O'Conner to Retire from Columbia Machine

Pat O’Connor will be retiring after more than 12 years of distinguished service at Columbia Machine Inc. He joined Columbia in August 2011 as the business development manager for the Palletizer Division before being promoted to the role of President in 2014.

O'Connor has spent his entire career in the conveyor, palletizing and material handling industry. Under his leadership, Columbia’s Palletizer Division has shown sustained growth, developing the broadest and most advanced palletizer product line in the industry. With more than 40 years of experience in engineering, sales, and product development, O'Connor's expertise has been vital in solidifying Columbia Machine's position as the market leader in North America.

"We are grateful for Pat’s exceptional contributions," said Rick Goode, Chairman and CEO of Columbia Machine, Inc. "His profound knowledge and extensive experience have played a pivotal role in the transformation and advancement of Columbia's entire palletizer product line. Pat's visionary leadership has culminated in the formation of an exceptional team, and his unwavering dedication to our customers, our company, and the industry at large will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy for generations to come."

Taking over the role of president of the Palletizer Division is Mark MacDonald, who began his career at Columbia in January 2015 as the Applications Engineering manager and built a team highly qualified engineers.

Prior to joining Columbia, MacDonald held positions as an applications engineer (in the Palletizer industry), sourcing commodities manager at GKN Aerospace, and purchasing manager at Duke Manufacturing. A planned leadership transition has already begun with O'Connor and will continue over the next few months.