Current CEO of Astec Industries Steps Down After Only 3 Years

The outgoing CEO of Astec Industries joined the company in August of 2019, just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the hardest days the industry would face. Astec celebrated its 50th anniversary this past year, under his leadership, but now it appears that the company is moving in a new direction, and with a new CEO. Earlier today, Astec announced that Ruffalo resigned from all positions within the company.

The board appointed Jaco van der Merwe to serve as president and chief executive officer and as a member of the Astec Industries Board of Directors. In 2016, van der Merwe joined Astec as group president and currently serves as group president – infrastructure solutions, a role he assumed in 2019.

William Gehl, the chairman of the board who oversaw the hiring of both Ruffalo and now van der Merwe, said of the newly minted executive, "His knowledge of our materials solutions and infrastructure solutions markets and products makes Jaco uniquely suited to lead Astec to the next level of our 'Simplify, Focus and Grow' journey." and he briefly thanked Ruffalo for his "efforts" during his time at Astec, wishing him well.

Some of what we touched on then seems to coincide with Gehl's stated "journey", suggesting that the outgoing CEO's time at Astec made an impact that will continue on even in his absence. 

Comments From Just Four Months Ago

At the time the company was celebrating its milestone, the former CEO, Barry Ruffalo was asked in an interview with Asphalt Contractor Magazine what he felt his mission was when he came into the role three years ago. 

Barry Ruffalo

"Three themes that kind of stuck out to me," Ruffalo said. "One, as a decentralized organization, we were very complex. Second, there wasn't a lot of clarity around the strategy of the company, and that's kind of a dangerous combination of being too complex and not really been able to understand what the strategy is. Third, people wanted higher levels of communication across the board at all stake stakeholder levels."

Whatever the reasons behind the departure, his words months ago, imply that the incoming boss plans to stay on the thematic path set in place by his predecessor. Gehl referred to those themes as "simply, focus, and grow," which coincides with what Ruffalo said later in the discussion last year.

"We want to focus on the things that really create value, stop doing the things that don't create value, and then through investment into those focus areas, grow the business," Ruffalo continued, "That's how we ended up with simplify, focus, grow --  three strategic pillars."

It appears that the strategy already reaped some results, after the pandemic shutdown Ruffalo's first (and only as Astec chief) ConEXPO in March of 2020. These three pillars gave the company what he described as a "head start" on some of the transformations that lockdowns and restrictions would impose. He expressed that these foundational changes led Astec to seeing actual improvements during what were the most difficult times for others in the industry.

From The Desk of the New CEO

Ruffalo's successor, van der Merwe, commented on his appointment, “It is an honor to be the CEO of Astec and I look forward to our journey together. The hardworking people of Astec, are the key to our success. Our company has a fifty-year history of designing, engineering, manufacturing and servicing the most innovative, efficient and dependable equipment solutions within the Rock-to-Road segment of the construction industry. By working together with a dedicated focus on execution, we will create value for our shareholders, customers and employees.”

Whatever the new CEO and the new year brings to Astec, it is good to see the continuity of vision is strong. Companies as large and storied as this don't fair well with lots of change happening too quickly. It breeds a certain amount of confidence seeing that van der Merwe shares the goals laid out by Ruffalo, and doesn't intend to swing the culture and strategy of Astec into a whole new direction suddenly. 

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