Chief Financial Officer
Park Industries
Park Industries is an award winning, privately held, family-owned manufacturer and distributor of high precision capital equipment used for residential and commercial stone cutting and fabrication. Park employs nearly 350 team members, and has deployed over 18,000 machines to over 5,000 happy customers across North America. With 70 years of rich history, Park was founded in 1953 by Minnesota native, Leon Schlough, after he designed a proprietary hydraulic press leveraged for "splitting" large concrete stone veneer products applied to the exterior of building envelopes. As Schlough's proprietary and highly innovative stone cutting machines became more sophisticated and evolved, so did the outside demand for them. Tom Scholough, son of Leon, acquired Park Industries in 1976 and over 40+ years, successfully led Park through healthy and intelligent growth, prioritizing exceptional customer service and differentiated company culture. Today, Park is very well positioned for its next stage of growth and evolution as Joan Schatz, 17-year veteran of the company, recently assumed the CEO spot and has developed a 5 year strategic growth plan in conjunction with the company's highly talented (and fully independent) Board of Directors. With an incredibly strong balance sheet, and targeted areas of growth opportunity, Joan and the Board seek the company's next Finance Chief to assume the right hand spot to the CEO, and intelligently drive the company's investments into organic and potential inorganic growth initiatives.
A Foundation you can build on
Getting a sense of the foundation that has been built prior to your arrival offers a lens through which you can see where your career may go.
Park Industries
Founded in 1953 by Minnesota native Leon Schlough, Park Industries is the market leader in the niche industry of stone fabrication machinery. Park Industries designs, manufactures, and sells high precision capital equipment used for residential and commercial stone cutting and fabrication. In addition to being a 100% American-based manufacturer, Park is a vertically integrated company giving them complete knowledge and control of operations at all times. As a result of this vertically-integrated model, Park is able to produce the highest-performing machinery along with a world-class service model that is unmatched in the market today.
History
In 1953, Park Industries designed and manufactured its first machine, the Hydraulic Masonry Cutter - known as the Hydrasplit Model 888, a hydraulic press used to split large pieces of stone. As the market grew and evolved, there was a growing need for larger production oriented machines used in quarries and stone manufacturing plants. Later, Park became known for their innovative, superior machinery, and was quickly setting the standard of excellence, becoming the market leader in the stone fabrication industry. After the original founder Leon Schlough, sold the company to his son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Joyce Schlough, they moved to a new facility in St. Cloud, MN, to meet growing customer demand. Fueled by further growth and need for manufacturing efficiency, Park Industries built a second, side-by-side facility in 1999 and have continued to expand these facilities over the years. Throughout their rich history, Park Industries has become the most notable name in the market winning numerous awards including 'Manufacturer of the Year' by Manufacturers Alliance of Minnesota and ‘Best of Technology’ by TISE (The International Surface Event).
Stone Fabrication
The United States is in serious need of housing, and our builders are behind in their efforts to produce those homes for our citizens. Coupled with a massive multi-year backlog of residential homes to be built is the need for peripheral suppliers of building materials, particularly stone used residential applications like landscaping, counter tops, and other areas of the home that require precise measuring and cutting. This is where Park Industries expects to see continued growth. Park is one of few producers and suppliers of precision stone fabrication machines, and they've integrated their distribution model, selling direct (and only direct) to stone fabricators across North America. Many fabricators still rely on manual trade labor and manual processes for stone fabrication, costing them enormous amounts of time and money. With trade labor shortages only becoming more and more challenging, Park has a real opportunity to engage with more fabricators in a consultative way, educating on the clearly documented return-on-investment their solution provides the industry.
Scale
Park Industries is one of Central Minnesota's largest manufacturing companies, and one of its niche industries category leaders, employing nearly 350 people and generating over $150M in revenue. Being vertically integrated, Park operates two, side-by-side manufacturing facilities of over 200,000 square feet, and has successfully produced and installed over 18,000 machines to over 5,000 happy customers across North America.
Our Take On Park Industries
Growth Mode
After 70+ years of methodical and steady success, Park finds itself in a pivotal moment, positioned for strategic investments into organic and potentially, inorganic growth.
Genuine Kindness
From the moment walking in the door at Park, one will realize the immense care and attention for each individual at the company. Kindness is an actual component of Park's business model; this mindset plays directly into their intense focus on service excellence and their strategic approach to the business.
High-Bar
Reflected in its strong independent Board of Directors is a value of Park's in the way they hire and select people. No matter the role, Park's leaders do not sacrifice on the caliber of people they hire or partner with.
