James W. Shoemaker Jr., president of Morbark LLC, retired after 13 years with the company.
“My job is complete,” Shoemaker says. “When I became president, I had a mission: to regain market share and increase profitability for Morbark, and then to prepare the company for sale. The team at Morbark reacted splendidly, and we successfully regained market share and enhanced our profitability. My intention all along was, once the company was sold, to retire and let the new management take charge, and that’s what I’m doing.”
Stellex Capital Management acquired Morbark earlier this year. Shoemaker started working with Stellex in September 2015 and agreed to stay on as president for a few months to assist with the transition. He plans to stay involved with Morbark in a consulting capacity.
“Jim Shoemaker provided strong leadership to Morbark during the past five years and contributed greatly to the company’s growth,” says Dan Ruskin, Morbark CEO. “It’s been an honor to work with him, and we’re all grateful for his contributions and assistance during the transition. He has worked tirelessly to support this company and its customers, dealers and employees, as well as the manufacturing industry as a whole.”
Shoemaker joined Morbark in 2003 as director of operations before being promoted to vice president of operations. He was appointed president in 2011.