Looking Back to Move Forward in Navigating COVID-19

 

A new year provides not just an opportunity for reflection, but a reason to pause and think about the future. Tyler Kern, host of Talkin’ Shop with Walbro, spoke with Jerry Kibby, the company’s Executive Vice President and President of Engine Management, about the current state of the engine management business. They also looked forward to what’s going to come in the future.

According to Kibby, similar to a lot of different companies in their industry, there was a lot of “up and down” in 2020. He reported that Walbro started out the year pretty strong, but COVID-19 started to make waves in January.

“We got early indications that COVID-19 was going to have a pretty significant effect. We have a plant in China that we had to shut down in January, because, as everyone knows, that was where it all started,” Kibby said.

Once that happened, they took some proactive steps.

“Our CEO, Matt Riddle, did a very great job in preparing the rest of the facilities on the backdrop of our China facility having to shut down. So, we saw that coming. And, sure enough, March came and, as you know, all the restrictions started happening,” Kibby explained.

Kibby is very proud to report that no Walbro employees caught COVID-19 at any of their plants.

“With all the added measures that we put in place worldwide, we’re just very proud of them,” Kibby said.

To continue this conversation, subscribe to Talkin’ Shop with Walbro on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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