Manitowoc Company appoints Aaron Ravenscroft as new CEO

Milwaukee-based The Manitowoc Company, Inc. has appointed Aaron Ravenscroft its new president and chief executive officer, the company announced Wednesday. Ravenscroft was the executive vice president of cranes for Manitowoc, a global manufacturer of cranes and lifting solutions. He will also become a member of the board of directors, according to a press release.

Ravenscroft succeeds Barry Pennypacker, who is stepping down from his role as president and chief executive officer and as a member of the board as part of the company’s leadership transition plan. However, Pennypacker will continue to serve the company in an advisory role through Dec. 31, 2020. Founded in 1902, Manitowoc is global provider of engineered lifting solutions. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Manitowoc designs, manufactures, markets and supports product lines of mobile telescopic cranes, tower cranes, lattice-boom crawler cranes and boom trucks. The company operates its products under Grove, Manitowoc, National Crane, Potain, Shuttlelift and Manitowoc Crane the brand names. In 2019, Manitowoc's net sales were approximately $1.83 billion, according to the manufacturer's website. Ravenscroft joined Manitowoc in 2016 and has been responsible for the company’s cranes business globally, including the Mobile and Tower cranes businesses. As executive vice president of cranes, Ravenscroft led efforts to improve product quality and customer service while enhancing operational efficiency and profitability. “Manitowoc has established itself as a global manufacturing leader of cranes and lifting solutions, and it is an honor to assume the role of CEO during this important time in its history,” Ravenscroft said in a statement. “We have the financial flexibility to continue to weather this difficult period, and at the same time, we are taking the steps necessary to ensure we can achieve further margin expansion and profitability as global markets recover.” In addition to his knowledge of Manitowoc’s core business, Ravenscroft has more than 17 years of operational, sales and marketing knowledge as well as international leadership experience in the industrial and engineered equipment products space, to the position of CEO. Prior to joining Manitowoc, Ravenscroft served for three years as the regional managing director at Weir Group, a British engineering provider focused on mining, oil and gas, and power solutions. Ravenscroft also previously served as president of the Process Flow Control Group at Robbins & Myers. He also served as regional vice president of the Industrial Products Group for Gardner Denver from 2008 to 2011 and a series of positions at Wabtec from 2003 to 2008. “With his mix of skills, experience and knowledge of the company, the board is confident that Aaron is the right person to not only continue to lead Manitowoc through this unprecedented global crisis, but toward a global market recovery and a new phase of growth and development,” board chairman Kenneth Krueger said in a statement.