Clark Hale tends to look at the big picture. Literally. The new president/COO of Hayward Industries has been charged with overseeing the firm’s global business operations involving residential and commercial pool and spa products.
Hale assumed his post on Sept. 11, 2012, and said he’s already spent a fair amount of time traveling, particularly in North America, as well as to the Piscine pool/spa show in Lyon, France, last month. Hale wants to get to know customers, suppliers and employees, and so far he’s been impressed with what he’s seen.
“The employees show so much energy, productivity and commitment to continued improvement,” Hale said. “Hayward has some of the most efficient plants I’ve ever seen.”
Prior to joining Elizabeth, N.J.-based Hayward, he served as an executive at several large manufacturers. Most recently, Hale was president of Brooks Instrument, where he headed all global operations for the industrial flow measurement and control maker. For six years before that, he was executive vice president of Victaulic Co., a manufacturer of specialty mechanical piping systems. His 17-year tenure at Emerson Electric included several operational leadership positions before he was named division president of ASCO Valve – U.S. and Copeland Refrigeration.
“Clearly, Hayward is a leading company, and I want to build upon that,” Hale said of his new role. Indeed, as CEO Robert Davis pointed out, the company’s new president has been tasked with leading the Hayward team to ”meet our industry’s challenges for more sophisticated products and new market opportunities, domestically and globally.”
On the educational front, Hale earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Brown University, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from University of California at Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration at Rutgers University.
He enjoys spending his leisure time with his wife Amy, a former materials engineer, 19-year-old son and 11-year-old twin boys. “We spend a lot of time at basketball, soccer, football and baseball games,” Hale said. “Personally, I like to golf and exercise (running and swimming).”
