Longtime Toro veteran Richard Olson will succeed Mike Hoffman as the company's chief executive officer later this year, the company recently announced.
Olson, who has been with Toro for 30 years, officially will assume his new role Nov. 1. He was named the company's president and chief operating officer in 2015.Hoffman, who joined the Bloomington, Minnesota-based equipment manufacturer 39 years ago, will remain as chairman of the board of directors. He has served as CEO since 2005.
OIson joined Toro in 1986. He led Toro's Exmark division, first as general manager in 2010 then vice president a year later. In 2012 he was named vice president of the company's international business segment, and two years later added micro-irrigation and distributor development to his responsibilities.
Toro has grown exponentially under Hoffman's watch, which included acquisitions of key companies in the consumer market and expansion of the irrigation division during times of widespread drought. The result has been a near quadrupling of the company's stock value, soaring from $25.72 when he took over as CEO, to $91.98 on Monday.
