Features Appointments Business Crushing Week Heavy Equipment
Equipped for change

KEENE, Ont. – With a key acquisition, a new parent company, and a recent rebranding all occurring within the last five years, a time of exciting changes continues at McCloskey. The latest is the appointment of Don Sissons to the role of vice president of business operations for the international heavy equipment manufacturer.

Before joining McCloskey, Sissons held a number of senior leadership roles across Astec Industries, including subsidiary president and group vice president. In addition to his leadership experience, Sissons’ mechanical engineering background informs an enthusiasm for the engineering, design and organizational processes of plant management and the sector at large.

This appointment is just the latest in a series of major changes for McCloskey. Following their purchase of crushing manufacturer Lippmann in 2018, the McCloskey family of brands was acquired by Finnish group Metso in 2019.

McCloskey reorganized their family of brands, which includes Lippmann, McCloskey International, McCloskey Environmental, MWS Equipment and TESAB, into Material Processing Products (MPP) Global in June 2023.

Sissons said that coming into this role during a period of transformation is not an obstacle, but rather an opportunity he sees as the perfect fit for him.

“Being able to get back into a role like this one, where I have that more cross-functional oversight and a little bit more hands-on involvement was just ticking all the boxes for me,” Sissons explained. “Timing is everything, and this opportunity came available when I was ready for it.”

Despite the overall organizational shifts that Sissons’ appointment is a part of, he shared that in his new role, he is eager to continue to refine and grow the processes that McCloskey has already found success in, rather than change things entirely.

“There’s a lot of change happening, so at this point, it’s about putting all those pieces together, which means there’s never a shortage of things to work on,” he said. “For me, it’s about tying it all together and instilling pride where our processes are strong. If one site excels in a particular area, let’s make sure we’re translating those strengths to the others, and vice versa.”

With a new stage emerging for the company, McCloskey sees an added value to Sissons’ appointment and the leadership role he will be occupying. Julie Andras, McCloskey’s global marketing and communications manager, expressed excitement at what Sissons may have in store for the company’s next chapter.

“I’ve been here 11 years, and while McCloskey has always been a very strong brand, when the company was sold, it did not have that formal leadership at the top,” Andras said. “I was very excited when Don started, because with all of these changes, a big part of his role will be taking McCloskey into its next iteration.”

While this new chapter is only starting to be written, Sissons is clear that McCloskey’s excitement over what may be on the horizon is not a one-way street.

“There’s a lot of things to be excited about; our product position is solid, and this industry is exciting, filled with opportunities for growth and driven by good, strong fundamentals,” said Sissons. “There really is a good spirit of continuous improvement, and a good culture of people here. Our ownership gives us a strong balance sheet, and I’m certainly willing to invest in our success.”