At PSWI, we believe that hard work and loyalty are key to building a better business. So, when the Central Valley farmers needed an irrigation company they could depend on no matter what, we were there. Two decades later, they continue to look to us for innovative, custom-fit solutions, around-the-clock service, and a level of commitment that’s hard to come by these days. Meanwhile, we continue to put them at the center of everything we do to keep their farms efficient and thriving.
CONTINUED GROWTH.
STEADFAST DEDICATION.
Pacific Southwest Irrigation Corp. was established in 2003 in Stockton, California, by Jim Clare, Gary Simas, and Sonny Lucchesi. Since then, Jim has expanded the company to include full-service offices in Ballico, Crows Landing, Holt and Dixon, with Stockton still being the main location. We offer services throughout the Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys, with sales and rentals spanning from Yolo to Kern counties.
Jim has remained dedicated to adding personnel to his expanding teams who reflect Gary’s work ethic and attention to customers, as well as extensive knowledge in various agricultural irrigation methods.
JIM CLARE, FOUNDER
Jim Clare is a 6th generation Californian and grew up in Bakersfield. He attended Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield Junior College before earning his Bachelor of Science from U.C. Davis. In 1974, Jim began his career with Rain for Rent in Bakersfield. Rain for Rent transferred him to Woodland, CA in 1975and then to Stockton in 1978, to open a branch office for the company. After 11 years with Rain for Rent, he formed Golden State Irrigation Services, and eventually expanded Golden State throughout the west.. In 2003, Jim left the company with longtime friend and associate, Gary Simas, to form Pacific Southwest Irrigation. Gary Died in 2006.
Jim is a pioneer in modern irrigation technology. He initially worked on low and frequent application sprinklers in row crops, focusing on sprinkler uniformity for germination. In the late seventies, he worked in drip irrigation for vegetable crops and oversaw the first commercial success row crop drip system in the central valley. In the late eighties drip irrigation in vineyards expanded in the central valley from uniformity, efficiency and irrigation application of nematicides.
In 1988 Jim approached CertainTeed Corp with an idea for a joint venture to introduce their Yellowmine pipe product to agriculture. In 1996 he constructed prototypes of a sprinkler system with the features of the Yellowmine pipe along with the Windfighter sprinkler and pressure regulating check valve (MRDC) which Nelson Irrigation Corp was developing and testing in conjunction with the new pipe. This is today’s Certa Set Sprinkler System. Jim holds four patents for the coupler, the mechanization of the system and the system itself.
Jim is a former director of The Irrigation Association, the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the San Joaquin County Ag Hall of Fame, the Stockton Ag Expo, and the California Agricultural Irrigation Association (CAIA). As the director of the CAIA, he pushed for certification of irrigation designers and contractor licenses for irrigation dealers. He was one of the first dealer-owners to be certified in both drip and sprinkler design, and to be qualified for licensure as a General Engineering Contractor. He is a graduate of the California Ag Leadership Program and was recently selected for the 2021 San Joaquin County Agriculture Hall of Fame and founded what is today The California Irrigation Association.
Jim and Ellen have four children and reside in Escalon, California.
THE TEAM
Santino (Sonny) Lucchesi
Vice President of Sales and Engineering
Sonny grew up in Ripon, California where he graduated from Ripon High School. He then graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he earned a Bachelor’s in Agricultural Engineering. Sonny is an IA-certified irrigation designer and is widely considered an expert in Irrigation technology for GOPI row crops, trees, and vines. Sonny joined Pacific Southwest as its first employee after graduating from Cal Poly in 2003. Sonny and his wife, Katie, live in Escalon, California on a small farm with two children.
Dirk Northcutt
Vice President; Pump and Electrical Division, Irrigation System Designer
Dirk grew up on a farm in Farmington, California where he attended Escalon High School followed by Chico State. He joined the company when we lost our partner Gary Simas. Dirk resides in Oakdale, CA with his wife and four children.
Carlos Abarca
Chief Operations Officer
Carlos exemplifies a true American success story of a young immigrant from Mexico. He lied about his age to work for Pacific SouthWest Irrigation at the age of 16 when the company was first formed. Carlos climbed the company ladder beginning in field installation, to counter sales, to warehouse manager, and finally his current position as an operations officer.
Caden Farquer
Irrigation Design Engineer
Keaton Terra
Fieldman Irrigation System Designer
Keaton grew up on his family’s almond ranch located in West Modesto, CA. He went on to graduate with a bachelor’s in Agricultural Systems Management with a minor in Agribusiness at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Currently, Keaton is an IA certified irrigation designer specialized in drip & micro irrigation with previous internship design experience. Keaton’s goal as a new salesman for the Crows Landing territory is to meet the grower’s needs matched with improved on-farm irrigation efficiency.
Jose Hernandez
Counter Sales - Stockton
Navor Abarca
Crows Landing Office Manager
Alicia Hernandez
Crows Landing Counter Sales
Tyler Harcksen
Systems Manager
Tyler was born and raised in Ballico, California on a large almond farm. As a 5th generation almond farmer and processor, this ignited his passion for agricultural problem-solving in a fast-evolving field. He attended Cal Poly Luis Obispo to study Agricultural Systems Management and Business Management. Tyler has been with PSWI for almost 5 years with various past technical roles to help expand the company. Outside of PSWI, Tyler manages and owns Apiary Bi-Product & Services company being responsible for a number of duties that include retrieving bee swarms, tending to hives, and processing wax/honey bi-products.
Tristan Damante
Engineering/Sales Assistant
Hunter Kett
Dixon Office Manager & Fieldman Irrigation System Designer
Hunter worked as a summer intern with PSWI while pursuing an engineering degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Hunter joined the company after graduation and is the territory manager for our Dixon office. Hunter has an exceptional grasp of irrigation engineering and design. His systems for row/permanent crops are economically, operationally, and visually efficient.
Dakota Burley
Fieldman Irrigation System Designer
Dakota Burley was born and raised in Granite Bay, California. Burley earned a bachelor of science degree in agricultural business from Chico State in 2019. He has a keen understanding of CA agriculture with previous ag internships and continues to learn what it takes to get food from the farm to the table in a practical sense. The most rewarding part about being a fieldman irrigation designer for Burley is the interactions with the grower and designing an irrigation system most desirable for the grower’s farming operation. He has been with Pacific Southwest Irrigation for the last five years doing the latest industry-standard design and sales.
James DeFremery
Fieldman Irrigation System Designer
James grew up in Brentwood, California gaining experience in the family’s summer row crop operations near Holt, California. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Bioresources and Ag Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. As a new sales territory manager and an IA certified irrigation designer for the PSWI-Holt location, James strives to grow the pump division and help better serve the producers in the area by providing technical expertise for efficient irrigation systems.
Rochelle Dameron Sousa
Corporate Secretary
Rochelle grew up in Hughson, California where she attended Hughson High School and later graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1999. Rochelle is one of the earliest employees at the company where she started in warehouse/counter sales. She is now responsible for accounting, being a key to our customer services. She lives in Escalon with her husband and two children.
Adriano Lourenco
Fieldman Irrigation System Designer
His parents immigrated from Portugal at a young age to Tulare, CA and worked in the dairy industry. Adriano attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he earned his degree in Agricultural engineering. He is our territory manager at our Ballico Location. Adriano is recently engaged and lives in Turlock.
Joanna Gonzalez
Counter Sale, Ballico
Stephanie Vasquez
Accounts Payable
Miguel Abarca
Purchasing & Acquisition Manager
Rafa Mendez
Quality Assurance and Construction Manager
Norma Meza
Customer Service Manager,
Warehouse Operations and Sales
Pablo Meza
Holt Office Manager
Jonathan Leon
Purchasing Assistant
Melissa Rivera
Counter Sales - Dixon
Julio Valencia
Ballico Office Manager
OPEN HOUSE
Save the date for Thursday, March 2, 2023!
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The Gary Simas Agricultural Scholarship
Gary Simas was a longtime friend, associate, and business partner of Jim Clare. Tragically, Simas passed away in 2006. Recognized as an esteemed system designer and innovator, Simas is still widely respected for his work. To honor Simas’ role as an outstanding leader in the irrigation industry, friends and family established this memorial scholarship in his name.
Each year, three of our employees children or active interns who reflect Simas’ qualities as a leader and colleague are awarded The Gary Simas Agricultural Scholarship. In the nine years since the inception of the scholarship, $24,000 has been awarded to students. The application is due February 28, 2020.
2021: Morgan Wheeler , Taylor Hunt, Eligio Arroyo, Chase Cunha, Noah Rantz, Hannah Cooley, Mary Adams, Adrian Yepez, Crystal Huerta, Tristan Dimante, Kimberlin Leon.
2019: Chantz Granlees, Caden Hanson, Caitlin Newport
2018: Mikayla Hagemann, Hannah Murphy, Caleb Van Vliet
2017: Kayla Keating, Jessica Sousa, Kenneth Watkins IV
2016: Sarah Seybold, Daniel Moules, Jenna Solari
2015: Alejandro Orozco Lopez, Cole Lauchland, Cassady Hill.
2014: Jennifer Torres, Vincent Fuso, Rebecca Metz
2013: Jana Colombini, Jacob Koster, Adrianna Koster, Brad Borges
2012: Hannah Beeler, Megan Cowan, Brandon McNealy
2011: James Head, Colleen Sunbury, Ellen Brumley
2010: Dominic Assali, Jason Colombini, Suzanne Azpetia, Brooke Phillips, Amanda McLeod
2009: Kattie Schmidig, Ellen Brumley, Amanda McLeod
2008: Thomas Adrian, Desirae Bishop, Michael Fuso
2007: Kevin Azpetia, Claire Brumley, Daniel Everitt, Andrew Loogman.
INTERNSHIPS
Join Our Team
Pacific SouthWest Irrigation has over 250 years of experience standing behind its projects, setting the standard for state-of-the-art irrigation systems. We value hard-working, creative individuals who each bring something unique to our team and are looking for those who reflect what is at the basis of the company-an honest, genuine, and enthusiastic work ethic.
Our internship program is a key component of our company and we pride ourselves in fostering young talent. At Pacific Southwest, you will have the opportunity to fill a unique and meaningful position. While gaining experience in the irrigation industry you will be working with others towards a common goal, learning many new skills and getting to be part of the PSWI family. Email Alison Bavaro at abavaro@pacsouthwestirr.com for more details.