26 heavy-duty aftermarket professionals gathered at Northwood University for the fourth-annual Heavy Duty Leadership education conference. Heavy Duty Leadership is a week-long leadership development program offered by the University of the Aftermarket specifically for mid-career professionals working in the North American commercial vehicle aftermarket.Participants in the year’s class represented a wide range of heavy-duty aftermarket job functions and geographies. Specifically, this year’s class included:
- Raul Arredondo — Johnson Controls
- Matthew Baker — The Parts House/Orlando Truck Parts
- Eric Coffman — Meritor
- Adam Diecks — Point Spring & Driveshaft Co
- Salvador Dominguez — MAHLE Aftermarket Mexico
- Ron Fleischhacker — HDA Truckpride
- Thomas Flicek — Vipar Heavy Duty Inc
- Wendi Frederick — Vipar Heavy Duty Inc
- Grant Garrett — FleetPride
- Dennis Griffin — Federal-Mogul Motorparts
- Russ Gross — Horton Inc
- Julie Hammond — Bridgestone Americas
- Toby Harris — CVG
- Michael Hooks — Horton Inc
- Matthew Jones — Valvoline
- Susan Kalish — Auto Care Association
- Michael Karwowski — Automotive Supply Associates
- Jennifer Kron — Vipar Heavy Duty Inc
- Steve Machen — FleetPride Truck & Trailer
- Jeffrey Malone — Timken Company
- Kenneth Myers — PACCAR
- Ricky Pate — WAI Global
- Keith Peshke — Valvoline
- David Roper — TruckPro Inc
- Mike Van Lente — FleetPride
- Michael Zakutny — TruckPro Inc
The program opened on the evening of Sunday, July 11 at the Sloan Family Building for Aftermarket Studies with a keynote presentation from Accuride CEO Rick Dauch. He spoke to the class about his views of leadership in a changing, competitive commercial vehicle aftermarket, which included anecdotes about real-world leadership challenges. The week included other leadership and industry-focused sessions from faculty drawn from Northwood University’s DeVos Graduate School of Management and leaders in the heavy-duty aftermarket industry.
“This program is truly a collaborative effort between the University and the commercial vehicle aftermarket,” said University of the Aftermarket Director Brian Cruickshank. “Participants gained leadership insight and perspective from not only our own faculty, but from experienced leaders in the commercial vehicle aftermarket as well. We are thrilled that the commercial vehicle aftermarket continues to support this annual program.”
The next Heavy Duty Leadership program is scheduled for July 10-15, 2016.
Graduates earned 3.5 continuing education units that can be applied toward their Automotive Aftermarket Professional (AAP) or Master Automotive Aftermarket Professional (MAAP) designations. To learn more about Heavy Duty Leadership and other University of the Aftermarket programs, call 1-800-551-2882 or visit www.universityoftheaftermarket.com.
