BFS Industries celebrates Lead Electrical Engineer Jim Samborsky’s 30 years of heading up the Controls Group.
“Jim has been a valuable part of the BFS team since 1995, and created our Controls Group panel division from concept to a high level UL panel fabrication shop,” said Tom Garbarino, President of BFS Industries. “Our customers appreciate Jim’s attention to detail, starting with meticulous design engineering to component selection and an emphasis on the highest quality fabrication techniques.”
Jim is responsible for electrical design, drawings, purchasing, and production, from start to finish. He grew up in Front Royal, VA, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech. During his college career, he worked with Programmable Logic Controllers at General Electric in Charlottesville. His engineering career began at DuPont, where he designed nuclear instrumentation for the Department of Energy.
Over the past three decades at BFS Industries, Jim has seen the team grow from one engineer and one panel fabricator to four fabricators, one electrical designer, one engineer, and one PLC programmer.
“When we started the Controls Group, most of the panels had basic motor starter controls and alarms,” he said. “Since then, we have added more electronics to the panels, including Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), PID Loop Controllers, and networked control systems.”
“BFS control panels leave our factory fully tested and certified, resulting in trouble-free start-up and long-term system operation,” added Tom. “It is always great to get Jim’s perspective on a variety of topics, whether they are related to an electrical issue or anything else.”
A prime example of American manufacturing, BFS is the perfect size company to quickly adapt for their customers, as well as offer a wide range of custom control panel solutions to match their needs.
“We have basic basic controls as we did 30 years ago, semi-custom designs from a menu of options, and full-custom designs for detailed specifications,” said Jim. “Our manufacturing and office areas have expanded over the years to meet our customer demand. We handle larger projects with more technology, as well.”
One thing Jim enjoys about BFS is his independence and corresponding responsibility. He’s the only electrical engineer on site and the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 508A Manufacturer Technical Representative (MTR). In the coming years, Jim says customers can expect to continue to be the priority.
“We appreciate Jim’s dedication to BFS,” said Tom. “He definitely makes us better equipped to provide excellent service and products to our customers.”