Mack Remembrance – Zenon C.R. Hansen

[kscarbel2]

Zenon C.R. Hansen, 81, Dies - Mack Trucks Lauds Its Former Chairman

October 20, 1990 / The Morning Call

Zenon C.R. Hansen, the man largely responsible for reviving Mack Trucks Inc. and making Allentown "The Truck Capital of the World," died yesterday in Sebring, Fla.

Hansen, 81, was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Mack during the heyday of heavy-duty trucking in the 1960s and 1970s.

"Many well-informed individuals advised me that I was taking over a sinking ship,"

Hansen once said of Jan. 7, 1965, the day he was named Mack's fifth president. "Here was an opportunity to put many of my ideas into effect ... They were giving me a chance to make the bulldog growl again."

Hansen died a day after financially ailing Mack named Elios Pascual, formerly of Renault Vehicules Industriels, as its new chairman and chief executive officer.

As president of the American Truck Foundation, an industry group, Hansen remained keenly interested in the business.

"I talked with him earlier this week," said John B. Curcio, a former Mack chairman, president and chief executive officer who once worked for Hansen. "It's hard to conceive of life without Zenon. His portrait is the most prominent thing in my office here at home. He was larger than life."

Hansen, born on July 23, 1909, in Hibbing, Minn., is survived by his wife, Marilyn.

Zenon Hanson joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1923 and rose to the rank of Eagle Scout with 81 merit badges (60 more than the required 21). He held two of the highest Scouting awards for adults, the Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope awards.

He was a member of the Automotive Hall of Fame and a retired colonel in the Civil Air Patrol and, as a youth, an Eagle Scout (with 81 merit badges, 60 more than the required 21).

"The entire Mack family extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Zenon Hansen at these most difficult of times," said a statement issued last night by Mack. "Mr. Hansen will always be remembered for his many contributions to Mack and the entire trucking industry."

Hansen's 45-year career in the heavy-duty truck industry began in 1927 in the parts department of an International Harvester (now Navistar International Corp.) branch store in Sioux City, Iowa.

The $20-per-week job was catalyst enough for him to drop plans for college and make Hansen believe "that trucks and trucking had a great future in this country and I decided to stay with it."

The decision would bring Hansen into the industry on the ground floor, and allow him to direct the courses of Mack and the former White and Diamond T truck companies.

By 1928, after a year with International Harvester, the company placed him in its management training program. At age 19, with two years service, Hansen was sent to work in Europe.

The following seven years, spent on the continent and in Africa, not only afforded Hansen the opportunity of on-the-job training, but also gave him the chance to master French, German and Italian.

Never content with his successes, Hansen left International Harvester after 17 years to establish a Diamond T dealership with a friend, Louis Courtemanche Jr. in Portland, Ore.

The dealership flourished, became the largest in the world, and for 20 years, Hansen was content.

During that period, he was part of one of the most notable moments in trucking history as he assisted the Murty brothers in clinching a deal with Diamond T to market the revolutionary tilt cab design.

Hansen believed that he "was set for life," but the time was short-lived as Hansen was challenged by Diamond's founder, C.A. Tilt, to accept a vice presidency with the company.

Hansen said the choice was a relatively simple one -- "Did I want to remain a distributor for the rest of my career, or did I want to try the big league?"

Three years after becoming president of Diamond T, the company merged with White in 1958 and he became executive vice president of White.

His link to Mack was forged in 1965 when the foundering truck manufacturer's board of directors offered Hansen the position of president and chief executive officer.

"Quite frankly, it was the most tremendous challenge that had ever been offered to me," he said.

Within months of assuming office, a major promotional blitz turned the forgotten bulldog into an advertising pedigree.

Under his leadership, the Allentown manufacturing facilities were updated and expanded; the Bermuda operation closed, and world headquarters built on Mack Boulevard.

And as he initiated plans for the Macungie assembly plant, employee morale soared.

In an effort to maintain Mack's corporate identity and to alleviate a critical shortage of capital, Hansen worked out a merger with The Signal Cos. Inc.

"White tried to take us over and we successfully resisted them," Hansen said. "Our feeling was that if we had to get in bed with someone, it would be a Park Avenue glamour girl, not a Greenwich Village streetwalker."

Hansen developed the old Mack airline department [bulldog Airlines*]; expanded production facilities to Hayward, Calif., and proposed the controversial pact to open the Kama River plant in the Soviet Union -- an idea that would die amid the protests of those less visionary.

* http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31112-bulldog-airlines/

Possibly his most important decision at Mack was to move the constant horsepower Maxidyne diesel engine from the drawing boards to the market.

The decision, which was considered chancy, led Hansen to admit that he was a gambler.

"This may be more sophisticated than shooting craps," he said. "But it is gambling."

In the 9-1/2 years of Hansen's regime, Mack developed into a powerful creation that showed production, delivery, sales, marketing and earnings increases. Sales broke $1 billion for the first time in company history.

It was a record that Hansen said was reached by "damn hard work and good application of effort."

An avowed patriot, Hansen brought his love of country to the job.

Under his direction the company garnered advertising awards for patriotic sales campaigns, the first red, white and blue truck rolled off the production line and a replica of the Liberty Bell was placed in world headquarters.

The company recognized his contributions in 1972 by dedicating the world headquarters building in his honor. A year later, he would reciprocate by rededicating the building in honor of all Mack employees.

In 1972, Hansen stepped down as president and chief executive officer. He retained the position of chairman of the board until 1974, when he opted to follow company policy and retire at age 65.

Less than a year after his retirement, Hansen was severely injured in a riding-mower accident at his Lower Macungie home.

His recuperation, however, was rapid and punctuated by a visit from long-time friend Evel Knievel and by a campaign to assist in Allentown Hospital's renovation plans.

Hansen, who later moved to Florida, was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Sebring, Fla. The family plans a memorial service for him in Allentown at an undetermined date.

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A must-have book.

http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Leadership-Zenon-C-R-Hansen/dp/1937862755

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[kscarbel2]

Zenon C. R. Hansen, 81, Leader Who Restored Life to Mack Truck

The New York Times / October 23, 1990

Zenon C. R. Hansen, chairman, president and chief executive of Mack Trucks Inc. in the 1960's and 1970's, died Friday at his home in Sebring, Fla. He was 81 years old.

A spokeswoman for the family said he died of leukemia.

Mr. Hansen, who is credited with turning Allentown, Pa., into "the truck capital of the world," joined the company in 1965 as its fifth chief executive in less than 10 years. In the nine and a half years he ran the company, he not only turned it around but also was so successful that Mack, for the first time in its history, reached $1 billion in annual sales.

Mr. Hansen stepped down as president and chief executive in 1972. He remained chairman until 1974, when he retired. 'A Tough and Reliable Symbol'

The first thing he did on taking the job with Mack was put his basic business tenet into effect: "The most important thing to a company is spirit; without that, you have nothing."

He chose the Mack bulldog, the company's corporate symbol, as the means of injecting new life into the concern. "It was the best-known symbol in the trucking business, and it typified what I wanted the company to stand for: a tough and reliable product," Mr. Hansen said.

He centralized Mack's operation by moving corporate headquarters to Allentown, the site of its assembly plant, and improving its components plant in Hagerstown, Md.

He also moved the company into the West Coast trucking market and substantially improved labor relations. One of his most important decisions was to move the constant horsepower Maxidyne diesel engine off the drawing boards to the market.

Mr. Hansen was born in Hibbing, Minn., and got his start in the trucking business as a teen-ager in 1927, when he took a summer job with the International Harvester Company in Sioux City, Iowa, before going to college. He liked the job so much he stayed.

After 17 years with Harvester, he quit in 1944 to become general manager of a distributor of Diamond T trucks based in Portland, Ore.

In 12 years he worked himself up to the presidency of Diamond T until it was acquired by the White Motor Co. in 1958.

He was executive vice president of White until he resigned to become president and CEO of Mack Trucks in 1965.

He is survived by his wife, the former Marilyn Hallman.

[kscarbel2]

Hansen Eulogized As Good Scout Workers Pause At Mack Plants, Friends Gather At Cathedral

November 06, 1990 / The Morning Call

Seven thousand employees at Mack Trucks Inc. facilities from South Carolina to Allentown stopped work yesterday, remained silent for one minute and remembered Zenon C.R. Hansen, their former chairman, president and chief executive officer.

At 10 a.m. -- the same moment tools were shut off at Mack -- a bell tolled at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Allentown, beginning a memorial service for Hansen, 81, who died of leukemia on Oct. 19.

"Great leaders never have an age," said Dr. Thomas Harrai, who delivered the eulogy. Harrai served with Hansen on the board of directors of Super Foods Services Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, until Hansen's death. "He was as active in retirement as he was here with Mack....

"He was a traditionalist, a futurist, a perfectionist and, then, a loyalist."

Hansen was largely responsible for reviving Mack Trucks Inc. in the 1960s and making Allentown "The Truck Capital of the World" in the 1970s. Flags at Mack facilities flew at half staff.

But, at the cathedral, Hansen also was remembered for his friendship with football legend Vince Lombardi; for unabashedly waving the flag; and for being an Eagle Scout, earning 81 badges -- 60 more than the required 21.

Four Eagle Scouts from the Minsi Trails Council served as color guard, carrying the American and the Boy Scouts International flags to the stage of the cathedral to begin the service.

Among the Eagle Scouts serving as ushers were eight Mack employees, many wearing their Eagle medals over their hearts -- right next to the bulldog lapel pins that Hansen made famous.

Also in attendance were Hansen's widow, Marilyn; other family members, and many former Mack employees, including former chairman John B. Curcio.

The crowd of 300 people stood as the flags passed, and then the Lehigh Consistory Choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

"He believed in tradition," said Harrai. "And he felt that traditional parts of our society should not be broken up by human lack of interest."

Born July 23, 1909, in Hibbing, Minnesota, Hansen was an orphan. But he found his family at age 12, when he became a Boy Scout in Sioux City, Iowa.

"All of us have some moment in our life that our life is changed," Harrai said. "He stood with a group of kids. And he raised his hand. And then Zenon C.R. Hansen said for the first time, `On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country. And to obey the Scout law ...'

"That became his decision factor at every point of his career. He never understood why people talked about scouting as if it was something for children."

By the time Hansen reached 19, he was working in France for International Harvester, now Navistar International Corp. There, he saw the seeds of the Great Depression and World War II.

"Zenon learned not to be intimidated," Harrai said. "He saw misdirected leadership and ruthless leadership that harmed innocent people."

Thus, Hansen developed the uncanny ability to remain friendly with both hourly workers and executives.

"In 45 years in the trucking industry, Zenon never suffered a strike," Harrai said. "He knew there were unions and that there was a place for unions.

"He didn't want any separation. He never wanted to be where he would be removed from the aches, the pains, the turmoil, as well as the hopes and dreams of a good job ... That's why he moved all Mack's offices to Allentown."

And that's why people such as Ronald Lorenz, president of Winnsboro Local 5841 of the United Auto Workers, took a moment yesterday to remember Hansen.

"I worked at Mack while he was the head honcho," said Lorenz, whose local took a collection among Winnsboro workers and made a donation to the Boy Scouts in Hansen's name. "He was a great salesman, a promoter. He could have sold anything, not just trucks."

Harrai confessed that he once got caught by one of Hansen's schemes.

"I was here in Allentown to do a farewell dinner for Zenon," Harrai said. "He wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. It was a dinner to raise bonds for Israel.

"We raised more money for Israel than had ever been raised out of New York City. It was so wonderful, it made the New York Times.

"And I'm Lebanese. I think I heard from every Lebanese person, `Why are you helping Israel right after the six-day war?'"

In mixing business and politics, Hansen was ahead of his time.

Before retiring from Mack in 1974, Hansen proposed building a truck assembly plant in the Soviet Union. His idea was immediately panned by Forbes magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

"Today in Washington, D.C., they're stumbling all over each other to find out who should get credit for the Iron Curtain being pulled up," Harrai said. "He made only one error, typical of Zenon C.R. Hansen. He was just more than a decade before his day."

Hansen, a Mason since 1945, was made an honorary member of the Supreme 33rd degree council in 1971.

"Tendering our last farewell, let us reserve his memory and dwell on all that was good and amiable in his character," said C. Deforrest Trexler, a Mason and a Mack attorney who delivered the benediction. "Farewell, you have gone to meet your God, and may he approve you."

Harrai said he suspects Hansen is already shouting some orders in the hereafter.

"The first thing that Zenon has done is to tell Vince Lombardi that the angel should go over right tackle instead of left guard," Harrai said. "Vince might say, `That's the way we do it here in the pros, not in college.'

"What a time they are having up there."

[kscarbel2]

Legacy of Leadership - Zenon C. R. Hansen

“Lead, follow or get out of the way – make a difference.”

"Work hard and aim high to succeed."

http://bookcrafters.net/preview/Hansen_preview.pdf

[hatcity]

as the saying goes- He is rolling over in his grave seeing what has become of his beloved MACK TRUCKS INC.

irony/coincidence that a new head of Volvo starts tomorrow?

[kscarbel2]

In America, Volvo shouldn't forget how they got to the party. In the second half of the game, it was Zenon C.R. Hansen who created the Mack Trucks, the image, that Volvo has profited from for fifteen years.

In no uncertain terms, Zenon C.R. Hansen was the best CEO in the history of America's truck industry right up to the present day. No finer person have I ever known.

[39 Baby Mack]

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hansen in, I think it was 1970.

What a neat guy, I kidded him about all the Bulldogs he was wearing, buttons on his suit, corner ornaments on his glasses, buckles on his shoes, on his pipe, etc., etc.

Then with a smile he showed me the zipper pull on his suit pants which of course was a Bulldog!

Believe you me, that shut the 15 year old smart aleck from West Chester up!

Ron

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