At Lube-Tech, our purpose is to make tomorrow a little bit better than today and this purpose guides everything we do. A key part of who we are is driven by our people-first culture and our passion for making Lube-Tech a company our customers can rely on to solve their problems and help keep their businesses running.
Over the last year, we’ve been working on a leadership transition plan for the President role that has been held by Eric Jackson for the last 19 years. We have been so lucky to have Eric’s passion for the business, love for people, endless energy, and leadership guiding us and are excited for him to be able to retire and enter the next chapter of his life. In June, we began an external search for a replacement that was focused on finding a new leader who embodied our purpose and values and would help take us to the next level. In October, we added Chad Baker to our Lube-Tech family as our CEO.
Chad is an amazing, people-first leader who was born and raised in Minnesota. He has wonderful experience leading and developing strong teams within food manufacturing and distribution-based companies. Chad started his career in sales at Hormel Foods and then spent 17 years at Smithfield Foods before moving home to Minnesota to spend five years at POST Holdings as President of the Crystal Farms Cheese business. Most recently, Chad was CEO of Golding Farms Foods, a company that specializes in manufacturing and packaging salad dressings, sauces, dips and beverages. If you’re wondering how a food guy fits into the oil business, his last role had him turning soybean oil into salad dressing in a facility that looks just like our Golden Valley 900 plant! Chad lives in the cities with his wife of 26 years, Kirsten and has three daughters. In their free time, Chad and family are big boaters and travelers and love to go to Gopher football and hockey games.
We know this is big news, but rest assured, we are confident that with the continued support of the Bame family, Chad’s experience and values will help begin the next evolution of our future together. Please join Marna and I in giving Chad a warm Lube-Tech welcome to our family and thanking Eric for everything he’s done to help us grow and succeed over the last 19 years.
With Love and Gratitude,
Chris & Marna
