04.10.2006

New President for Genie

Terex has appointed Tim Ford as president of its Terex Aerial Work Platforms business. Largely Genie aerials and telehandlers.

Ford will be based at Terex HQ in Westport, Connecticut and will report directly to chairman and chief executive officer, Ronald M. DeFeo. He will also report to Bob Wilkerson until the end of the year.
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Tim Ford

Wilkerson, one of the founders of Genie Industries, has been serving as president of Terex Aerial Work Platforms since the Terex acquisition and will continue with the company reporting to DeFeo. In his new role he will help with customer and other growth initiatives.

“I am pleased to welcome Tim to this critical leadership role where he will be a key contributor to the future success of Terex. His demonstrated leadership ability and experience with implementing lean initiatives will be instrumental in further expanding the global footprint of the Terex Aerial Work Platforms segment and continuing to drive down costs.

Tim also has the right personality to take charge of Genie and the rest of the AWP segment, as he is a great people person and a strong customer advocate.” Said De Feo.

Ford was most recently executive vice president of the Toro Company, a $1.8 billion producer of lawn and ground-care equipment. Before that he held various senior management positions with Honeywell International and began his career at General Electric.

It is not absolutely clear what precise role Wilkerson will play going forward, although he has increasingly been helping other Terex companies improve their efficiency and become more Genie- like.

Commenting on Wilkerson’s changing role, DeFeo said, “Bob has been a team member of Genie for 35 years and the leader of the organization for most of this time. He has had a remarkable record of business building and has been the driving force in the success of Genie since its acquisition by Terex".

"The entire Terex organization is appreciative of his efforts. However, Bob is not leaving Terex. He will be focusing on new and special initiatives throughout the Company to help Terex on our continuous improvement journey.”

Vertikal Comment

Terex has been easing Bob Wilkerson gently out of Genie over the past two years or so, as it looked to ensure a very orderly succession.

Genie has been a fantastic acquisition for Terex, which along with Demag cranes has helped transform the group from a "pile it high sell it cheap" format to one that is more quality and engineering orientated.

Terex paid $75 million for Genie in 2002, and assumed a good deal of the company's debt and contingent liabilities. The three owners, Bob Wilkerson, Roger Brown and Ward Buhsnell all remained on board as part of the deal, a distinct departure from previous Terex acquisitions.

Wilkerson has increasingly become involved with the Terex group as a whole, as DeFeo looked to extend the Genie philiosophy into other parts of the business. In May 2004 he was given the additional responsibility of overseeing and accelerating the Terex Improvement Process. Leaving the day to day management of Genie to its line managers.

Genie has since taken over the Terex telehandler lines, first of all in North America and then in Europe. At one point it looked as though Terex was becoming more and more Genie blue than Terex white.

One assumes that this latest move cements the transition of Genie into Terex, while allowing Wilkerson to step up his efforts to instill Genie business practices into other parts of the company?