BAK Food Equipment is announcing that Thomas Bako has joined the company as director of business development, effective Jan. 16, 2023. In his new role, Bako will spearhead the expansion of new customer accounts and foster the growth of BAK Food Equipment’s existing client relationships.

Bako comes to BAK Food Equipment with more than 25 years of experience in manufacturing and industrial process automation. Most recently, he was sales and marketing director for a major subsidiary of a $171 million global company that designs and manufactures sensors and process control instrumentation for several key industrial market segments, including food and beverage processing machinery. Over his career, Bako has also held positions in sales/territory management, marketing, and applications engineering.

“Tom has demonstrated the proven ability to not only develop new business relationships but also support existing ones,” said John Bobak, founder and CEO of BAK Food Equipment. “We are excited to welcome him to our team.”

“After meeting the folks here, I was impressed by their passion and the high quality of the equipment and service they provide. I knew this is where I wanted to be,” said Bako. “This is an exciting time in BAK Food Equipment’s growth, and I look forward to leveraging my past experience to help further build and grow the organization."

In addition to decades of industrial sales and marketing experience, Bako also brings his extensive leadership capabilities, market knowledge and creative problem-solving approach to the position. He holds advanced SCADA certification in InduSoft Web Studio (now Wonderware) and completed the High Performance Leadership Program at Oxford University.