Mark Woody is stepping down as president of Palfinger Inc., headquartered in Niagara Falls, Ont.Photo: Keith Norbury
The 2018 Work Truck Show represented Mark Woody’s last as president of Palfinger Inc., the North American branch of the Austria-based equipment maker.
Woody said during an interview at the show that he is officially retiring at the end of March but will remain as advisor with the company until the end of the year. When that happens, he plans to remain in Niagara Falls, Ont., where Palfinger has its North American headquarters.
Originally from Seattle, Woody lived in Vancouver, B.C. for about 10 years before moving to Niagara Falls 25 years ago. A dual Canadian and U.S. citizen, he nevertheless remains a devoted fan of his hometown Seattle Seahawks.
“I’m going to spend time with my wife. She thinks that she wants to have me home more often,” quipped Woody, who has five children and two grandchildren. “So we’ll see how that works after a few months. The job entailed a lot of travel and pretty much every Monday I’ve been on a flight somewhere and hopefully back by Friday.”
Woody served as president from 2014 to 2015 of the National Truck Equipment Association, which organizes the annual Work Truck Show.
“I have a lot of friends here, a lot of acquaintances and this might be the only place I can ever come back to see everybody,” Woody said. “We’ll see how it goes. Right now there’s no immediate plans. This could be my last Work Truck Show.”
Palfinger North America had only 11 employees and about $5 million in annual revenue when he joined the division in 1993. Today, Palfinger Inc. has more than 1,000 employees and around $300 million in annual sales.
“Originally it was just the one division. That’s all there was when I first started was the one facility at Niagara Falls,” Woody said.
The company’s growth included acquisitions, such as the purchase in 2008 of Iowa-based truck body manufacturer Omaha Standard. Palfinger has also grown internationally. It now has around 10,000 employees in more than 130 countries and annual revenues of about $1.4 billion.