In-Sink: It’s always about the team

Dean Sink

By Dean Sink, Executive Chairman
This will be my last ?In-Sink? column in The Mickey Spirit. Going forward, this space will be occupied by the observations of Matt Sink, the recently appointed CEO of Mickey Truck Bodies. Aptly, his column will be called ?In-Sink 2.0.?

I?ve been writing this column six times a year for the better part of three decades. (Believe it or not, that?s how long we?ve been publishing The Mickey Spirit.) During that time, I?ve addressed many topics: corporate growth and challenges, the role of technology in manufacturing, community relations, customer trends. Pretty much everything but politics and religion ? I save those conversations for the dinner table, and even then I?m a little reluctant. But the subject I have written about most often ? my favorite subject ? is the Mickey team. So, it?s only fitting I dedicate my final In-Sink column to that very subject.

It?s not only my column that I?m handing over; I?m also handing over the day-to-day operations of Mickey to an outstanding new leadership team. Matt, our new CEO, literally grew up in this company. He worked various jobs here throughout high school and college and officially joined Mickey full-time in 2007. Since then he has headed several core teams at the company from HR to all manufacturing operations. Along the way he was mentored by some of the all-time Mickey greats. Matt knows our people, our products, our processes. In other words, The Mickey Way.

Tom Arland, our new President, has over 30 years? experience in the transportation industry. He joined Mickey in 2012 as VP Corporate Sales and under his watch company sales across all product lines and services have grown year over year at record levels, and so has our customer satisfaction. Prior to Mickey, Tom spent 25 years guiding a multi-million-dollar business unit for Ryder Systems, Inc. As one of our corporate leaders, Tom has always worked closely with our team leads across all areas of the company, and has played a major role in improving our operational efficiency. He is uniquely qualified to lead Mickey Truck Bodies as we enter a new decade.

Martin Skurka is the newest member of our senior leadership group. He came on board last year as Director of Engineering and immediately went to work enhancing our systems and processes. He is now Vice President of Operations responsible for engineering, manufacturing and purchasing & materials management. Martin is an experienced mechanical engineering and operations executive with excellent communications and team building skills. And he listens. He listens for ideas, suggestions, observations. If someone has a better way, Martin is all ears. He doesn?t just have an open-door policy; he has an open-mind policy.

We are experiencing record growth at Mickey and have aggressive plans in place for future growth and expansion. We?re in great hands with Matt, Tom and Martin. Believe me, they possess the 3D?s to succeed ? Desire, Determination, Dedication.

As for me, maybe I?ll write a guest column for The Mickey Spirit from time to time. But in the meantime, I?ll be working with Carl Mickey, Chairman of Mickey Ventures & Holdings, and Greg Fisher, President & CEO of MV&H, exploring opportunities for the long-term growth of all the Mickey holdings. There is no retirement in my future, just a different role and responsibilities. Stay tuned.