Jorgen Salo named president of DeBourgh Manufacturing

Jorgen Salo has been named president of DeBourgh Manufacturing Co. in La Junta.

The announcement was made Monday during the DeBourgh employee luncheon.

Former president Rob Berg made the announcement. Berg will now serve as the Chief Visionary Officer for the company. Janet Berg will serve as Chief Administrative Officer.

Rob Berg said the number one asset DeBourgh has is its employees.

“Basically, our employees are second to none when it comes to the best of the best,” Rob Berg said.

And that’s due to many of the employees going above and beyond their job descriptions.

Rob Berg said the best example of that is Salo, who had currently been in the position of COO before being named president.

Salo thanked the Berg family and the board of directors for their “trust in me” and said he is excited to be in a position to guide the company into the future.

Salo said both Rob and Janet Berg have driven the company through the hard times, especially the past few years with economic hardships, but the company remained strong and is emerging. Now, Salo said, it will be his responsibility to find new opportunities and drive new growth and revenue opportunities.

In his new role, Rob Berg will be on the road building relationships and offering support to the current sales team. Janet Berg will continue handling employee services.

Salo, who was born In Finland, moved to the United States in December 1994. In 2000, he became a U.S. citizen. In 1992 he married Rosa (Chavira) Salo and they have two children, Nicole, 18, and Jeremy, 15.

He attended high school in Finland and served one year in the military academy. He attended business school at Vasa Handelslaroverk for three years. In 1997 he received his associates degree from Otero Junior College. In 1999, he received his industrial engineering degree from then University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo (now Colorado State University - Pueblo). In 2005, he received his MBA from CSU-Pueblo.

While in Finland, he worked in the family business of forestry and fur farming. From 1998 to 1999 he completed an internship at BF Goodridge in Pueblo. He joined DeBourgh in 2000.

He has been a member of Vistage since 2007.

His hobbies include golf, house restoration and skiing. He recently started running again after a 17-year break. He is a former six-time Finnish champion in cross country and track and field distance running. This weekend, he will join his father, sister and three brothers (from Finland) in Venice, Italy, for a marathon.