If you’re navigating growth, succession, or leadership during uncertainty, this conversation is a must. Jered Stoehr, CEO of Milwaukee Electronics, shares an unusually candid look at stepping into second‑generation leadership while managing legacy, modernizing a 70‑year‑old family business, and leading through COVID and historic supply‑chain disruption. His insights on long‑term thinking, emotional intelligence, and leading with genuine care offer practical takeaways for executives, founders, and future leaders alike.
I’m not here to fill his shoes. I’m here to walk the same path.
Suzanne Hanifin: President at Acumen Executive Search. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzannehanifin/
Tanis Morris: Director of Business Development at Acumen Executive Search. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanis-morris-75a113266/
Jered Stoehr: CEO of Milwaukee Electronics. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jered-stoehr-3b78351/
Acumen Executive Search Website: https://www.acumenexecutivesearch.com/
Milwaukee Electronics: https://www.milwaukeeelectronics.com/
Hiring for Good Transcript
0:00 well hello everyone and welcome to the hiring for good podcast sponsored by
0:04 Acumen executive Search we are honored to have with us today Jered store
0:09 president of Milwaukee Electronics Jered is a Visionary leader known for his
0:13 collaborative and customer-centric approach to business with over two
0:17 decades of experience in the electronics manufacturing industry Jered has
0:21 cultivated a reputation for fostering innovation empowering teams building
0:26 strong lasting client partnerships his leadership style
0:31 emphasizes transparency adaptability and continuous Improvement which has driven
0:36 Milwaukee Electronics to deliver exceptional quality and reliable
0:39 solutions to its diverse customer base Jered’s ability to align the company’s
0:44 operational strengths with evolving market demands has positioned Milwaukee
0:48 as a trusted and forward-thinking partner in the electronics manufacturing
0:52 space Jered is a second-generation leader at Milwaukee electronics and will
0:58 be paying special attention to to his experiences and wisdom gathered through
1:02 the leadership transition process Jered thank you so much for being with us
1:07 today welcome to Jered for good thank you and then I will also mention as
1:11 usual my lovely co-host Suzanne is here with me um and um I’m sure Suzanne has
1:19 lots of fabulous things to say about Jered and us but we’re both thrilled to
1:23 to be here with you um before we kind of get into all of the leadership stuff I
1:30 think it would be really helpful for our audience to know just a little bit about
1:33 what Milwaukee Electronics does and just a kind of brief synopsis of the company
1:40 um and then the company’s story and then we’re going to get into your story after
1:43 that so go ahead yeah Milwaukee Electronics is an electronics design and
1:48 manufacturing company we have about 700 employees and three factory locations
1:54 one here in Portland our headquarters back in Milwaukee Wisconsin and then um
1:59 we have a factory in Tate Mexico near San Diego um and we have about 180,000
2:05 ft of manufacturing space and um then we have a couple of uh offices in Asia to
2:12 support our North American manufacturing footprint so great and I’m gonna probably
2:17 throw in some extra tidbits um Milwaukee also does an amazing job prototyping
2:25 working with customers from concept to completion right and I think that’s a
2:31 huge benefit of yeah we have a we have a a kind of a special a different brand
2:38 for the prototyping so we were the first ones to um create an e-commerce platform
2:43 for prototyping and for engineers so that they could rapidly get their
2:47 prototype so we’ve been doing that for 23 years now uh and we do that all here
2:51 in Portland which is which is nice so you have the prototypes you have the
2:55 contract electronics and then you have your own parts that you also manufacture
3:00 correct yeah and so we kind of have the the prototype and then we can do things
3:06 domestically here and then if the volumes get big enough and price
3:09 sensitivity comes then we can transition down to Mexico we’ve never had a factory
3:14 in China we’ve always kind of been a big fan of Mexico and it’s been uh in recent
3:20 years that Mexico’s really come up as a place you know kind of an alternative to
3:25 China and so we’ve at the moment we’re we’re riding that wave and and that’s
3:30 been good for us because we’ve been there since the 90s yeah well and and
3:33 how smart if you you know if businesses could have a crystal ball and see you
3:40 know these decisions 23 years later what a smart smart choice yeah and really
3:47 about hiring for good is about leadership and so I would love to ask
3:51 you about your journey and especially being gen two share with us how you got
3:58 where you are today yeah um so I was an entrepreneurship
4:04 major in college and uh I had like the lawn mowing business and stuff in high
4:08 school and college and things like that um and then right after school uh
4:14 finished I had the opportunity to come out here and start that e-commerce
4:18 division um so that was really wonderful because I kind of got to flex all those
4:23 entrepreneurial muscles and do that and so I did that for six or seven years and
4:28 um at that point I was in my late 20s and kind of knew I wanted to be in the
4:34 business long term but wanted to get some experience outside of the business
4:40 um at times I felt like it was a mistake that I went to work for my family right
4:44 out of school so I went to Asia for seven years uh spent a lot of did a
4:50 number of things there towards the end uh I came back to the business and
4:53 started our Singapore and India offices so I got to you know kind of um put some
4:59 of things I learned over there to work for the company and then um around the
5:03 time I had my first child to moved back here to Portland which beautiful place
5:07 to call home well and and I’m gonna and I know this and I should probably say you
5:12 know we’ve worked together for a couple of years now but you have multiple
5:18 siblings does everybody work for the company or had they worked at one point
5:22 or another everybody has but it was mostly like uh high school jobs so um
5:30 you know we actually when my parents bought the company when I was five we
5:34 had 22 people and at that time things were so tight that um we did all the
5:40 janitorial services for a number of years so my brothers and sisters we’d go
5:45 in on Sunday afternoons and you know empty the garbage cans and stuff like
5:48 that so we’ve all been around the business but as adults uh I’m the only
5:52 one that has stayed in the business so yeah it just me which has kind of made
5:57 things clean and easy uh in some levels so and then I’m curious
6:03 so you know you it sounds like a great fit that you had the chance to kind of
6:08 run your own brand you know underneath the company label and then go get all
6:13 these other experiences so at the point that you came back to the company um you
6:18 know what was the journey to now being the the senior leader yeah um so we had
6:24 our our VPS sales was retiring and that was kind of the thing that triggered it
6:28 um so it just aligned well for me with with having our first kid so I moved
6:32 back and moved into the sales role which was a huge um shift in what I had been
6:38 doing I did a lot of sales when I was working in the e-commerce division so
6:42 and I consider myself you know to be a Salesman primarily but so I came back
6:48 and was in sales for six years and then uh four years ago became CEO okay yeah
6:55 well and I think we learn more from our mistakes or you know when when these
7:02 formative experiences happen share with us some things that you’ve really
7:08 learned over this big career whether it’s at Milwaukee when you left when you
7:14 came back yeah um you know with that e-commerce group um after six years it
7:22 had grown pretty pretty aggressively and so by the time when I
7:27 was about 27 it was it had outgrown me and I was not the right person to be
7:34 leading that anymore I was you know still in my 20s in very light on
7:37 managerial experience and um I read a book by Adesus he was like a really
7:43 popular consultant back in the 80s um corporate life cycles was this concept
7:47 he created but um I got familiar with that and just realized yeah this is I’m
7:53 not the right person to lead this anymore based upon the size and the
7:58 number of people and so it was good good time for me to step back from that and
8:04 just kind of get some life experience and then um after I came back from
8:11 Asia I was when I was VP of sales I was on the executive team for the first time
8:16 and sort of learning about about all of that and things just move more slowly
8:22 when you’re when you’re you know at that level and you have to be more patient
8:26 and and uh kind of choose your best battles um so I had you know one moment
8:32 in particular um I saw this issue where there was a lack of ownership
8:41 on innovating with the screaming circuits our e-commerce group innovating
8:47 their um their product offering and so I wanted to bring
8:52 product management to our organization we didn’t have any product
8:56 managers and so I I spent about a year selling that to the executive team
9:03 and it was a very difficult and slow process for me so that led to a lot of
9:10 difficult conversations um fortunately I did get that opportunity
9:15 to do that and that has really I think helped our
9:20 organization increase our rate of change in terms of bringing a better and better
9:25 product to our customers um but that was you know just one where I kind of I was
9:30 react I was reacting strongly to things getting frustrated getting impatient and
9:34 so there was just a lot of maturing yeah uh with with that one um well in your
9:39 industry you talk about these life cycles and your industry as a whole has
9:45 become more and more commoditized and a lot of competition
9:50 especially you know 15 years ago seemed like there was a lot of Mom and Pops
9:56 kind of coming in and then they’re getting bought up how have you kind of
10:01 kept up with all of the industry changes yeah when I I graduated in 2002
10:08 from college and so that was the time when um everything was going to China so
10:14 like that that whole stretch was really tough um you know we’ve got some we’ve
10:21 always been what we call like a high mix low volume company so we we never really
10:28 did the big high high volume stuff that was the first stuff to go over there so
10:34 a lot of our uh our niche kind of kind of protected us um but then that was when I
10:42 started that whole prototype group because the thinking was okay maybe the
10:46 high volume stuff’s going to go but the prototypes they’re not going to do those
10:51 overseas and if we do them really quickly with all the time it takes for
10:56 you know FedEx or UPS to fly across the ocean we can we can always have a Time
11:00 Advantage yeah so that was part of the rationale uh for starting that and then
11:06 the Mexico facility was our alternative to China so for companies that had
11:11 intellectual property concerns or other concerns that was our
11:16 solution yeah I think it’s brilliant again in hindsight what wise
11:22 decisions yeah not my decisions and so the question for me is
11:26 now crystal ball look forward 10 years 20 years what is going to be that next
11:32 that next place what are the things we need to be doing today um to prepare for
11:38 the unknown right for whatever those next shifts exactly that’s it’s always
11:42 the the rub yeah takes real vision and I look at that Vision as people as part of
11:49 that strategy it’s not just what and where but who’s going to help you get
11:55 there so to kind of circle back on the leadership part
11:59 you know I would love to to hear some learnings on that piece of how do you
12:05 manage different or how do you lead different um through again this whole
12:11 transformation of gen one gen two employee yeah yeah that’s that’s been an
12:18 interesting one for me um so I’ve been in this role for four years and I I
12:23 really think that my job is about living in the future um if if I’m working on today’s
12:30 problems we’re we’re going to be in trouble pretty soon I need to be working
12:34 on tomorrow’s problems and so that’s just a fundamental thing
12:39 that that I uh the an expectation I have for myself in terms of you know what
12:45 what my role is um and you know with that there’s a fair amount of anxiety
12:52 when you start worrying about you know all these big global yeah
12:58 trends and things so you know for me emotional intelligence or just
13:08 um self-awareness I guess more fundamentally and working with that
13:12 anxiety because some anxiety is a good thing some anxiety straightens your
13:16 spine gets you out of bed a little earlier in the morning helps you bring
13:20 your a-game um so there’s like a healthy dose that I try to maintain um just as
13:29 I’m you know uh going about going about things yeah um so that’s been a big part
13:35 of of it for me because I took over in January of 2021 which was about 10
13:42 months into COVID wow so it’s been a very dynamic time um and so just a lot just there’s
13:50 just been a lot going on a lot and our industry in particular I don’t know if
13:54 you remember but car manufacturers were shut down because of electronics right
14:00 our industry in particular everybody had a tough time but our industry in
14:03 particular was really struggling by the supply chain set the supply chain side
14:07 just went I mean stuff that nobody had ever seen before you know 52 104 we lead
14:15 times on parts so we had a very um a very difficult road the whole industry
14:21 yeah um so it’s been it’s been just a dynamic couple of years I’m sure were
14:27 you planning on taking over leadership at the time that you did or was it I
14:32 mean was this part of like a planned out transition and you stepped in and then
14:36 the unplanned stuff was covid and supply chain or was it a little bit more of a
14:42 you know unplanned um transition yeah yeah we we made the decision about six
14:49 months before we implemented it so we had made that decision the summer
14:54 before and then um you know unfortunately my dad got diagnosed with
14:59 cancer like the month before we announced it so we we made the decision
15:04 in like July August and then um in December he got diagnosed and then we
15:09 announced in January so there was just it was like it was a lot going on um but
15:15 we were intentional about that and even well before that we had been working
15:20 with um someone who specializes in family business succession for like 2
15:26 years before that so we we it had been a good long road I
15:32 mean and it sounds all nice and neat and planned I mean these things are are very
15:37 difficult and complicated but we’d been you know devoting time and energy to it
15:42 um but it it was evolving you know just kind of has these things do yeah and
15:47 we’ve talked to other organizations that did the transition and it’s interesting
15:53 because you devote who you are with what we do we we kind of identify that
15:59 and the ego and having to let go and the I I’m going to say this to all the
16:05 business coaches on the part of the retiring CEO all the great transitions really do
16:11 have that outsider to help coach to let go to bring out the down the Egos and to
16:18 say this is not a battle you should be fighting Let It Go or what have you um
16:24 and it sounds like that really helped in this it’s it’s definitely a hard thing
16:30 you know my dad was the CEO for 36 years I mean it was like it was like a ch—his
16:35 fifth child you know and um so yeah having having that really helped bring
16:42 some consistency and it created a little bit of accountability for both of us um and
16:49 yeah it it made a really huge difference and I think it was like the fourth or
16:54 fifth person we we looked at a number of people and finally found a person that
16:59 really um had influence with both of us you know I think that’s the challenge is
17:04 someone who can really speak to and challenge both both parties um it’s a
17:10 it’s a deeply personal thing yeah yeah yeah well and you’ve used a lot of great
17:16 words um whether it’s humility High EQ on your leadership style and and it’s
17:23 these values I think these leaders bring and it you know kind of gets pushed
17:29 throughout the organization but share with us some of these values that you
17:34 really do try to operationalize in the organization yeah it’s tough it’s tough
17:40 for me to give a sutin answer on that I mean I I I think it’s it’s really a lot
17:45 of my dad’s values um you know he he really set the tone and and um
17:56 he I the word that I use a lot is just care I think uh care for others and care
18:02 for our people genuine genuine care it’s it’s it’s such a simple thing and you
18:09 know um sounds so so typical but um you know in in the family business world
18:19 um those relationships the people it’s it’s really what it’s
18:27 about I mean that’s that’s the the example that was set for me
18:33 100% um we have anybody who makes it to 25 years in our
18:39 company gets a secret red envelope with an undisclosed amount of money that they
18:44 cannot share or talk about with anyone their pictures up on the wall we bring
18:48 their family in we have a big celebration there’s a lot of things that
18:54 happen around around people in a family business and so
18:58 it’s a it’s a unique it’s a unique environment and I I think that’s really
19:03 the heart of it um so yeah that’s the word that I use the most is is care um
19:10 well and it’s interesting 700 employees and you still refer to it as a say
19:15 almost the exact same thing like at what point is it I mean yeah it’s it’s a
19:20 large company now yeah there were years when every person in our employee got a
19:25 handwritten note from my dad for example wow it’s like stuff like that that was
19:29 I’m just like how did he find that time wow it’s like it’s amazing to me that’s
19:35 actually like a perfect segue into one of my next questions which was how did
19:39 you balance respecting your dad’s kind of legacy and practices while
19:44 implementing your own vision and leadership style like how do you
19:48 navigate that process yeah you know I think philosophically um people say oh
19:54 you’ve got big shoes to fill right that’s something we’ve all heard a bunch
19:58 and and you know the way that I say it is you know I get to be my own person
20:02 I’m I’m not here to fill his shoes but I’m here to walk the the same
20:06 path um and so so that’s kind of um how I approach it um I’ve just lost my train of thought
20:18 here so give me a moment um you know honestly I think we’ve we
20:27 have a a ton of alignment on those values so there haven’t been a lot of
20:33 moments when um I feel very conflicted on on the value side of
20:40 it the stuff that we had challenges on was like how much should we invest in it
20:45 you know he was an older generation and that wasn’t as much of a thing but for
20:50 me huge huge part of how I approach things like well what are we doing from
20:55 a systems perspective the information cuz I’ve grown up you know in the
20:59 information age so we’ve had a lot of that stuff um if there was something
21:05 that we uh have just had a difference on style-wise I would say um I really have
21:13 tried to bring more vulnerability into the organization and more cander you know
21:20 for me those two things are really really important you know we’re a 71y
21:26 old company um there’s a lot of stuff that we do that is out of dat there’s a lot of
21:35 things we do great but there’s plenty of things that we need to to look at
21:39 critically and and modernize those things and to have that perspective that
21:45 critical eye we we need to be candid with one another about what’s working
21:49 what’s not working and and for people who are in different parts of the
21:54 organization there’s some vulnerability to that to raising a hand or challenging
21:59 so those are two things that I’ve tried to create um more of in in my role well
22:06 and and not only was there a transition with you and your father but you look at
22:11 the leadership team and there’s been a lot of transition to where you know like
22:16 you said people have been with your organization 25 30 sometimes more than
22:22 that years yep and and looking at building the next level of teams
22:29 and what what do you value and what do you look for when you’re looking at this
22:36 leadership change yeah um I really value uh versatility so um we encourage internal
22:48 promotions or people applying for different jobs so we’ve got a number of
22:51 different people that have maybe had five six seven roles in 10 or 15
23:00 years um you know I can think of a person who um has had a number of different roles
23:07 at one point in 2015 we were having some really hard times we were we were doing
23:12 some layoffs this person’s position was being eliminated um because we couldn’t afford
23:18 it they took a night shift supervisor role for about nine months or a year uh
23:25 and now they’re kind of back in in a similar department but I really value
23:29 and appreciate people who learn different areas of the business because over time then they
23:35 really understand a lot of different parts of the company well and they
23:39 develop a really good sense of judgment and understanding um so I really try to
23:46 encourage people to take on different roles and move around the company and
23:51 then we also have um an executive development program so we have seven uh
23:57 employees currently in that program and those are people that are being groomed for future
24:04 executive roles um so we get together every year and we provide them training
24:09 and do a lot of stuff um for them to get to know one another because they’re
24:13 going to be that next generation of of leader that’s great and was that
24:18 something that you implemented or has that been around for that is something
24:22 that I implemented after I took on this role so that’s been something you know
24:26 one of my passion projects for sure and it’s been really fun to to do that and
24:31 you know see those see those people um you know growing and and I think for
24:35 them everybody’s felt really honored obviously to be to be a part of that and
24:39 we’ve tried to add a little bit of you know a little bit of uh Swagger to it
24:43 for them so it’s been a it’s been a really nice one yeah it’s interesting
24:47 listening to you talk well in you know this podcast is called hiring for good
24:52 so we always finish up with what does hiring for good mean to
24:56 you yeah I think um you know the thing that I heard from my father over and
25:03 over and over was take a long-term perspective as much as you can afford to
25:08 take a long-term perspective and I think in a family business you you can do that
25:13 you have that that freedom and so when it comes to people um you know take taking that
25:21 long-term perspective and and see people beyond just whatever their immediate
25:25 role is or their immediate sense of productivity and you know that brings in that whole
25:31 concept of caring and just caring for that that person in the 70 to 80 years
25:37 of life that they have and whatever journey they’re on um doing what we can
25:43 for them while we while we run a business I think that’s what it’s about
25:48 well that’s beautiful thank you so much for being our guest and it was just such
25:53 a pleasure to uh have this conversation with you I know our audience is going to
25:57 really benefit from your wisdom thank you Jered yeah thanks for having me
26:02 thanks for joining us today at Hiring for Good if you inspired by our
26:05 conversation don’t forget to like follow and subscribe wherever you get your
26:09 podcast and if you want to learn more about our Executive Search Services
26:14 check us out at www.hiringforgood.net or our company website Acumen
26:20 Executive Search thanks so much and don’t forget to join us next time for
26:24 another in-depth conversation about transformational leadership till then
26:28 have fun