Jeff Bust, who joined Grove Crane from Manitowoc in May 1998, has been promoted from president of Grove Crane to chairman and CEO of Grove Worldwide. He replaces Salvatore “Sam” Bonanno who has resigned, 18 months into a three year contract.
Bonanno’s departure follows continuing financial underperformance by Grove Crane and Manlift which saw sales fall 8% in the aftermath of the Conexpo exhibition. In contrast, Link-Belt’s sales rose 42% year on year in the quarter after the show.
The announcement of Bonanno’s departure came on 6 October, just days after the end of Grove’s financial year, suggesting that when the full-year results are announced in the coming weeks, the numbers will not look good.
Bonanno was brought in by new owners Keystone Inc at the time it bought the company from Hanson in March 1998. His CV included experience as director of international manufacturing at Chrysler. At Grove he oversaw some reorganisation of the manufacturing process and implementation of Integrated Product Development, which is credited with halving the time it takes Grove to bring cranes to market.
