Senior Leadership Appointments at Boston Whaler and Mercury Marine

As you will have seen with other recent organizational announcements, we have accelerated our processes for career development and rounding-out the experience of established and emerging leaders across the Brunswick organization. One area of particular focus is ensuring that, where possible, our leaders have experience in more than one Brunswick division, which is helpful not only in broadening their perspectives on the business and providing more succession flexibility, but also in cross-fertilizing knowledge and ideas. Consistent with this objective, we are pleased to announce the following changes effective immediately.

Kris Neff is named President, Boston Whaler reporting to Aine Denari. Kris joined Brunswick in 2005 and has held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility across many of the divisions. Kris worked within the Brunswick Boat Group, Attwood, and Mercury in category leadership, operational, and business development roles before moving to Life Fitness to lead global operations, M&A, and as integration lead and President of Cybex. Kris rejoined Mercury in 2017, moving into his most recent role as Vice President Category Management and Strategic Planning. Under his direction, Mercury launched some of its most innovative products including the February launch of the 600hp V12 Verado as well as our 1^st Mate Safety System, which won multiple CES Innovation Awards.

Kris holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, a master’s degree in Engineering, and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Kris started his career with Ford Motor Company as a Manufacturing Engineer, before joining Brunswick in 2005.

Nick Stickler is named Vice President, Category Management and Strategic Planning, Mercury Marine, reporting to Chris Drees. Nick also joined Brunswick in 2005, in its Bowling & Billiards division, advancing through the organization in a variety of strategy and business development roles before being named Vice President and General Manager, Bowling Consumer & Aftermarket Products. He later transitioned to the Brunswick Boat Group where he was promoted to President of Fort Wayne Operations and subsequently assumed his current role as President of Boston Whaler. Nick has guided Whaler through a time of incredible growth both in product portfolio and capacity, including with the recent re-opening of the Flagler facility which is adding further capacity to meet record demand from Whaler’s customers. His experience leading two of our boat companies and his past powertrain engineering experience will make him an impactful addition to Mercury’s leadership team.

Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Automotive Systems Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Nick started his career with Ford Motor Company as a Powertrain Design Engineer before joining Brunswick in 2005.

Please join us in welcoming both Kris and Nick into their new roles.

Chris Drees
President, Mercury Marine

Aine Denari
President, Brunswick Boat Group

Released September 20, 2021