Stellar Announces Management Appointments, NTEA Status

GARNER, Iowa. – Stellar Industries recently announced several appointments to the company’s management staff and also announced that it is among the first wave of companies to achieve Member Verification Program (MVP) Status with the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA).

Among the staff appointments was David Backus who was named chief financial officer for Stellar. Backus was previously a financial consultant for two years and, prior to that, was vice president of finance for the Knapheid Mfg. Co. for seven years. Backus will be responsible for overall financial management, strategic and financial planning, financial and cost accounting, treasury and risk management.

“I’m most looking forward to contributing to a growing company, such as Stellar Industries,” Backus says. “I find my biggest challenge will be providing the necessary financial leadership as Stellar grows to the next level as a world class manufacturing company specializing in hydraulic truck equipment.”

Stellar also named a new operations manager recently, with the promotion of Steve Schnieders. Schnieders was previously the engineering manager for the company where he oversaw management of technical and service-related areas, such as design engineering, research and development, customer service and inspection. Schnieder’s new responsibilities will involve overseeing management of all areas of manufacturing to ensure all products are properly approved, manufactured on schedule and fall within Stellar’s quality standards and cost objectives.

“I’m looking forward to meeting and working with everyone involved in the manufacturing process here at Stellar,” Schnieders says. “I also look forward to fostering a healthy team culture favorable to the organization and to each employee. This will also be my biggest challenge – creating a personal relationship with each employee and providing them with timely information so they understand the impact of their position on the organization.”

Filling Schnieders’ previous position is Matt Schroeder who has taken on the engineering manager position at Stellar. Schroeder will oversee the technical and service-related areas that include design engineering, research and development and inspection. These three departments are responsible for designing, testing and inspecting all Stellar Industries products. Schneiders has been with Stellar for 18 months as a design engineer.

Rounding out Stellar’s recent staff appointments is Sean Moran who was named sales and marketing manager for the company. Moran has experience in the truck equipment industry and has a background in business development, marketing communications, product management and dealer programming. Moran’s new responsibilities will involve overseeing Stellar’s entire sales and marketing efforts and continuing to build the company’s business profitability by focusing on customer support and providing innovative, cost-effective solutions to meet customers’ needs.

“I’m looking forward to working with an outstanding, team-based organization that Stellar has developed over the past 15 years,” Moran says. “I’m also looking forward to developing stronger relationships with Stellar’s distribution channel and end-user customer. My biggest challenge will be keeping pace with Stellar’s expectations of ourselves. The organization is committed to service the customer and as we grow, we need to be sure not to dilute our focus nor our ability to deliver on that expectation.”