The Appointments
Kamran & Company, a Santa Barbara-based foodservice design, fabrication, and installation contractor, has named James Dinardi as Chief Financial Officer, Matthew Harlan as Chief Sales Officer, and promoted 14-year company veteran Daniel Rios to Vice President of Project Operations — the firm's most significant leadership expansion since Tim Welsh took the CEO role in May.
The three appointments are intended to strengthen the contractor's capacity across financial strategy, business development, and project execution at a moment when large-scale foodservice construction — spanning hospitality, healthcare, education, and entertainment venues — is absorbing sustained capital investment from operators looking to upgrade or open facilities at scale.
Executive Profiles
Dinardi brings more than 20 years of financial and operational leadership in construction and specialty contracting, including CFO tenures across specialty infrastructure, commercial building, and heavy civil sectors. Notably, he supported one construction firm's growth from approximately $7 million to more than $100 million in revenue, a track record that signals Kamran's ambitions for scale. He also carries direct kitchen construction experience, adding operational fluency to his financial background.
Harlan's profile is unusual in foodservice sales leadership: he trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and spent more than a decade as an Executive Chef before pivoting to business development at TriMark USA in 2018. He most recently served as Regional Vice President of Contract and Institutional Sales for the Southeast Region at TriMark, one of the largest foodservice equipment and supply dealers in North America. His dual background — production kitchen and contract sales — positions him to engage clients on operational requirements, not just equipment specifications.
Rios's promotion is the clearest signal of Kamran's internal talent development philosophy. He joined the firm 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 new VP title. His project portfolio includes several large casino developments in Las Vegas and a professional football stadium — complex, high-tolerance builds that test supply chain coordination and on-site execution at a level few foodservice contractors encounter.
Why It Matters
"Every foodservice project matters, whether it is a single operation opening its first location or a national venue on a tight timeline," said Welsh. "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 and the people who have built their careers here."
For foodservice operators and hospitality developers evaluating contractor partners, the appointments suggest Kamran is positioning for larger, more complex contract mandates. The simultaneous build-out of financial, commercial, and operational leadership — rather than a single hire — points to an organization preparing infrastructure for growth, not simply filling vacancies. Contractors that can credibly staff CFO-level financial oversight alongside culinary-literate sales leadership occupy a narrower, more defensible segment of the foodservice equipment and construction market.
The hires also reflect broader hiring trends in foodservice contracting and project management, where operators are demanding partners with end-to-end accountability from design through commissioning, particularly for healthcare and large-venue clients where project failures carry significant financial and reputational risk.
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.
