Bill Smith, Sales Manager for Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine, sits down with Don Eaton, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Sauer Compressors USA, Inc. to talk about Sauer’s history, its vast range of high-pressure compressors and its promise to deliver the ultimate customer journey in partnership with distributors through training and continued education.
Backed by decades of engineering expertise and a proven reputation for reliability, Sauer Compressors USA, Inc. provides complete medium- and high-pressure air and gas compression solutions to markets including defense, power generation, oil and gas, CNG, power distribution, research and development, aviation, metallurgy, safety and commercial shipping.
In June 2026, Bill Smith, Sales Manager, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine, visited the Sauer Compressors USA, Inc.’s Headquarters and spoke with Don Eaton, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, as part of this magazine’s executive leadership interview series. In this interview, we learn about Eaton’s career with Sauer Compressors USA, Inc., the company's history, recent strategic investments and the importance of distributor partnerships in the medium- and high-pressure air compressor industry.
Best Practices: Tell us about your background and what led to your career at Sauer.
Don Eaton: I grew up in York County, PA, and attended Penn State University. In 2006, my former boss had been hired as the CEO of Sauer Compressors USA, Inc. He was looking for someone to help build the business, and I was looking for my next opportunity. The timing was perfect, so I moved to Maryland and joined his team of 11 employees. I started as General Manager, and I was involved in nearly every aspect of the business, with a strong focus on sales and operations. Five years later, I was appointed as the President and CEO and have been driving the North American segment of the Sauer Compressors Group ever since. As we have grown to nearly 150 employees, I want to continue to build a culture where people enjoy what they do and are proud to be part of the company.
Best Practices: Can you tell us about Sauer Compressors’ history?
Don Eaton: The Sauer Group was founded in 1884 as a brass foundry and began manufacturing air compressors in the 1930s. Sauer Compressors USA, Inc. was established in 1998 after Sauer was awarded the contract to replace all the high-pressure air compressors (HPACs) for the United States Naval Aircraft Carrier Program. As part of the contract, Sauer was required to provide a U.S.-based company that could supply local parts, service and technical support for mission-critical equipment aboard naval vessels. The success of that initial program became the foundation of Sauer USA. Today, we continue to support the United States Navy and Department of Defense through a dedicated team focused on defense contracts, ensuring mission-critical air compressors remain operational throughout their service life.
Best Practices: How did the company expand and attract industrial customers?
Don Eaton: In 2008, we were ready to diversify and strategically targeted the industrial markets. We were well known in the Navy, and people assumed since the air compressors were complex and robust, that they were only suitable for defense applications. With a small team, we were able to get into the right conversations and prove to the industry that our air compressors could fit into just about any application that fell within our pressure range.
In 2016, we established Sauer Compressors Mexico. We recognized the importance of having a local presence with a team that understood the market, the culture and the needs of our customers. We continued that strategy in 2020 with the opening of Sauer Compressors Canada, where growing naval opportunities make the region an important part of our long-term growth plan.
A Strategy for Compressed Air Success in North America
Best Practices: What can you tell us about Sauer's recent global rebranding and commitment to the compressed air industry?
Don Eaton: We now have one unified brand, including a new logo and consistent messaging. While we are part of the Group, Sauer Compressors USA, Inc. is still a U.S.-based company. We will continue to have the customer support that the industry has come to expect from us, while being able to take advantage of the resources that the Group can offer.
We continue to grow year after year, and we are making strategic investments to better support our customers. For example, we are in the process of expanding our test bay to increase our in-house testing capabilities with higher capacities and unique gases. The construction will be done by the end of this year. Over the next few years, we will continue investing in additional infrastructure, personnel and resources. All our decisions are driven by our mission to provide the ultimate customer journey.
Best Practices: What can you tell us about Sauer's global leadership team?
Don Eaton: We are a privately held third-generation family-owned business. It is important that we preserve the values and culture that have made us successful in the past while making strategic decisions that can take us to the next level in the future. The Group’s corporate leadership gives Sauer USA the freedom to drive growth for North America.
Best Practices: Tell us about your portfolio of industrial air compressor technology.
Don Eaton: We specialize in medium- and high-pressure air and gas compressors ranging from 100 psig to 7,250 psig (7 to 500 barg). Our portfolio includes oil-lubricated, oil-free, air-cooled and water-cooled compressors that can be supplied as individual compressor blocks or as fully integrated systems. Many of our OEM partners purchase compressor blocks to incorporate into their own equipment, while other customers rely on us to deliver complete engineered solutions. These systems can include weather- or sound-dampening enclosures, specialized controls and other application-specific features.
Best Practices: Describe Sauer USA’s headquarters in Stevensville, MD.
Don Eaton: Our campus is situated on the shores of the Chesapeake, just beyond the Bay Bridge as you enter Maryland's Eastern Shore. Our business is built around delivering air and gas compressor solutions tailored to each customer's application. While the compressor blocks are manufactured in Germany, we maintain local inventory here. We also have a significant inventory of spare parts on hand so we can respond quickly to customer needs.
Our in-house engineering, drafting and design teams work closely with customers to develop custom air and gas compressor packages that meet their exact specifications. Every system is thoroughly tested before shipment, and our service network across North America provides ongoing support to ensure continuous operation throughout the life of the equipment.
Best Practices: Sauer has a rental hub in Logan, Utah. Why did you open that facility, and what does it mean to have a new location with a vast rental fleet?
Don Eaton: Rental equipment allows us to respond when customers face unexpected equipment failures or urgent operational needs, making us a stronger partner when time is critical. While we successfully managed rentals from Maryland for many years, we realized that we needed a more direct route to get rental equipment to our customers in the western U.S. faster.
The shorter delivery times help minimize customer downtime, keep operations running and ensure we are there when our customers need us most. While the facility supports our long-term growth, its greatest value is improving the level of service and responsiveness we can provide.
Best Practices: What trends drive the high-pressure air compressor market? What are plants asking for?
Don Eaton: Reliability and up-time are the foundation of everything we do because that is what our customers value most. They need equipment that performs consistently throughout its service life. As investment continues across the United States in areas such as power generation, naval expansion and industrial infrastructure, the demand for dependable air compressors continues to grow.
Regardless of the industry or application, our customers expect equipment that delivers exceptional reliability, operates continuously between scheduled maintenance intervals and keeps their operations running without interruption. That is the standard we strive to achieve every day.
Training Compressed Air System Sales and Service Companies
Best Practices: What are you looking for when you bring on a new distributor?
Don Eaton: We look for partners that want to expand their portfolio by entering the medium- and high-pressure air compressor market. For many distributors, this represents an opportunity to diversify their business while generating recurring lifetime revenue through equipment sales, spare parts, service and long-term customer support.
Because many of our partners have traditionally focused on low-pressure compressed air systems, we invest heavily in education and training. We provide sales and service training, introduce them to the industries and applications we serve and equip them with technical knowledge and confidence to identify new opportunities. Rather than just adding a product line, we work alongside our distributors as true partners, helping them build expertise, grow their business and deliver lasting value to their customers.
Best Practices: How does Sauer provide high-pressure air compressor service training?
Don Eaton: Training is a key part of how we support our distributor network. When a distributor begins selling a particular air compressor model or series, we provide specialized training so their service technicians can confidently maintain and support that equipment. Training is offered at our dedicated training center in Maryland or at the distributor's location. At the end of the course, technicians receive certification for the specific air compressor series they have been trained to service.
Depending on the model, training typically lasts three to four days and combines classroom instruction with extensive hands-on experience. Even after certification, our technical support team is available to answer questions and assist with troubleshooting in the field. Our goal is to give distributors both the knowledge and the ongoing support they need to provide exceptional service throughout the life of the equipment.
For more information, visit https://www.sauerusa.com.
Further Reading - The CABP Interview Series
- Ring Power Director of Power Systems Brian Cholmondeley and Vice President Roger Adkins
- Hitachi Global Air Power President and CEO John Randall
- FS-Elliott CEO Everson De Campos
Visit our Webinar Archives to listen to expert presentations on Air Compressor Technology at https://www.airbestpractices.com/webinars.
