Mikel D. Crews notified AAON, Inc. of his intent to retire as Vice President, Operations, effective May 2020. Mr. Crews has been with the Company since its inception and had a large role in developing the talent to succeed him.
In furtherance of the Company’s ongoing succession planning initiatives, Mr. Crews’ duties will be reallocated to Stephen Wakefield, Vice President of Engineering, as well as other Company personnel. Mr. Crews has served as Vice President, Operations since 2017. Mr. Crews served as Director of Material and Operations from 2015 to 2017, Manager of Operations from 1991 to 2015, and prior to that held various operational, production and inventory management roles throughout the Company.
Well-Deserved retirement
Mr. Crews has been in leadership positions in the HVAC industry for over 40 years. Norman H. Asbjornson, CEO, said, “I want to thank Mike for his leadership during his lengthy career with our Company. He was key in the founding of AAON and has contributed in countless ways to the tremendous growth we’ve experienced. We congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement and wish him many years of good health and happiness.”
Gary D. Fields, President, added, “I have always valued Mike’s guidance and knowledge during our time working together. I would like to thank him for helping to shape the team of the future here at AAON. We are very excited for this next generation of leaders and are confident in their ability to continue strengthening our business.”
Various engineering leadership
The Company also announced its Board of Directors has promoted Stephen Wakefield to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Wakefield has served as Vice President of Engineering since 2018, Director of Engineering since 2017, and prior to that held various engineering leadership roles in the Company.
Mr. Wakefield will continue to report to Gary Fields, AAON President. Within the Company’s senior leadership team, Larry Honel has been promoted to Director of Continuous Improvement and Whitney Wakefield (no relation to Stephen Wakefield) has been promoted to Director of Purchasing, Warehouse and Production Planning. Both will report to Mr. Wakefield, along with Doug Wichman, Director of Manufacturing.