Salumanus celebrates its 20th anniversary
Great projects start with dreams. Without dreams, there would be no goal, but it also takes perseverance, strength, courage and the helping hands of many people to create a stable company. Krzysztof Podgórski, founder of Salumanus and currently head of the Supervisory Board, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the company, told the story of this extraordinary project. He also thanked everyone who contributed to the success of Salumanus.
We celebrated the anniversary on 9 June in the group of employees and friends of the Salumanus company at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow. The special guests of the event were Jurek Owsiak and world-famous accordionists from the band Motion Trio. The meeting was led by Magdalena Miska-Jackowska, and the musical setting of the banquet was taken care of by a pianist from Krakow Adam Niedzielin.
In Krzysztof Podgórski's story, we go back to the very beginnings, to the origins of who he is and what goals guided him in the process of building a company. It is a road from the market square, where as a teenager he helped sell goods imported from abroad, through the profitable assembly of computers, a student advertising newspaper and the search for his place in the big world.
- After many different experiences, I realized that international trade is something I want to develop in. It was the 2000s, a difficult reality. There was an employer market. Even then, the thought sprouted in my head that I would like to create my own company. And it was then, in 2002, in the afternoons, after hours of full-time work, that the Salumanus project was created Krzysztof said.
He recalled memories from the very beginning: a tiny office on the outskirts of Krakow, hand prints from screwing and unscrewing hard drives, the first business trips to Asia, and hours spent on tools for programming optical modules. Marcin Bała, the current president of Salumanus, added one more thing to this bag of memories: a cork board with a list of the 10 largest telecommunications operators in Poland, which hung in the office at that time. Some of these companies no longer exist, with the rest Salumanus established cooperation.
- The search for the identity of the company and experimentation led to the creation of a fiber optic laboratory in Salumanus in 2008. A strong position in our specialization is our blessing and curse;). A blessing because we are growing very fast. Damn;), because we had to move every 3 years on average. We still lacked space — mentioned the founder.
For several years, Salumanus has been located in an office building at Walerego Sławek 8A in Krakow. It is planned to open a new warehouse soon. Currently, #Saluteam has more than 60 people. GBC Photonics, Salumanus's own brand, is present in the largest telecommunications projects not only in Poland, but also in the world. The company is also the exclusive distributor of the DCN brand for the European market. Salumanus is socially involved, supporting the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, the Noble Pack, the Wisła Blind Football team and many other organizations.
- I dreamed of creating a place that would be friendly. A company that will work well. Many of you have been with us for a very long time, so I believe that this goal has been achieved — said Krzysztof Podgórski. - The adventure of entrepreneurship requires tremendous commitment, hard work and resistance to stress. Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way - summed up.
Marcin Bała, the current president of the board of Salumanus revealed that Salumanus allowed him to realize his private goals and dreams. Marcin, still a teenager, built the first network in his village. A few years later, he was already the administrator of two large networks that connected 500 houses. And he dreamed that someday he would be able to build the largest networks together with operators.
- Thanks to the work in Salumanus, dreams became reality. Today, we cooperate with most telecom operators in Poland. We talk to the biggest players on the market about the future of fiber networks and create it ourselves — Marcin Bała emphasized. — We are a mature company, so we go one step further. We want to be a global brand that will partner with the largest telecom operators and data centers around the world.
The official part of the meeting was crowned with a motivational lecture by Jurek Owsiak. The charismatic leader was not by chance the guest of the event. Every year, Salumanus bids for a heart of gold, donating part of the profit to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Relief. In the jubilee year, we managed to win a heart from position 20.
More in our gallery After hours and also in a short video of the event: