Foodservice design-build and equipment contractor Kamran & Company has added three executives to its leadership team, filling the CFO and Chief Sales Officer seats while elevating a 14-year internal veteran to VP of Project Operations — moves that collectively shore up the firm's commercial infrastructure as it pursues large-scale venue and hospitality work.
The Three Appointments
James Dinardi joins as Chief Financial Officer, carrying more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership in construction and specialty contracting. His resume includes CFO tenures spanning specialty infrastructure, commercial building, and heavy civil construction, along with direct kitchen construction experience. Notably, Dinardi supported one construction firm through growth from roughly $7 million to more than $100 million in revenue — a scaling track record directly relevant to a project-driven foodservice contractor competing for large institutional and venue contracts.
Matthew Harlan takes the Chief Sales Officer role with an unusual dual credential: formal culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts followed by more than a decade as an executive chef, then a pivot in 2018 to business development at TriMark USA, one of the country's largest foodservice equipment and supplies dealers. He most recently served as Regional VP of Contract and Institutional Sales for TriMark's Southeast Region. That operator-to-sales arc gives Harlan fluency in how kitchen environments actually function — a credibility asset when selling complex design-build and fabrication engagements to sophisticated foodservice operators.
An Internal Promotion Signals Culture
Daniel Rios's promotion to VP of Project Operations may carry the most strategic signal of the three. Rios joined Kamran & Company in 2012 as a sheet metal apprentice and advanced through journeyman, general superintendent, project manager, project executive, and General Manager of Kamran Metalworks before reaching his current title. His project portfolio includes multiple large casino properties in Las Vegas and a new professional football stadium — the kind of high-complexity, high-stakes builds that define Kamran's positioning in the hospitality and large-venue segment. In the VP role, Rios will oversee the firm's full contract project portfolio and lead national project management, delivery, and execution.
CEO Tim Welsh, who was himself appointed to the top role in May, framed the hires around execution depth rather than headline credentials. "Every foodservice project matters, whether it is a single operation opening its first location or a national venue on a tight timeline," Welsh said. "James, Matthew and Daniel each bring that experience in different parts of the business. Daniel's promotion also reflects something we care about deeply — the depth of expertise already inside this company."
Market Context
The appointments arrive as foodservice contractors and equipment specifiers face continued pressure from large-scale venue development — stadiums, casino resort expansions, and healthcare system builds — that demand integrated design, fabrication, and project management under one roof. Labor complexity and extended equipment lead times have pushed operators toward partners who can manage the full project lifecycle, from concept through commissioning. For Kamran, whose service model spans custom equipment, fabrication, installation, and specialized brand portfolios across hospitality, healthcare, education, and large-venue markets, deepening the executive bench on both the financial and operational sides positions it to absorb larger area development agreements and multi-unit rollout programs.
The back-to-back leadership moves — Welsh's CEO appointment in May followed by this three-person build-out — suggest the company is actively scaling its management infrastructure ahead of anticipated contract volume growth. For operators and general contractors evaluating foodservice design-build partners, executive stability and depth are increasingly weighted factors alongside technical capability. Kamran's combination of a finance leader with construction-scale experience and a sales chief with hands-on culinary background addresses two historically underserved gaps in the foodservice contractor segment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
