Thor Industries, Inc. promoted Todd Woelfer to senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO).
Woelfer joined Thor in 2012 and served in several roles, including general counsel. As COO, Woelfer will lead corporate initiatives including innovation and data strategies, marketing, corporate sustainability and responsibility, and maximizing performance and synergies from existing and future acquisitions.
Bob Martin, Thor president and CEO, said Woelfer’s work during his time as general counsel included aid in enterprise operations, such as mergers and acquisitions, innovation, and other global strategy components.
“From the time he started with us, his passion for our growth strategy created a broad range of responsibilities,” Martin said.
Martin said the company’s strategic mission critical items managed at a corporate level have grown significantly since 2012, when the company’s consolidated net revenue was a little over $2 billion. In fiscal 2021, net revenue is more than $12 billion.
“When we considered our future strategic journey over the next five to 10 years, our management team realized we needed a key manager dedicated to these crucial initiatives,” Martin said. “Woelfer was quickly identified as the right leader for this important role. While he understands the importance of our strategic initiatives and is often a key leader in developing them, he also understands the strategic value of Thor’s highly decentralized business model, the crucial importance of our dealer relations, and our focus on the retail customer experience. In many ways, this is an announcement and acknowledgement of a role that Woelfer has grown into at Thor.”
Woelfer called the promotion an exciting opportunity at an important time for the company.
“I am a firm believer in Thor’s decentralized business model that has proven to be the not-so-secret sauce to our success,” Woelfer said. “That will never change. Our management teams and hard-working team members at our operating companies are the key to our success.”
Woelfer said the RV industry is experiencing significant disruption and transformation.
“This presents incredible opportunity for Thor,” Woelfer said. “As we focus on delivering our industry leading products to our dealers and retail customers, we have to think today about how we continue to lead in the future. That is what this role is all about.
“My acceptance of this role was based in large part on my knowledge that Bob (Martin) will continue to lead our company throughout the remainder of my career,” Woelfer said. “His visionary leadership is what has transformed this Company into an international market leader. I very much look forward to years of continued success and growth with our leadership team led by Bob and including both Colleen (Zuhl, Chief Financial Officer), and Ken (Julian, SVP Administration/HR).”
Simultaneously, Thor announced the promotion of Trevor Gasper to vice president, general counsel and secretary. Gasper joined Thor in 2017 after 12 years at a private firm where his practice focused on representing RV manufacturers, including Thor.
“Gasper has established himself as a key leader for our legal team as well as the corporate management team,” Woelfer said. “He has also served in a lead role in all major merger and acquisition transactions since joining Thor.”
Woelfer said Gasper understands how to balance the deliverables of a legal team with business needs. He also called him a great steward of the brand and its reputation.
“Thor’s legal team strives to be a value-add to our business,” Woelfer said. “Under Gasper’s leadership, I am very confident in the team’s continued ability to deliver value throughout the organization.”
