2021 Year in Review: Donald Gelestino, Champion Elevator Corp.

Name: Donald Gelestino

Job Title: President

Company Name: Champion Elevator Corp.

How has your working environment changed over the last year?
Ironically Champion was able to facilitate six acquisitions in the past year and had to integrate them during these trying times. All systems and processes are honed and fine-tuned, so we are on a path to an amazing 2022!

What was your greatest professional accomplishment or most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2021?
The opening of our new office in Long Island warehouse and branch, our new Connecticut office, and our New Jersey branch which has a state-of-the-art training facility has been created for our safety and educational seminars.

What was the biggest lesson you learned while working during the pandemic?
Being an essential and first responding company, we, as a team needed to adapt quickly. The COVID environment left many systems, processes, building policies, and employees protection in need of immediate refinement and action. The biggest lesson we saw at Champion was when our employees’ band together in time of need the unimaginable can be achieved.

What are your predictions for your industry in 2022?
With ever changing Department of Building Codes and state licensing requirements2022 will be another year of adapting and changing in real time! This is something we are good at here at Champion Elevator.

What is the best advice you received in 2021, and who was it from?
After attending many funerals and seeing so many people ill I think the best advice of 2021 I received was to, “take time and enjoy life…It’s not all about work, we all need to reflect and add personal time into our day.”