KAHI NGUYEN began with Pan-Pacific just one year ago and was quickly mentioned by several of his peers as an employee who was doing his part to embody the company’s Mission Statement. He has been in Local 250 as a Steam Fitter for 30 years. Khai worked alongside Superintendents, Chris Ellis and Bryan Erdeman, with his former company and was eager to come on board with Pan.

Khai is currently the General Foreman at LAX Terminal 1 and Terminal 1.5. Along with his teammates, he recently completed the final Chilled Hot Water (CHW) shutdown for T1.5 which was the most complicated shutdown to date. The crew managed the preparation, planning, inspections, and off-hours work with crews working in six different areas of T1 simultaneously.

Khai’s story is an inspiring one. He began his journey as an immigrant from Vietnam who traveled to the United States alone when he was just 15 years old. “In order for me to seek a better life and have better opportunities for success, my parents sold their most valuable possession, my father’s motor bike, and sent me away on a small boat to escape the communist regime. While at sea, I was rescued by a West German ship and dropped off at a refugee camp in the Philippines. It was there that I was sponsored by relatives to come to the United States.”

While his journey has not always been easy, it has instilled qualities in his character that are recognized by his peers. Khai continues with his aspirations to help make Pan-Pacific Mechanical the best mechanical contractor in the industry.

“Everybody that I work with has become extended members of my family, which makes it very easy for me to remain loyal and have respect for my customers and to my teammates. Loyalty to others and respect for each other are values that have always been instilled in me.”

The company’s core values remain an aspect that is significant to our employees. “I really enjoy the family culture work environment at Pan-Pacific. Our coworkers are our family. We all work very hard under strenuous and stressful physical and mental conditions, so we have to keep an eye out for each other.”

“At the end of the day, I interpret the company’s Mission Statement as giving the best quality customer service that we can offer. The customer is the root of our work and as long as we work on serving their wants and needs in a timely, safe, and budget-friendly manner, the results will show in our work.”

Outside of work, Khai enjoys time with his family. He has been married to his wife, Tracy for 27 years and they have one daughter, Samantha, who is 25. His daughter is currently a Speech Therapist at Casa Colina Hospital working with medically fragile children and children with autism.


MATT EVES
Pan-Pacific is proud to spotlight, Matt Eves, an employee who exemplifies our company Mission Statement to his peers. Matt has been with Pan-Pacific for 5 years and is a 31-year member of Local 393. He found connections to the company through his brother, Trent Eves. Trent speaks highly of his brother’s work ethic. “Matt has always gone out of the way to be a team member while on any project. He has the end user’s best interest at heart, while making sure Pan-Pacific and the trade partners are successful.”

When asked about his experience working at Pan-Pacific, Matt replied, “I like how easy it is to approach each person in the company. That goes from the office folks all the way down to the dirt crews. It’s nice to know that there are others who have your back, if needed. It’s good to feel a part of something where people know your name and you’re not just a number. It’s been shown that one can grow and thrive here, if they are willing to put in the necessary work.”

Matt is currently the General Foremen at the Charleston East project in Mountain View, CA. The project is considered a “living building” which is a step above a LEED project. “Charleston East requires almost 100% recycling of all materials throughout the job, using only materials in the install that are considered healthy, and capturing as much rain water as possible to reuse inside and outside the building,” says Matt.

He continued by mentioning daily examples of the mission statement that are demonstrated by his crew:

“We talk as a team about being professional, pleasant, hard-working folks. We talk about safety and how we need to go home in the same vehicle and condition as we started. We consistently strive to be better than those around us.”

The company’s Core Values are part of what drew Matt into working for Pan-Pacific. “Family, Loyalty and Respect are some of the same values that we promote in our own family, so having these values at work helps me feel that my work-life and home-life are aligning better.”

Matt has been married to his wife, Chris, for 32 years and they still like each other. They have 5 children of their own and one that joined their family after his own parents divorced. Alissa (31) lives outside of Roseville, CA and Randy (27) lives in Washington. The other children reside in Gilroy, as do Matt and his wife. Sean (27); Jason (24) attends San Jose State University; Ryan (19) is between high school and college and Kendall (15) is attending high school. The entire family has been active in plays, music and supporting their local community.