MEC reshuffles management team

MEC Aerial Platforms has promoted Brian MacFarland to the newly created position of executive vice president (EVP), reporting to company president David White.

As part of the reshuffle, David Baxter returns to the aerial platform industry after a 14 year gap, becoming MEC’s vice president of marketing and product management. He previously spent 17 years with UpRight and JLG in product management and business development roles, leaving JLG in 2011.

Brian MacFarland becomes executive vice president at MEC. (Image: MEC)

Another change is a promotion for Kyle Waller, formerly MEC’s director of parts, who takes MacFarland’s old position of vice president of parts and service.

Baxter said MacFarland’s remit will include sales, service, marketing and operations; “He will have what you could call the customer value part of the company, where the customer experience really comes together.

“Brian is a fantastic resource leader who’s been integral to MEC’s journey.”

MacFarland joined MEC in 2020 after a long career in the aerial platform sector with both UpRight and Equipment Parts Wholesale (EPW), where he rose to be general manager and president.

In his own new role, Baxter said he will leverage his industry background “to guide our product pipeline, brand visibility, and overall customer engagement.”

He added, “Even though the North American market may be softening for some, we’re in expansion mode. We’ve been filling out our product line and see significant opportunities to grow our market share.”

David Baxter returns to the access industry after a 14 year gap. (Photo: MEC)

The company used the recent ARA show in Las Vegas to launch new products. Read the full story here. 

MEC is wholly-owned by Chinese OEM Dingli, but Baxter said day-to-day operations remain largely independent; “MEC really owns its own product designs. We have a complete engineering team that creates the specifications.

“Dingli manufactures to those specs, and then we bring the units to the North American market with the sales, service, parts support, and warranty that our rental partners expect. We fit like a glove—both sides focus on what we do best.”