Boston Whaler Leaders

A conversation among Whalers
jimh
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Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Thu May 05, 2016 9:21 am

Huw Bower's tenure as President of Boston Whaler and later President of Boston Whaler Boat Group has ended after just three years. Mr. Bower has been promoted to the position of President of Brunswick Boat Group and will report directly to the Chairman and CEO of Brunswick, Mark Schwabero.

As President of Brunswick Boat Group, Mr. Bower will work from Brunswick headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois, and be in charge of 14 boat brands:

--Boston Whaler
--Brunswick Commercial and Government Products
--Crestliner
--Cypress Cay
--Harris
--Lowe
--Lund
--Meridian
--Princecraft
--Quicksilver
--Rayglass
--Sea Ray
--Uttern

The corporate management will then be be organized as follows:

BRUNSWICK CORPORATION (Mark Schwabero, Chariman and CEO)
--BRUNSWICK BOAT GROUP (Huw Bower, President)
--FRESHWATER BOAT GROUP (Jeff Kinsey, President)
--RECREATION BOAT GROUP (Tim Schiek, President)
--EUROPEAN BOAT GROUP (Donald Dubois, President)
--BOSTON WHALER BOAT GROUP (new head to be announced later)


(The exact organization of the various boat brands into the four groups is not known to me with certainty. If anyone has more information on that structure, please inform us.)

In 2014 Brunswick re-organized its management structure and eliminated the position of President, BRUNSWICK BOAT GROUP, and Andrew Graves, who was then in that position, left the company. It appears that the position of President, BRUNSWICK BOAT GROUP, has now been re-created with Mr. Bower's promotion to that position.

To recap a bit, the head of Boston Whaler in the recent past has been:

--Michael S. Myers, 1998 to 2005, who then in 2005 became President, SALTWATER BOAT GROUP, and later left Brunswick to become president of Bertram Yachts (for what has been described as "a short tenure" in that position, unfortunately around the time of the somewhat infamous "catastrophic delamination" of a 63-foot new Bertam yacht very soon after it was delivered).

--John Ward, 2005 to 2011; Mr. Ward then became senior vice president of global sales and marketing for the Hatteras and Cabo boats division in New Bern, North Carolina, which were later sold off by Brunswick; Mr. Ward remained with Hatteras and Cabo as its President and CEO;

--Timothy M. Scheik, 2011 to 2013; Mr. Sheik then became President of Sea-Ray and later President of the Recreation Boat Group;

--Huw Bower, 2013 to 2016; as announced above, Mr. Bower became President of the Brunswick Boat Group.

I was searching for more historical data on who has been president of Boston Whaler, but prior to 1998 I couldn't find much. If anyone has a better memory or better data, it would be interesting to go back further in history to see that chain of command progression at Whaler.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Thu May 05, 2016 10:29 am

It is also interesting to observe that among the heads of the Brunswick boat units, two leaders have some military experience.

Mr. Huw Bower was a captain in the British Army and served in the British Royal Marine Commando Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Jeff Kinsey was a aviator in the U.S. Navy and few SB3 aircraft from an aircraft carrier before becoming a liaison officer to the White House.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leader Promoted

Postby jimh » Sat May 07, 2016 12:52 pm

In the case of Mr. Bower, he received an MBA from the Harvard Business School after he separated from the British Army. He then worked in several management positions with other boat building brands. While Mr. Bower was leading Boston Whaler, the brand's sales increased, the number of models available increased, many new models with larger hulls and vastly more complicated structures than ever before were introduced, and all this took place in a period when boat sales in general were declining. In a contracting market, Boston Whaler expanded and grew. Maybe that counts for something.

While it is possible to form a judgement that Mr. Bower left the military without "much actual business experience," as [was asserted in a post that I have since deleted because it was in the main nonsense] , Mr. Bower seems to have done a nice job while in charge of Boston Whaler, and I think that performance probably influenced the decision by Brunswick executive management to promote him to be in charge of all the Brunswick Boat Groups.

Mr. Bower made a presentation at the VMA Manufacturing CEO Leadership Speaker Series. He was asked to give details about himself and his background. I watched the presentation and found it interesting. Here is a link to the recording of the presentation. Scroll-in about 5:40 into the recording to get beyond the usual introductory remarks and to the real substance of the presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuOctMy9cqk

ASIDE: I have no idea what "VMA" stands for, but it appears to be a Florida association of manufacturing executives and managers, and possibly the "V" refers to Volusia County, and "MA" for manufacturing association. I actually could not find any definition on their website.

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Boston Whaler New President Announced

Postby jimh » Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:32 am

Brunswick has recently announced that NICK STICKLER will be the new president of Boston Whaler. He will report to Huw Bower.

Mr. Stickler comes to Boston Whaler from the position of president of Brunswick's Harris and Cypress Cay Pontoon boat operation; he previously was also vice-president of Harris and Cypress Cay. Prior to that he worked in the bowling operations of Brunswick.

Mr. Stickler has earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering (1999) and a master of science and engineering in automotive systems engineering (2003) from The University of Michigan. He has also received a master of business administration degree from The University of Chicago (2005). He has worked for Brunswick since c.2005. Prior to that he worked at Ford Motor Company.

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Re: Recreation Boat Group Eliminated

Postby jimh » Tue Dec 13, 2016 9:49 am

Brunswick announced yesterday that it was eliminating the position of president of the recreational boat group, and Tim Shiek would be leaving the company. The press release said:

LAKE FOREST, Ill. Dec. 12, 2016
To sharpen visibility to the market and create clearer accountability to drive business performance and deliver growth, the Brunswick Boat Group today announced it has realigned the management structure at its Recreational Boat Group, which manufactures and markets Bayliner and Sea Ray boats.

As part of this realignment, Tim Schiek and Scott Kent are leaving the Company to pursue other interests. Respectively, they had served as president - Recreational Boat Group, and chief financial officer - Recreational Boat Group. Neither of these positions will be replaced. While Schiek is leaving immediately, Kent will remain in a transition role reporting to Brunswick Boat Group President Huw Bower.

To further reinforce the category structure introduced earlier this year, Brad Anderson and Scott Ward will report to Bower, and are appointed president and general manager - Sea Ray Sport Boat and Cruisers and president and general manager - Sea Ray Sport Yachts and Yachts, respectively. "Brad and Scott will continue to operate following their current charters: to continue to build upon momentum in the sport boat and cruiser categories, and to improve performance in our yacht business," Bower said.

"The caliber and leadership of this team are well known and the individuals highly regarded in the industry," Bower said. "With thanks and gratitude to both Tim and Scott for their years of service and leadership, the Recreational Boat Group is prepared to move forward to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead."

The new structure, according to Bower, will "deliver sharper focus on the performance of these core brands, drive efficiency across the Recreational Boat Group and further emphasize growth drivers within the Boat Group's portfolio of 16 brands."

Brunswick Boat Group
The Brunswick Boat Group, part of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), includes the Recreation Boat Group, Freshwater Boat Group, the Boston Whaler Group and European Boat Group. Brunswick boat brands include Bayliner, Boston Whaler, Brunswick Commercial and Government Products, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Lowe, Lund, Meridian, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Sea Ray, Thunder Jet and Uttern.


As I noted in an earlier article in this thread, Timothy M. Scheik was president of Boston Whaler from 2011 to 2013, then became President of Sea-Ray and later President of the Recreation Boat Group.

By the way, what does it mean "to sharpen visibility to the market"? If I found out my job was being eliminated and was told the reason was "to sharpen visibility to the market", I'd wonder if I needed to check the lenses in my eyeglasses.

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Former Boston Whaler President Now at NauticStar Boats

Postby jimh » Wed Nov 01, 2017 11:31 am

Timothy Schiek, former Boston Whaler president (2011 to 2013), former Sea Ray president (2014), former president of the Brunswick Recreational Boat Group (2015), who left Brunswick in 2016 when a corporate realignment of the management structure resulted in the elimination of the executive position he held, has now taken a new position as the president of NauticStar boats. A press release gives more details:

MCBC Holdings, the parent entity of MasterCraft Boat Co. and NauticStar, has named Timothy M. Schiek, 49, as the new president of NauticStar. Schiek, a 22-year marine industry veteran, assumes the position of president, NauticStar, and replaces interim president Jim Orbik.

“We are very excited to welcome Tim as the new president of NauticStar," said Terry McNew, MasterCraft and MCBC Holdings’ president and chief executive officer, "Tim is a seasoned marine industry veteran—most recently serving as president of Brunswick’s Recreational Boat Group and Sea Ray. Not only has he successfully run multiple well-known marine brands, he also brings keen financial, operational and dealer relationship experience. His expertise will be invaluable as we work to improve NauticStar’s output, quality and margin, and continue their rapid growth.”

Schiek spent more than 20 years with Brunswick Corporation, serving in a variety of leadership roles. Prior to being president of Recreational Boat Group and Sea Ray — where he led his team in a business transformation — he was president of Brunswick’s Boston Whaler Group, the Fiberglass Fish Boat Category, and before that Harris Kayot.

In addition to his strengths in strategic and financial planning and operations management, Schiek also brings a wealth of knowledge in product development, consumer insights and innovation, and product portfolio management, McNew said.

“NauticStar is a well-respected, expertly built and uniquely positioned brand," Schiek said. "Moreover, it serves two of the fastest growing segments in the boating industry. I look forward to working with their team and leveraging my experience and operational know-how to further grow NauticStar, and ultimately expand their distribution reach. I am committed to capitalizing on the great foundation and brand that Phil Faulkner, founder, built.”

Schiek has a business degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh, and earned his MBA from Marquette University. He is a former board member of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

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Commercial & Government Products Has New Boss

Postby jimh » Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:14 pm

Brunswick Commercial & Government Products (BCGP) announced yesterday that Erik Bon Fleur will be its new general manager. Mr. Bon Fleur will be responsible for day-to-day operations and business activities, reporting to Boston Whaler Group President, Nick Stickler.

Mr. Bon Fleur comes to Commercial & Government Products from being Director of Operations for Thunder Jet, an aluminum boat builder in Washington state. He was also Continuous Improvement Manager for Boston Whaler, and a process engineer at Hatteras Yachts.

Mr. Bon Fleur received a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida, a master's degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida, and an MBA from the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business Administration

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Mark Scwhabero to Retire as Brunswick CEO

Postby jimh » Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:40 pm

Brunswick announced recently that CEO Mark Schwabero will retire at the end of 2018. Mr. Schwabero has been the CEO of Brunswick since 2016.

Mr. Schwabero is a graduate of The Ohio State University and earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in industrial systems and engineering. His pre-Brunswick career included senior engineering and management positions with Navistar International, Allied Signal, Bosch, and Libby-Owens-Ford. He was also CEO of Hendricks International, a manufacturer of heavy truck components

Mr. Schwabero joined Mercury Marine in 2004 as president. In 2014 he was Chief Operating Officer of Brunswick Corporation. and then in 2016 Chief Executive Officer.

Brunswick have also announced that the next CEO of Brunswick Corporation will be David Foulkes. Mr. Foulkes is currently a corporate vice-president, president of Brunswick Marine Consumer Solutions, and Chief Technology Officer.

The Brunswick Marine Consumer Solutions operating division includes
  • Brunswick Boat Group,
  • NAUTIC-ON,
  • Brunswick Marine Services,
  • the Brunswick iJET Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois Research Park and
  • Brunswick's Advanced Design Methods.

Mr. Foulkes has earned a bachelor degree in aeronautics and a master degree in structural and fluid mechanics from Imperial College in London. He was with Ford Motor Company for 18 years, and prior to that with Shell Exploration and the MInistry of Defense (England). He joined Brunswick in 2007 as head of Product Development at Mercury Marine, where he led the development of Mercury outboard engines, including the recently introduced V6 and V8 outboard engines.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:32 am

Huw Bower has notified Brunswick he will resign his position as vice-president of Brunswick and president of the Brunswick Boat Group and leave the company effective September 18, 2020.

Cf.: https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/se ... 000126.pdf

Mr. Bower was previously president at Boston Whaler. Because he was an officer of Brunswick, the company was required to notify investors of this change in senior management in a Securities and Exchange 8K filing.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:22 pm

How Bower has been named president of Winnebago Outdoors. This explains his sudden departure from Brunswick corporation a few weeks ago. The press release follows:

—begin press release—

    Winnebago Industries Announces Huw Bower as President, Winnebago Outdoors

    Bower charged with leading profitable outdoor growth for Winnebago flagship brand;
    Brian Hazelton promoted to Senior Vice President, Winnebago-brand RVs,
    reporting to Bower


    September 25, 2020 09:15 ET | Source: Winnebago Industries, Inc.

    EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Sept. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE:WGO) today announced that it has appointed Huw Bower as President, Winnebago Outdoors, effective October 12, 2020. Mr. Bower will report to President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Happe and will be based in the Company’s Eden Prairie, Minnesota office. Winnebago Industries is a leader and growing parent company in the outdoor lifestyle products arena, with several premium brands in its recreational portfolio – Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar, and Chris-Craft. Bower’s primary responsibilities will include all revenue streams associated with the flagship brand, Winnebago, namely Winnebago-branded recreational and specialty vehicles. The Company will also look to strategically expand the presence of the Winnebago brand in other outdoor lifestyle spaces.

    Bower joins Winnebago Industries after more than 15 years in brand leadership and executive roles at Brunswick Corporation, a global leader in the marine industry. Most recently as President, Boat Group reporting to the CEO of Brunswick, Bower was responsible for that organization’s portfolio of iconic boat brands including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler and Lund, among others. During this time, he gained significant portfolio management experience, accelerated the growth of the boat business, strengthened dealer relationships, and created innovative, high performing teams. Bower was also instrumental through the years in advancing strategic planning and business development activities within Brunswick.

    Winnebago Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Happe commented, “We are extremely excited to have a high-quality leader such as Huw join our executive leadership team. Not only will he add further strength to our motivated management team, his passion for leading premium, differentiated brands will enable Huw to build on the momentum of our flagship brand and advance our leadership position in the outdoor lifestyle industry. His broad experience across the durable goods value chain, combining both operations and product development capabilities with a focus on the consumer, will be immediately accretive. While Huw will drive profitable growth within our Winnebago-branded recreational and specialty vehicles businesses, his knowledge of other outdoor markets will be welcomed as we also explore new revenue opportunities for the Winnebago brand.”

    In addition, it was announced today that Brian Hazelton will assume an expanded role within the Winnebago-brand structure. Hazelton will be promoted to Senior Vice President, Winnebago-brand RVs (both motorhomes and towables), reporting directly to Huw Bower. He will be responsible for all customer-facing areas of the full-line Winnebago RV business - this will include product management, engineering, sales, marketing, and customer service. Under Hazelton’s leadership, the Company will look to drive stronger internal efficiency and incremental value for its channel partners and end consumers by combining its currently separate Winnebago-branded motorhome and towables businesses, while retaining operations in Northern Iowa and Middlebury, Indiana. As a result of these changes, the current leader of the Winnebago-brand towables business, Scott Degnan, will be leaving the organization effective today.

    Happe continued, “Winnebago is the most well-known brand of recreational vehicles in the world, and we believe it is time to bring both the motorhome and towables businesses under that iconic brand together. Brian’s work over the past four years restructuring the Winnebago-brand motorhome business, and building credibility with our important external stakeholders, make him the ideal candidate to drive one full-line business forward in the future. The leadership strengths of Bower and Hazelton are complementary, and their partnership will significantly benefit our business and our customers. We are very appreciative of the work Scott Degnan has done professionally with Winnebago Industries through the years and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”

    The moves announced today by Winnebago Industries do not have any impact on the leadership or operating structure of the Company’s Grand Design, Newmar and Chris-Craft brands. Winnebago Industries will be releasing its Fiscal Year 2020 year-end and fourth quarter results later in October.

    About Winnebago Industries
    Winnebago Industries, Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer of outdoor lifestyle products under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Newmar and Chris-Craft brands, which are used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The Company builds quality motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheel products and boats. Winnebago Industries has multiple facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Florida. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol WGO. For access to Winnebago Industries' investor relations material or to add your name to an automatic email list for Company news releases, visit http://investor.wgo.net.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:07 pm

Brunswick has hired Aine Denari to be the new President of the Brunswick Boat Group, succeeding Huw Bower who left in September 2020.

Ms. Denari's work background includes 20 years in a variety of executive positions within the automotive industry. Since 2014, Denari has worked at ZF AG, most recently as the senior vice president of ZF’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems business, a segment with over $1-billion in total sales. She was also employed at Ford Motor Company for six years in engineering and product planning. Ms. Denari also worked at consulting firms Bain and Co. and McKinsey, and at Ingersoll Rand, an industry products company.

aineDenari_.jpg
MS. Aine Denari, Brunswick photo.
aineDenari_.jpg (32.13 KiB) Viewed 14432 times


Her academic background includes:
  • a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University,
  • a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from the University of Detroit Mercy,
  • a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and
  • a Bachelor's degree from University College in Dublin, Ireland.

The CEO of Brunswick, Dave Foulkes, commented:

As we look to the future, consumer expectations of boating are being set by other leading-edge mobility experiences, and Aine’s deep experience in implementing new technology in the automotive and other industries will help advance our boat group strategy and capabilities, and, in particular, accelerate the implementation of our industry-defining ACES strategy.

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:17 pm

Brunswick named Ms. Yami Hu as Divisional Director, Strategy and Business Development - Advanced Systems Group in May 2020. Previously Ms. Hu was Director of Strategic Planning at Boston Whaler.

Ms. Hu joined Boston Whaler in 2016 in their Leadership Development Program as Manager, Strategy and Business Development.

yami-hu-photo_.jpg
Ms. Yami Hu, Boston Whaler Company photo.
yami-hu-photo_.jpg (25.02 KiB) Viewed 14436 times


In March 2020. Ms. Hu was one of 100 recipients of the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Award from the Manufacturing Institute.

Prior to joining Boston Whaler, Ms. Hu worked for seven years at Caterpillar as Six Sigma Black Belt / Project Manager - Global Mining Division.

Her academic credentials include:
  • a Bachelor of Science/MD from Capital University of Medical Sciences, Bejing, China
  • an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

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Re: Boston Whaler Leaders

Postby jimh » Tue Sep 21, 2021 3:26 pm

Brunswick announced recently that NICK STICKLER, previously President, Boston Whaler since 2016, will now become Vice President of Category Management and Strategic Planning at Mercury Marine, succeeding Kris Neff.

KRIS NEFF, previously Vice President of Category Management and Strategic Planning at Mercury Marine, will now become president of Boston Whaler, succeeding Nick Stickler.

More simply, the two are switching positions in the Brunswick management structure.

krisNeff.jpg
Kris Neff, new President, Boston Whaler. Brunswick photo.
krisNeff.jpg (69.26 KiB) Viewed 10220 times


As the new head of Boston Whaler, Mr. Neff has three University of Michigan degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Masters in Engineering, and an Masters in Business Administration. Neff started his career with Ford Motor Company as a Manufacturing Engineer, and joined Brunswick in 2005.

While with Mercury Marine, Mr. Neff was involved with the development of the VERADO V12 600-HP engine and other innovative products.

Mr. Neff will report to Aine Denari, President, Brunswick Boat Group.