Hamilton Caster names Mark Lippert president

One of Greater Cincinnati's oldest family-owned manufacturers has named its sixth president, marking the second person in the family's fourth generation of leadership to assume the company's helm.

Mark Lippert, Hamilton Caster's longtime vice president of marketing, will succeed his cousin, David Lippert, as president. David Lippert retired in December 2022.

"I am honored and humbled to step into this role and build upon my family's legacy as just the sixth president in our history," Mark Lippert said in a release. "I’m excited to leverage our core values of integrity, continuous improvement, accountability, respect, and empowerment as the foundation for strengthening our customer relationships, investing in new technologies, and supporting employee development."

Mark Lippert joined the family business in 1995 to lead its marketing efforts. He held the role of vice president of marketing for 28 years. During that time, he helped manage the business with cousins David, Steven and Jim Lippert. His marketing efforts helped the brand rank first in brand perception studies for the industrial manufacturing market.

Mark Lippert specializes in brand and product positioning; business development; strategic planning; and process improvement strategies, according to a release.

"As we look to the future, we are confident that Mark possesses the qualifications and expertise to continue to grow our family business," board member Ted Lippert said in a release. "Under his leadership, Hamilton Caster will continue to make a significant impact on the industrial market and our community."

The change in leadership comes after Executive Vice President Steven Lippert also made the decision to retire in December 2022. To replace Steven Lippert, Hamilton Caster hired Kellie Krieger in October 2022 to assume the role of director of human resources. Krieger, who has over 20 years of human resources experience, was most recently a manager at Hamilton Township.

Hamilton Caster also hired Jodi Fritsch in November 2022 to replace Mark Lippert as marketing director. Fritsch comes to Hamilton Caster from Horan, where she served as vice president of marketing.

"As the company implemented its business succession plan, we knew that there would be two key positions on our leadership team to fill," Mark Lippert said in a release. "It was important for us to find the right individuals to complement an already accomplished and experienced leadership team."

Hamilton Caster is a 116-year-old manufacturer of heavy-duty industrial casters, wheels, carts, and in-plant trailers. It has been family-owned since it was founded by John Weigel in 1907.

In July 2022, Hamilton Caster celebrated its $7 million expansion into a 65,000-square-foot plant in Hamilton. The expansion increased Hamilton Caster's footprint in Hamilton to over 6 acres and 162,000 total square feet. As of July 2022, the company had about 100 employees, growing from the 80 employees it had before the expansion.