Kevin Smith Named General Manager of Ditch Witch Division
Kevin Smith has been named the general manager of the recently formed Ditch Witch Division of The Toro Company. Smith is tasked with bringing the businesses of Ditch Witch, Subsite Electronics, American Augers and Trencor into one organization whose products will be sold primarily through the worldwide Ditch Witch dealer channel.
Dennis Wierzbicki, the previous president of Ditch Witch, has retired and Smith is excited to lead the expanded Ditch Witch Division into the future.
“Ditch Witch and Subsite customers have long enjoyed the localized service and support from their local Ditch Witch dealerships,” said Smith. “Those same market-leading benefits from our dealers will now be extended to current and new American Augers and Trencor customers around the world at one of our more than 175 dealer locations.”
Smith has a proven track record in the underground construction industry. He spent 20 years in the Ditch Witch organization gaining experience in manufacturing, product development, research and development, sales, market development, product management and in direct sales with the dealer organization. From there, Smith served as president of MTI Equipment for seven years, where he expanded the brand’s presence in the used HDD equipment segment. In 2015, he began leading the Subsite Electronics and HammerHead businesses, where his leadership was instrumental in driving profitable growth for both brands and in developing HammerHead’s repair and rehabilitation strategy for the underground utility markets.
“I look forward to leading the Ditch Witch Division and bringing these four brands together as one strong organization,” Smith said. “Each brand has unique, differentiating qualities, and we will leverage our talent and expertise in key market segments and work closely with our Ditch Witch dealers to deliver an unparalleled customer experience every day.”
Smith is a respected member of the community and currently serves on the board of Harper Industries in Harper, Kan., the Association of Equipment Manufacturers 2050 Infrastructure Taskforce, as well as on the Utility Expo show board.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.