Dave Wheeler

I’ve been fortunate to drive technology and innovation throughout my career - to raise the bar of what’s possible: from working on F-22 fighter jets to re-imagining an integrated, high-performing team at New Balance. As the Chief Operating Officer, I’m responsible for the lifecycle of our product; capturing ideas from the design team and owning the development, production plans, manufacturing and delivery into our consumer’s hands with performance, speed, innovation, ethics, sustainability and overall best value at the forefront. During my six-year tenure at New Balance, my team enabled a doubling in both revenue and volume. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to lead strategic expansions including the new Sports Research Lab and a new advanced manufacturing hub that’s changing the way we produce products today and for the future. As an early mentor, Larry Bossidy, once said to me, “Execution is the ability to mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, and achieve the promised results.” Innovation and technology are at the heart of what I do, whether collaborating with our ambassadors to produce products that reflect their style and values, to working with our world-class athletes to ensure our products are one step ahead of our competitors in terms of sports innovation. I enjoy taking challenges head-on. At Cintas, I led the overhaul of supply chain operations, creating a high-performance Integrated Global Supply Chain organization and a dedicated private fleet. Through this, we delivered the best KPI results in Cintas’s history, setting new benchmarks for operational excellence. We grew revenue from $1B to $6B during my tenure before being recruited to New Balance. Before that, at Union Pacific, I led the high-impact capacity and operations team that scientifically determined the optimal capital spending profile of more than $1B annually. In the process, I learned the intricated and critical nature of the US transportation network with expert testimony to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the US government. Currently, I live in Boston with my wife of 33 years and two daughters. I serve on the boards of the World Federation of Sporting Goods and the Advanced Functional Fabric of America, and I advise for Zero100 and Women in Supply Chain.