WINN, Mich. — Morbark has announced that its president, James W. Shoemaker Jr., has retired after 13 years with the company. Jim Shoemaker Morbark

“My job is complete,” said Shoemaker. “When I became president, I had a mission — to regain market share and increase profitability for Morbark, and then to prepare the company for sale. The team at Morbark reacted splendidly, and we successfully regained market share and enhanced our profitability. My intention all along was, once the company was sold, to retire and let the new management take charge, and that's what I'm doing.”

Morbark was acquired by Stellex Capital Management in March of this year. Shoemaker started working with Stellex in September 2015 and agreed to stay on as president for a few months to assist with the transition. He also plans to stay involved with Morbark in a consulting capacity.

“Jim Shoemaker provided strong leadership to Morbark during the past five years, and contributed greatly to the company's growth,” said Morbark CEO Dan Ruskin. “It's been an honor to work with him, and we're all grateful for his contributions and assistance during the transition. He has worked tirelessly to support this company and its customers, dealers and employees, as well as the manufacturing industry as a whole.”

Shoemaker joined Morbark in 2003 as director of operations before being promoted to vice president of operations and then was appointed president in 2011.