Mack Defense names president, CEO

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Jon Harris, The Morning Call  /  February 5, 2018

Mack Defense LLC of Upper Macungie Township on Monday announced it has stripped the interim tag from David Hartzell’s title.

Hartzell is now president and CEO of Mack Defense, an appointment that was effective Jan. 1. Hartzell had filled the position on an interim basis since September, replacing Ryan Werling, who now works at AblePay Health in Bethlehem.

Hartzell joined Mack Defense, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mack Trucks Inc., as director of engineering in 2015 and became senior director of product development, purchasing and projects in 2017. That came after a long run at Mack Trucks, where the Penn State University product started as a staff engineer in 1988. From there, Hartzell became chief engineer for electrical and electronic engineering in 1998, later advancing to director of product planning in 2003 and then director of product development in 2005.

Mack Defense, headquartered in a suite at 7310 W. Tilghman St. in Upper Macungie, is part of Volvo Group’s governmental sales business area, a division the Swedish company said in October it was no longer trying to sell. The governmental sales segment accounts for 1.5 percent of Volvo’s total sales and employs about 1,300 people, most of whom are in France. Volvo’s governmental sales business manufactures and sells specially designed vehicles to governments, the defense industry, peacekeeping forces and aid organizations.

Mack has typically declined to disclose the number of Mack Defense employees for competitive reasons. Mack Defense’s headquarters, however, is known to manage defense engineering, contracting, purchasing, project management and finance activities.

One of the biggest wins for Mack Defense came in mid-2015 when it won a pair of contracts — with a value of about $560 million — to provide trucks and equipment to the Canadian Armed Forces, though delivery of those vehicles has been delayed, the Ottawa Citizen has reported.

Mack Defense, created in 2012, is just one part of Mack Trucks’ presence in the Lehigh Valley, a footprint that includes a 1-million-square-foot assembly plant in Lower Macungie Township that employs about 2,400 people.