SANTA PAULA, Calif. — BendPak Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of vehicle service equipment, has realigned its executive team, including promoting Jeff Kritzer, currently executive vice president, to president and CEO, succeeding Don Henthorn.
Henthorn, who has led the company since establishing it in 1965, will take on a more limited role in its daily operations as chairman emeritus, effective Aug. 3. Henthorn will be active in an advisory capacity to ensure a seamless transition of leadership, the company said.
BendPak also is promoting Rudy Diaz, vice president of information technology, to executive vice president and chief operating officer, and Jim Fornear, financial controller to chief financial officer. Rounding out the leadership team is Javier Arias who continues as vice president of operations.
"All of us at BendPak are grateful for Don's continued service to the company and his solid contributions to our success. We look forward to his ongoing guidance and direction during this transitionary period," Kritzer said.
"Since 1965, his leadership, mentoring style and embodiment of our company values and traditions have helped establish our winning culture. We have some very big shoes to fill, but through his mentorship and shaping of our company's work ethic and culture, we believe our market dominance will continue."
Kritzer has held many roles over the 40 years he has worked at BendPak, including national sales manager, president of sales and senior vice president of marketing.
He has managed aggressive product development and engineering initiatives, enhanced supply chain and transportation efficiencies, increased distribution channels, and developed marketing strategies that have helped transform BendPak into a lifestyle brand, the company said.
Kritzer also is chairman of the board of directors for the Automotive Lift Institute.
Diaz joined BendPak as vice president of information technology (IT) in June 2011. As executive vice president and COO, he will continue to enhance information technologies such as cloud computing and big data analytics to help streamline processes and increase productivity, while improving cybersecurity protections and security upgrades to reduce corporate risk.
Fornear has served as financial controller since joining BendPak in November 2019. As CFO, he will be instrumental in managing the company's budgeting and forecasting processes, financial strategies, profitability and risk management.
BendPak sells equipment and products under the BendPak, Ranger, Autostacker, QuickJack, Cool Boss, GrandPrix, JackPak, MaxJax and Dannmar brands.
Its product lines include car lifts, parking lifts, pipe benders, air compressors, tire changers, wheel balancers, wheel aligners, brake lathes and evaporative air coolers.
