Winnebago Industries Names Michael Happe As President And CEO - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Winnebago Industries, Inc. (WGO) has named Michael Happe as its President and Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of its board of directors, effective January 18, 2016. Happe will succeed outgoing interim CEO Larry Erickson, who will continue to remain chairman of Winnebago's board of directors.

Happe joins Winnebago Industries from Toro Co. (TTC) headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he most recently served as an Executive Officer and Group Vice President of Toro's Residential and Contractor businesses. A

19-year veteran of Toro, Happe held a series of senior leadership positions throughout his career across a variety of the company's domestic and international divisions.

Concurrent with this appointment, Winnebago Industries announced the future expansion of its corporate footprint to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The company expects this will provide the leadership of the company with greater access to the strategic and intellectual resources it will need to position Winnebago for successful growth and returns in the future.

With existing operations in several states, the company does not expect the strategy to affect significant changes in employment at any current Winnebago locations at this time.