Photo courtesy of Hoffman Equipment
Hoffman Equipment Chief Executive Officer Tim Watters (L) and new Hoffman Equipment President Ryan Sherwood.
Hoffman Equipment, with locations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, has brought on Ryan Sherwood as the 104-year-old company's new president.
With his hire, former Hoffman President Tim Watters can now dedicate his time to concentrating solely on his duties as the company's chief executive officer.
The heavy equipment distribution company sells and rents Volvo, JCB, Manitowoc, Grove, National Crane, Yanmar-ASV, ASTEC, NPK, ShuttleWagon, Bobcat Portable Power Air and Case
Sherwood, a 25-year veteran of the industry, brings to Hoffman an impressive resume of several stints with companies affiliated with Volvo and its various divisions.
It was because of Sherwood's wealth of accumulated experience that Watters chose him as his replacement in the president's office.
Sherwood's strong connection to Volvo (Hoffman's most important brand) undoubtedly made him an attractive candidate for the role. But his experience from working in so many different areas of the industry will provide the company with a fresh perspective.
"I think I'll bring fresh eyes coming in and that is a healthy thing," Sherwood said. "Plus, I will learn a lot from Tim [Watters], which, in turn, will help me. I also bring my connections with Volvo, although Tim already has a good relationship with the manufacturer, but I also know pretty much everyone in that equation and have a long history with them."
Sherwood began in the construction industry in 2000 as business manager for the Northeast region of L.B. Smith Inc. in Camp Hill, Pa., at the time one of the East Coast's leading equipment dealerships and the largest Volvo CE distributor in North America.
Among his duties were overseeing credit and collections, financial planning, billing and inventory management for L.B. Smith's 22 branches from Virginia to New York.
When Volvo CE purchased L.B. Smith in May 2003, Sherwood continued on as the new, Volvo owned company's financial controller for another two years.
L.B. Smith later became known as Penn-Jersey Machinery and morphed into a subsidiary of Volvo North America. Once again, Sherwood came with the deal and was its chief financial officer until May 2007.
"From there, I went to Volvo proper as a distribution manager in Asheville, N.C., in 2007 and 2008," he said. "I also worked as Volvo's director of owned distribution sales services where I oversaw everything but sales until July 2010."
Then, Sherwood worked several years as executive vice president and CFO of Arrow Truck Sales, a subsidiary of Volvo Group Trucks North America.
But in February 2017, he was on the move again, this time to Shippensburg, Pa., to take on the job of vice president of retail development of Volvo Construction North America, a job he said, "entailed managing dealer development, re-marketing services and the dealership that Volvo CE owned in North America, located in California."
It was his last position before accepting the position as Hoffman's new president earlier this year.
"What made the offer appealing to me is that I love this dealership," Sherwood said. "Many of the people here were part of Penn-Jersey, which Hoffman Equipment acquired in November 2018. I knew many of them from back in the day when I was CFO at that company.
"I got to know Tim in that job with Volvo when he showed an interest in purchasing Penn-Jersey," he added.
When asked if Watters came to him about becoming president of Hoffman Equipment, Sherwood laughed and said, somewhat unsure, "Yeah, I think he did.
"We were talking about that just the other day," he added. "I think I may have put a bug into his ear about it, but, yeah, I think he approached me."
Currently, Sherwood is still in the process of moving to Hoffman's headquarters in Piscataway, N.J., from central Pennsylvania.
He is excited to get there and settle in with the company culture, which he describes from a newcomer's point of view as being "extremely strong and tight." In addition, he would not have accepted the position if Hoffman Equipment was not such a vibrant dealership.
"From what I have seen, they have talented people with a lot of industry experience," Sherwood said. "I also think they take good care of the customer after the fact and are aggressive in their sales approach, which is reflected in their performance.
"I really like, trust, and respect Tim Watters and enjoy his company, plus I think his is a well-run dealership."
His own vast amount of industry experience will likely prove invaluable to Watters in allowing him to focus more attention on the big picture issues at Hoffman.
"He knows so many people and it will become easier for him to get out there once I learn what I am doing," he added.
"I really look forward to working with Ryan here at Hoffman," said Watters. "His wealth of experience at both the distribution side and the manufacturing side of the industry set him apart as a truly unique candidate with an unmatched skill set that is perfect for this position. Furthermore, he already knows many of our people and even some customers that remain from his tenure here in the early 2000s." CEG
Today's top stories
