CEO and chairman
The Foth Companies | De Pere
Randy Homel has worked his way up over 45 years at The Foth Companies, from joining as a mechanical engineering intern in 1979 to being named CEO and chairman of the board in 2013. As leader of the engineering firm, Homel is credited with driving more than 60% growth while maintaining a member retention rate of more than 92%. Headquartered in De Pere, Foth has 650 employees across 29 locations. Homel serves on the Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Board at UW-Madison, his alma mater.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The future of your industry: “The future of our industry is very strong for three reasons. First, the need for engineers and scientists continues to increase. Second, the United States is experiencing a persistent shortage of these professionals, a pattern that is expected to continue. Third, a growing number of our clients are streamlining their in-house engineering teams, opting instead to collaborate with reliable external partners who offer greater capacity and broader experience.“
Favorite Wisconsin destination: “Elkhart Lake – for the area and the racing at Road America.”
Favorite part of the workday: “My favorite time of the workday is late afternoon or evening, which is when I am most efficient. I guess I have always been a night owl.”
Your secret talent: “This is not a secret to people around me, but a secret to my success is relationship building. In fact, that is one of the secrets to Foth’s success: We are very much a people and solutions business, rather than a sales-oriented business.”
