Sales and Development Manager Ari Laitinen chose Fimpec
Last spring, Ari Laitinen contemplated where he wanted to continue his career. The decision to join Fimpec was influenced by the impression he got during the job interview – an impression that only grew stronger over time – of an intriguing company and a pleasant working environment.
Fimpec has rapidly grown and internationalized over the past couple of years. This expansion has brought forth a multitude of interesting positions that have attracted new, skilled professionals and expertise to the company. One of the new additions to the Fimpec team is Sales and Development Manager Ari Laitinen, who started working at Fimpec’s Energy Services business unit in April 2023. Based on his experiences in the first few months, he feels he made the right choice.
“There’s trust in people, colleagues, and supervisors here, and the company’s direction feels right. The drive is sustainable, so the team can work with confidence and develop new solutions,” Laitinen states.
He continues that his experiences have only strengthened his initial positive impressions of the company and its work environment. These impressions were formed when he met Sami Nissinen, the Head of Operations of Energy Services, and Tomi Vainio, the Head of Operations of Design Services in Jyväskylä.
“In my initial conversation with them, I already formed an impression of an interesting company and a pleasant working environment. I was particularly struck by how Tomi and Sami spoke highly and warmly of their colleagues at Fimpec. I can say that the image they conveyed of the company and the atmosphere weighed so heavily on my decision that I chose Fimpec among several appealing options.”
Solving Customer Challenges Generates Sustainable and Profitable Business
At Fimpec, Laitinen’s role as Sales and Development Manager in the Energy business unit entails sales and development work. He defines sales as a central aspect of his job, and development work goes hand in hand with it. The different aspects of the job complement each other well.
“Often, the best practical innovations arise from identified needs in basic work, and here at Fimpec, there’s a strong willingness to develop services in a practical manner. We can move forward with our own or the customer’s processes nimbly and alleviate bottlenecks with even simple changes. The atmosphere here and the high level of expertise create an environment where the threshold for presenting ideas is low, and everyone can propose development ideas.”
From a sales perspective, Laitinen notes that Fimpec’s business is in a genuinely interesting phase. There’s a lot of requests for proposals circulating, and the development is rapid. He speaks with enthusiasm about working with customers.
“I keep the customer’s goals and needs clear in my mind during negotiations. I feel that I’m on the same side of the table as the customer: we’re seeking solutions together and getting excited together. This naturally leads to profitable sales and, as a byproduct, innovations. It’s important to me and to all of us that the customer can trust our expertise and that we stand by the customer in the long run.”
Comprehensive Background in the Energy Sector and Sustainability
Ari Laitinen’s background has provided him a solid foundation for his new role. He graduated from Tampere University of Technology in 2013, majoring in Energy Engineering with a focus on Renewable Energy Conversion Methods in the Sustainable Energy study module. His thesis focused on the possibilities of hydrogen in road transport and was done for Gasum. Laitinen also has a background in transportation, having graduated as an automotive and transport engineer (Bachelor of Engineering) in 2009.
Laitinen transitioned to Fimpec from Betolar Plc, where he worked as a Project Manager in the Innovation Team: “I was closely involved in the company’s growth challenges,” as he puts it. Before Betolar, Laitinen worked at LeaseGreen, where his responsibilities included customer relations and selling energy efficiency projects to industrial customers.
