At Gills Onions, our employees are essential to our success. One of our star team members is Juliel Montes, who ensures every aspect of our plant is up and running each day before our production crews arrive. We recently sat down with Juliel to learn about his time here at Gills Onions and what it takes to get a 32,000 sq. ft. food processing facility up and going five days a week. 

A Master of Machinery

Raised in Salinas, California, the heart of the agricultural hub known as the “Salad Bowl”, Juliel recalls many dinnertime conversations revolving around agriculture. With both his parents working in local produce fields, he thought it all sounded interesting, but was curious to learn about other opportunities available in the industry.

“Growing up I only saw or heard about the cutting and the picking,” said Juliel. “And then you see the result at the supermarket, but there’s so many things that happen in between and it fascinated me.”

Juliel’s journey truly began to ignite while attending Cal State Monterey Bay. Focusing his studies on agronomy, he was also a full-time employee at a local produce company in their maintenance department. In his first role as a technician, Juliel’s interest in the technical intricacies of processing plants sparked and he quickly climbed the ladder to become a shop manager before a designer. 

Shortly after, Juliel was presented with the opportunity to see inside hundreds of processing facilities across the country and build relationships with industry giants, including Gills. It was in this role as a Technical Services Supervisor Juliel found his way home to Gills Onions. 

Gill’s Onions – A New Chapter

Here at Gills Onions, Juliel’s responsibilities are diverse and crucial to the smooth operation of the processing plant. To put it simply, he and his team work to ensure each onion makes it from point A to point B without any hiccups. Some of his daily checklist items include: ensuring the cooling system is working properly, the air compressor has enough pressure for the equipment to run, the water treatment plant is in optimal condition, the maintenance department has their duties set for the day and addressing any issues that may pop up.

In order to do this, Juliel shares his “team comes in about an hour earlier than the production crew to ensure nothing abnormal is happening, so we can turn the plant over to them to start on time,” he said. “When they leave, we come back in to check over everything again.”

But his job is more than just the day to day operations. As a member of the Gills Onions sustainability team, he and fellow team members, including Steve Gill, meet weekly to identify opportunities for the company to reduce their footprint. From shifting the way in which they run their air compressors, turning equipment off during breaks or slowing them down slightly during production, it all makes a difference in a facility that size.

The Importance of a Strong Work Ethic

For Juliel, an individual’s work ethic speaks for itself. He attributes his decision to accept an offer from Gills Onions initially because of Steve Gill’s involvement. 

“I’ve been to hundreds of plants across the country and its very rare to find the owner still being involved in every aspect of the company – it could be quality control, mechanics, sales – he has knowledge of every single department,” he said

Having been with us for just shy of three years now, Juliel feels proud to be a member of the team, in part because of their shared passion for what they do and willingness to have cross departmental communication. 

Pursue Your Passions

For high school and college students with graduation ceremonies on the horizon, it can often feel daunting. Is this something I’m actually interested in? Can I truly see myself pursuing a career in agriculture? Am I making the right decision? These are all questions a soon-to-be graduate may be thinking and are all relevant. Reflecting on his own journey, Juliel encourages those remotely interested in agriculture simply to pursue their passions.

“Whatever your interests, whatever your passions – just go after it,” he said. “There were times where I wondered if this is something I really want to do and you just keep going – it pays off.”

We’re thrilled Juliel decided to pursue his passion for agriculture and look forward to seeing his career progress here at Gills Onions.

Ready to try onions the Gills Way? For more information, contact our sales department.