Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing has named a new president of its local operations.
The company, which is a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries, announced Monday that Mike Boyle took over leadership of the local operations as of Jan. 1.
Boyle has been with Kawasaki for 37 years. He began in engineering and has held many key positions over the years, the latest being vice president and chief operating officer.
While Boyle is certainly qualified for the role, his appointment is a bit of a surprise because it's the first time Kawasaki has promoted someone locally to the top job in Lincoln.
The company, which has been in Lincoln since 1974, has always brought in someone from elsewhere in the company, usually from Japan. The man Boyle is succeeding, Yakuta "Joe" Tabata, had previous experience working for Kawasaki in the U.S. before coming to Lincoln, but he was promoted directly from the parent company in Japan.
Jason Hellbusch, director of corporate administration at Kawasaki Lincoln, said a 2020 corporate restructuring paved the way for a change in how the local president is selected.
"Some of the goals of that decision were to promote agility in business decision-making and add diversity to the company," Hellbusch said in an email.
That restructuring, combined with the growth at Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing and other factors, "made this the right time for this transition," he said.
"Mike's background and leadership ability will make him an excellent leader to move KMM into the future," Hellbusch said.
Kawasaki, which makes products ranging from Jet Skis to train cars to airplane parts in Lincoln, last summer announced a huge $200 million expansion in Lincoln that will add capacity to assembly, paint and welding lines in its consumer products division. As part of that expansion, the company plans to add 550 employees over the next year or two.
The company is Lincoln's largest manufacturing operation, with more than 2.4 million square feet of space at Northwest 27th Street and U.S. 34. It also is one of the city's largest private employers, with more than 2,400 employees.