President of Crary Industries Becomes Chairman of the Board

CHICAGO — Chuck Crary, president of Crary Industries, a subsidiary of ECHO Incorporated, stepped down as president and became chairman of the board effective Dec. 1. Keith Nilson, formerly vice president of operations at Crary Industries, replaces him.

“Crary Company has been successful beyond what I imagined when we started it and this is attributable to God’s blessings and wonderful employees,” said Crary. “Twenty eight years is a long time for one person to lead a company. I feel very comfortable turning over the president’s role to Keith so I can explore other opportunities without having the day to day responsibility.”

Chuck Crary started the West Fargo, N.D., company in 1979, with his cousin as a small machining shop for area agricultural businesses. The company doubled its size every five years until it was acquired in 1999 by the investment firm KRG Capital Partners, LLC. KRG combined Crary Company with three other companies to form TerraMarc Industries, a company specializing in agricultural products such as potato harvesters and the Bear Cat chippers/shredders.

Nilson joined the company in 2004 as vice president of operations. He has held executive positions at Kohler Co. in Wisconsin and BTD Manufacturing in Minnesota. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee and an MBA from Northwestern University.

 “Crary Company has been a true innovator in all the markets we serve, from Crary Air Reels and CWS to Lockwood Potato Planting and Harvest equipment to ECHO Bear Cat outdoor power equipment. Our real strength, though, is in our relationship with our dealers and customers,” Nilson said.

Crary praised the choice of Nilson saying “I am excited to see Keith take over the leadership of Crary Industries. He is a proven leader with great ideas and direction. Our employees, customers and the company will all flourish under his leadership.”

Nilson and his wife Karen live in Fargo. They have five sons.

ECHO purchased TerraMarc in April 2006 and renamed the company Crary Industries.