Owen Companies Appoints John Gerber as CEO with Founder Earl Rose Retiring and Moving to Board of Directors

By: Wynnchurch Capital, L.P. via Business Wire

January 30, 2025 at 10:35 AM EST

Owen Companies (“Owen”), a leading specialty equipment platform providing critical infrastructure and environmental solutions to municipal, utility, and commercial customers throughout the United States and a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., announced founder and Chief Executive Officer, Earl Rose, will retire and transition to the company’s Board of Directors. As part of this transition, John Gerber will succeed Mr. Rose as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Gerber was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Midland Industries, a value-added distributor and manufacturer of fittings, valves, clamps, hoses, and related products for a wide variety of industrial end markets. Prior to that, he served as President of Carter-Waters, and held various leadership positions at Wesco, Rexel Holdings, and GE.

Mr. Rose purchased what was then Ben-Ko-Matic in Portland in 2006, and over the course of the past 19 years and four acquisitions created a multi-product, multi-location leader in specialty equipment distribution, rental and service. Prior to acquiring Ben-Ko-Matic, Rose served in various senior leadership positions with Sunbelt Rentals and Ivy Hi-Lift.

“Since Wynnchurch’s acquisition of Owen, we have been proud to partner with Earl and his team to execute on the value creation plan and succession plan we collectively identified at the start of our partnership. We are excited for John and the entire Owen team as they continue to build on the Company’s impressive track record of growth and legacy of outstanding customer support,” stated Brian Riordan, Managing Director at Wynnchurch.

About Owen Companies:

Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, Owen is a leading provider of critical infrastructure equipment, environmental equipment, aftermarket parts, and services including street sweepers, sewer cleaners, hydro excavators, specialty drilling equipment, refuse collection, and vegetation management equipment. Through their 12 locations, Owen provides new and pre-owned equipment and maintenance services, and maintains a large fleet of rental equipment used for sewer maintenance, hydro/vacuum excavation, street cleaning, specialty drilling, refuse collection, and vegetation management applications. The company sells through four business segments: Owen Equipment, Cal-Line Equipment, Blaze Equipment and Reliance Truck and Equipment.

About Wynnchurch Capital:

Wynnchurch Capital, L.P., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, with an affiliate in Canada, was founded in 1999 and is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm. Wynnchurch’s strategy is to partner with middle market companies in the United States and Canada that possess the potential for substantial growth and profit improvement. Wynnchurch manages a number of private equity funds with $9.2 billion of regulatory assets under management and specializes in recapitalizations, growth capital, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, and restructurings. Recently, Wynnchurch acquired Astro Shapes, a leading manufacturer of custom aluminum extrusions. Other recent investments include: Principal Industries, a leading provider of LED components and engineered assemblies; ORS Nasco, North America’s largest pure wholesaler of industrial MRO supplies; and Hydraulic Technologies, a market leader in high-pressure hydraulic tools. For more information, please visit: http://www.wynnchurch.com or follow us on LinkedIn.