Karl Wadensten is the President/CEO of VIBCO Vibrators, an industrial manufacturing company with offices in Rhode Island and Canada, and licensors in the United Kingdom and Australia. VIBCO serves over 360,000 customers worldwide.
Under Mr. Wadensten’s leadership, VIBCO has won numerous awards, including Providence Business News “Best Places to Work in Rhode Island,” Best Companies, the Progressive Manufacturing PM100 Award, and is a past winner of a Providence Business News Business Excellence Award.
Mr. Wadensten is a member of the National Speakers Bureau and a lecturer on culture change and Lean Operations. He is a member of the Lean Steering Committee for the Economic Development Council and was instrumental in bringing the Lean Culture to the State of Rhode Island. Governor Gina Raimondo visited VIBCO in April of 2015 at which time she signed the Executive Order to Implement Lean in Rhode Island Government.
Mr. Wadensten is on the Board of Roger Williams University. Since 1994 he has been an active member and frequent event champion of Young President’s Association (YPO). He is a current member of the Education Committee for the National Precast Concrete Association, has served on the MCGRI Board of Beacon Mutual, and has been a member of the Fundraising Committee for South County Hospital. Mr. Wadensten is Treasurer of the RI Commerce Corporation Board of Directors. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in business and obtained his MBA at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Says Mr. Wadensten. “Rhode Island’s economy is at a pivotal point and I want to bring Lean to the forefront of the conversation. I hope that my participation on the board means that CommerceRI will spend more time visiting actual places where work gets done. We have big challenges in Rhode Island, but there are thousands and thousands of great, creative minds in this state. We have the potential to do something really special here.”
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