 highly specialized, in-house design, construction and administrative professionals across industrial and commercial markets. With 20+ office locations around the globe, Haskell is a trusted partner for global and emerging clients.

Related News & Insights

Privacy Policy

Our website uses technology to offer you a personalized experience. We need your consent use cookies in accordance with our privacy policy. By clicking “Accept,” you agree to our use of cookies.