New Leadership for Bobcat

WEST FARGO, N.D. — Mike Ryan of Rochester Hills, Mich., has been named president of Bobcat Company, West Fargo, N.D., a unit of Ingersoll-Rand. He succeeds Jim Sharp, who recently became president of Ingersoll-Rand’s construction equipment business in Davidson, N.C. Chris Vasiloff, president of the IR Infrastructure Sector, announced the appointment Jan. 23 at Bobcat headquarters in West Fargo.

“Mike has grown businesses domestically and internationally while demonstrating the ability to successfully introduce process improvement, deploy lean manufacturing and improve quality in his organizations,” Vasiloff noted. “These skills, coupled with his collaborative leadership style, will provide the Bobcat compact equipment business with the guidance to achieve its ambitious and profitable growth plan.”

Ryan comes to Bobcat with an industrial management background, having more than 30 years of experience in companies that include Ford, Masco, United Technologies and Lucas Varity/TRW. He served in key manufacturing, quality improvement and senior general management positions with those companies.  Ryan’s experience included international assignments while he worked for Ford and TRW in the United Kingdom, overseeing the companies’ European operations. Most recently he was executive vice-president of operations for Intermet, a $1 billion publicly traded metal casting business. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, and an MBA from Wayne State University, Detroit.