“That’s how I got involved with drilling. I started off just
like everyone else, shovelling cuttings and worked my way up
from there,” said Berninger.
He became a full-time driller at the Florida Geological
Survey and worked there until 1997, when he was offered
an environmental drilling position at Jim Stindham and
Associates in Tallahassee. He worked there for a few years
before rejoining the Florida Geological Survey. In 2008,
Berninger moved on to take a hydrologist job at the St. Johns
River Water Management District in Palatka, Fla.
In 2012, Berninger decided a career change was in order.
“I never had intentions of staying with working for the
State of Florida as long as I did. But I kind of woke up one day
and went, ‘Holy cow, I’ve got a lot of years in and, you know,
I’m still young.’”
Berninger switched gears and joined the private sector
as a sales associate for Champion Equipment Sales, a
California-based foundation drilling equipment supplier.
He also changed zip codes in the process, moving from St.
Augustine, Fla., to Salt Lake City, Utah.
One-stop shop
In 2016, Berninger left Champion Equipment Sales to join
business partners Steve Wilson and his sons, John and Matt,
to form Western Equipment Solutions, which offers a full
line of foundation drilling equipment and tooling to customers
in Western Canada and the Western U.S. The company
also provides expertise and support for customer jobsite
CAREER PROFILE
TEI Rock Drills
As part of his job as sales manager at Western
Equipment Solutions, Craig Berninger specializes
in small diameter drilling projects and is the
company’s resident expert on TEI Rock Drills.
Based in Montrose, Colo., TEI Rock Drills is one of
North America’s leading manufacturers of rock drill
excavator attachments, limited access drill rigs,
safety equipment and associated components.
Berninger says he’s been selling TEI Rock Drills
products for eight years, so he’s very familiar with
the brand and the quality of its products.
He’s also built strong relationships with some people
over at TEI, and Berninger believes that could have
something to do with the way they run their business
– he likes that TEI Rocks Drills is a manufacturing
company, not an assembly plant, and like Western
Equipment Solutions, they’re family owned.
“You’re not working with a big corporation. You’re working
with a family, you’re working with people who have
names,” Berninger said. “I enjoy my relationship with TEI.
There’s just a lot of things about them that I really like.”
“I think just by
nature, drillers
are intriguing
people. They’re
doing an
exceptionally
challenging job
and they’re great
problem-solvers,
which makes
them interesting
to talk to.”
– Craig Berninger,
Western Equipment Sales
CONTINUED ON PAGE 60
58 Q4 2020 www.pilingcanada.ca
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