COLUMBUS, Ind. — Toyota Material Handling (TMH) announced Tuesday that
Jeff Rufener, president and CEO, will retire at the end of the month.
The company has selected Senior Vice President of Sales Bill Finerty to succeed Rufener
effective Jan. 1.
Jaksa Pejnovic will succeed Finerty to become TMH’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing,
also effective Jan. 1.
“On behalf of the entire Toyota family, we would like to thank Jeff for his leadership and impact during his 10 years with the company,” said Brett Wood, president and CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America and senior executive officer of Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO).
“Jeff led TMH through some of the largest, most transformational challenges in history, and he did so with grace, with empathy, and with compassion. He embraced each challenge, and always saw the positive opportunity in change.”
Rufener joined TMH in 2011 after more than 30 years with Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift
America. During his tenure at TMH, Rufener oversaw the move of the company’s headquarters from California to Indiana and multiple expansions of TMH’s Indiana campus. Rufener also managed the integration of Toyota’s two Columbus-based companies – Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) and Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) – into a single company in 2020.
For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
