Skyjack names new President

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, Charlie Patterson will take over as president of  Skyjack’s following current President Ken McDougall’s retirement, the company has announced. The two men will work together on the transition until Patterson takes up his new post in January.

The change will bring to a close McDougall’s 36 year career at Skyjack’s parent company Linamar, during which he led Skyjack for two separate periods.

Patterson, the current Vice President of International Operations, joined Skyjack in 2000 as UK Sales Manager and went on to head the UK and European operations for the organization. He oversaw the opening of Skyjack offices in the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and Australia and previously led sales in Asia-Pacific.

“I am thrilled and honoured to take on the role as Skyjack President,” said Patterson. “Ken has done an exceptional job moving Skyjack forward to date, and I look forward to continuing to build upon that momentum.

“As always Skyjack will be dedicated to being easy to do business with, while developing simple and reliable solutions for rental companies worldwide.” 

Charlie Patterson. (Photo: Skyjack)

Ken McDougall. (Photo: Skyjack)

McDougall started his career at Skyjack parent company Linamar in 1987 as a tool designer, moving up into various key roles including Global Sales and Estimating Manager, and Vice President of Operations.

His tenure also saw the acquisition of two telehander lines from Carelift/Zoom Boom and Volvo, a crucial foundation for the company’s existing telehandler line up.

More recently, McDougall led Skyjack’s dramatic increases in global production capacity, increasing the number of manufacturing plants from two in Canada to five globally. Skyjack’s potential global unit capacity is expected to increase 235% when compared to 2022.

“It has been an honour to serve as Skyjack President during this period of immense growth and transformation,” McDougall said.

“2023 marks my 36th anniversary with Linamar and Skyjack, and over those years I have had the great pleasure of working for and with countless talented and dedicated individuals.

“It has been an honour to lead the Skyjack team and I am confident that with his experience, knowledge and leadership skills Charlie Patterson will do an outstanding job in moving Skyjack forward.”