Why did you move Woodward Governor’s headquarters to Fort Collins from Rockford, Ill., at the start of this year?
A: There are a couple of reasons. We have been operating a facility here for quite awhile. After I became CEO, we had a number of retirements and changes in key corporate personnel. There was an option on where people could locate. People wanted to relocate here.
Q: Woodward Governor had been based in Rockford since 1870. You grew up there. Did you get any grief about moving the headquarters?
A: I got grief from my mom. My mom gives me grief for everything. My family moved to Rockford from California when I was 9. I went to the University of Illinois. People in the community were concerned. But the number of jobs that were changing was very small. We have a very small corporate function. A headquarters is symbolic and there was a lot of disappointment. We are still one of the largest employers in Rockford.
Q: Could you tell us about the company, how it got its name and what it does?
A: Amos Woodward founded the company along the Rock River. He came up with a water-wheel governor that better controlled machine tools. Our name comes from the first product he invented. Over the years we expanded from water-wheel governors to diesel-engine governors to control propellers. We are the market leader in fuel control systems for jet engines. Today we refer to ourselves as being in the energy control and optimization business.
We are under the hood, so nobody sees our name, unless you are intimate with the equipment. This year we are going to touch $1 billion in sales – it is going to be really close. It is a major milestone for us. We have been growing nicely for a number of years. We are now a solidly mid-sized company, but we are very global. We have operations all over the world. Half of our sales are outside the U.S.
Q: The company has about 1,100 employees in Fort Collins and Loveland. Do your plans include adding more?
A: Right now we have been steadily adding. I am not coming out with any projections on more jobs. If sales keep going up, I wouldn’t doubt that happens.
Q: You know Fort Collins well. How important was that in your decision to move the headquarters here?
A: I moved out here in 1999 to work on strategy development for our industrial division. During that time period, I commuted. I had a house in both cities. After I was named CEO in July of 2005, I chose to stay out here. One of the things really important to us is the ability to recruit talent from anywhere in the world. I found Fort Collins is a good place to do that. I also think Colorado has a good business climate, but I’m a little bit nervous now. I hope we don’t backtrack.
Q:You’re referring to the changes in union election laws that the state legislature passed? (Gendron was interviewed before Gov. Ritter vetoed HB 1072 on Friday.)
A: It is going to send a signal that is anti-business. It raises a concern. I am really troubled that this is getting railroaded through. I am more concerned about what will follow. It is bad for Colorado and bad for business. It is setting a tone that is not good.
Q: Would you have reconsidered locating the headquarters?
A: I might have waited to see if this is the first of many mandates and other changes to the business climate.
Q: What books have you read lately?
A: “The World Is Flat” by Thomas Friedman is an excellent book. We used that to expand our thinking on globalization. The last two books I have read are Clive Cussler novels.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by Denver Post staff writer Aldo Svaldi.
