This
article was published in the March 2024 edition of NTEA News.
NTEA
welcomed four newly-elected members to its 2024–2025 Board of Directors. The
Association is governed by its Bylaws under the leadership of this
member-elected Board. Each Director completes a three-year term.
Newly-elected
Board members
Tim
Davison
Vice
President of Sales and Marketing
Stellar
Industries Inc.
Garner,
Iowa
NTEA
member since 1990
Currently
the vice president of sales and marketing for Stellar Industries Inc., Tim’s
entire 33-year career has been in the work truck industry. He has a broad range
of sales, product and marketing experience at a variety of companies, including
IMT, Dura Glass Inc., Palfinger and Stellar, where he’s been for more than 20
years.
Tim has a bachelor’s in business administration from Mankato State University. In
recent years, he has focused on helping his local high school and community
college in creating a weld lab, and donating work truck equipment to help
skilled trades students understand how commercial vehicles can help them be
more productive. He is a member of Grace Evangelical Church.
He
notes the industry has challenges ahead that will need manufacturers and
distributors to work together to solve, and he looks forward to helping the
industry navigate those challenges. Tim highlighted some unique events and
government regulations affecting both manufacturers and distributors, such as
customer buying habit changes coming out of the pandemic resulting in more
online and direct buying behaviors, and the push for electric vehicles (EVs) in
the work truck space. He feels he can bring insights into how other countries
and industries are experiencing similar changes and help NTEA members navigate
these issues to better serve customers.
He
believes the Association will be crucial in helping members navigate upcoming
government regulations, ensuring distributor relevance to customers as they
change their buying habits, and helping manufacturers break paradigms to design
world-class products to help customers be more productive.
Industry
issues of great significance
- Government EV commercial vehicle
mandates: As state and federal governments mandate greater EV truck usage,
members will need help understanding the regulations, and how to design and
upfit products of these new chassis.
- Increasingly direct buying habits: As
customers choose to buy on a more direct channel, we need to help the local
distributor understand how they can remain relevant to the local customer.
- Designing world-class products:
Limiting North American customers to materials and designs traditionally from
North America is cutting them short on opportunities to have lighter, stronger
and more productive products.
Emily
Riggs Korns
President
J&J
Truck Bodies & Trailers
Somerset,
Pennsylvania
NTEA
member since 1972
Emily
grew up at J&J. Her first job was counting bolts in the warehouse and
stuffing direct mail envelopes. She’s held administrative roles at J&J and
served on the Board for 15 years. Most of her career was in consumer packaged
goods and healthcare marketing, communications and business development
executive positions, including two Fortune 500 companies, Mars Inc. and Nestle.
Since 2022, she has served as J&J president and co-owns parent company,
Riggs Industries.
She
has a University of Pittsburgh bachelor of science and a Katz School of
Business master’s in business administration. She is a member of three
occupational education advisory boards in the Somerset community — for the
vo-tech campus, school district and community college. Emily also serves on the
boards of the local Boys & Girls Club and Chamber of Commerce, and the
Regional NIST MEP Center. She also owns Uptown Works, a co-working and
entrepreneurship hub in Somerset.
Emily
shares J&J has been an NTEA member for over 50 years, and values the
leadership and resources the Association brings to its membership. She feels
her non-traditional career path provides a unique perspective to the Board. On
a personal level, it gives her team great pride to see a third-generation
J&J owner on the Board, and is a tribute to of her late father, Bill Riggs,
and his life’s work.
NTEA
helps leaders in the work truck industry adapt to change, she adds. The world
keeps evolving, from geopolitical influences, to technological advancements and
supply chain management. Many businesses in this industry are small to
medium-sized, privately-held companies that don’t have massive budgets to
employ researchers, strategists and consultants to help navigate, and she sees
NTEA continuing as an expert resource and facilitator for adaptation.
Industry
issues of great significance
- Workforce development: Identifying
opportunities for manufacturers and upfitters to invest in attracting untapped
talent; for OEMs and upfitters to work more collaboratively to make builds
easier; and for increased investment in training and automation.
- Regulatory: NTEA can help members have
better conversations with OEMs, legislators and customers, so we can be
proactive, not reactive.
- Generational transitions: Many NTEA
member companies are family-owned, which presents unique challenges and
opportunities for the industry moving forward. NTEA could have a role in
providing a supportive community for family transitions and planning.
Andy
Peter
Vice
President
Meyer
Truck Equipment
Evansville,
Indiana
NTEA
member since 2014
Andy
is a 15-year veteran of the work truck industry and with Meyer Truck Equipment,
where he’s served as general manager and vice president. He oversees HR,
marketing and financial activities; has been involved in purchasing two truck
equipment/accessory companies; implemented a new computer system; and
administered and developed a companywide PEO program for all employees.
Andy
has a bachelor’s in agriculture economics from Purdue University. He is involved
with the Evansville Christian School Board as part of the executive team
(secretary) and the Warrick Trails Board, which seeks grants and fundraising to
build trails/paths to connect schools, neighborhoods and communities. He is
also an elementary and middle school soccer and track coach.
Andy
notes that NTEA has offered a platform for his 85-year-old company — Meyer
Truck Equipment — to network with peers and customers, be better informed of
industry news and become a better truck equipment upfitter. He feels joining
NTEA’s Board of Directors is the ultimate way to give back to an industry that
has served his company for the past eight decades.
In
the future, Andy said he would like to see the Association continuing to build
on the great work done by the past Board leaders. Additionally, he said it will
be vital for the Association to foster a “learn from each other” environment
for the industry to efficiently solve fluctuating challenges. NTEA must
continue to develop initiatives for community learning, information sharing and
data collection.
Industry
issues of great significance
- Managing and retaining a smaller,
younger workforce.
- Helping upfitters stay directly
connected with OEMs’ ever-changing manufacturing practices and specs.
- Training staff on selling, installing
and being able to confidently advise customers of capabilities.
Shane
Woodman
Global
Sales Director
Onspot
of North America Inc.
North
Vernon, Indiana
NTEA
member since 1997
An
11-year veteran of the work truck industry, Shane is global sales director for
Onspot, where he oversees all sales on a global scale. Previously he served the
organization as OEM sales manager and North American sales manager. Prior to
joining Onspot in 2016, he worked for Muncie Power Products as Northeast region
sales manager.
Shane
has a bachelor’s in business management from Pennsylvania State University and
a master’s in business administration from Walden University. Additional
education includes an executive program in industrial management from KTH Royal
Institute of Technology and sustainability within industrial production program
from University West. He is on the executive committee for Magnolia Green
Community and is involved in the Chesterfield County First Tee.
Shane
notes that NTEA has been instrumental in shaping his career within the
industry, opening doors that would have otherwise remained closed. He served on
the Generation Next Board of Governors from 2015–2020 (he was chair in 2019).
This role afforded him insight into the vast potential of the industry,
contributing significantly to both his personal and professional development.
Regarding
Board service, he is eager to reciprocate the invaluable support NTEA has
provided him. Given the pervasive presence of this industry in daily lives, he
sees it as an honor to contribute to shaping its future and paving the way for
generations to come.
Shane
envisions the Association as a catalyst for assisting young professionals in
building their careers in a purposeful and impactful manner and aspires to play
a key role in attracting and recruiting talent from various industries.
Industry
issues of great significance
-
Attracting, recruiting and retaining
young talent remains a recurrent theme and should be prioritized.
- The shift toward electrification
appears imminent, but given our existing infrastructure, the path for managing
fleets in the future seems unclear.
- The rapid pace of technological
advancement is clear, especially with new technologies being integrated into
work trucks driven by both regulations and customer demands. The question
arises: Who plays the role of the catalyst in informing and training technicians
to adapt to these changes?
2024–2025
NTEA Board
Serving
on the Board’s Executive Committee are:
- Chair Jason Ritchey, President/Owner,
Curry Supply Co. (Altoona, Pennsylvania)
- First Vice Chair Ben Winter, Vice
President of Business Development, Transfer Flow (Chico, California)
- Second Vice Chair and Treasurer Rick
Albertini, President & CEO, Phenix Truck & Van (Pomona, California)
- Third Vice Chair and Treasurer TJ
Blandford, CEO, Woodbine Manufacturing Co. (Woodbine, Iowa)
- Secretary Steve Carey, President &
CEO, NTEA (Farmington Hills, Michigan)
Serving
on the Board as Directors are:
- Tim Davison, Vice President of Sales
and Marketing, Stellar Industries Inc. (Garner, Iowa)
- Marc Ellison, Director, InterMotive
Vehicle Controls (Auburn, California)
- Emily Riggs Korns, President, J&J
Truck Bodies & Trailers (Somerset, Pennsylvania)
- Joe Lewis, Vice President, CM Truck
Beds (Kingston, Oklahoma)
- Todd Mouw, Executive Vice President,
ROUSH CleanTech (Livonia, Michigan)
- Andy Peter, Vice President, Meyer
Truck Equipment (Evansville, Indiana)
- Brian Tabel, Assistant Vice President
of Marketing, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. (Anaheim, California)
- Shane Woodman, Global Sales Director,
Onspot of North America Inc. (North Vernon, Indiana)
- Dave Zelis, Vice President of Strategy
and Development, Buyers Products Company (Mentor, Ohio)
View
a complete list of Board members at ntea.com/board.