Boris Ladwig, The Republic City Editor
Cummins Inc. President Joe Loughrey said that the Columbus community’s pursuit of excellence has somewhat diminished since he arrived about 20 years ago.
“When I first came here, Columbus seemed to be a little bit more comfortable with being the best it could be, and there seemed, and I have to underline that word seemed, to be more of a community consensus in that regard,” Loughrey said recently.
“I don’t know if anybody would put it quite this way, but when I look at it, it’s like some elements of the community aren’t so sure we want to be the best we can be.
“And while I see a sense of a lot of work going on now to build more of a cross-group consensus to get back on track here, it feels to me like there was a falling off.”
Loughrey blamed the trends partially on a loss of leadership that occurred when J. Irwin Miller’s involvement lessened in the 1990s.
“Clearly the community’s been struggling a little bit focusing on who’s really leading us where,” Loughrey said. “And … I have a feeling that based on watching and looking and seeing what’s around, that that’s changing again.”
Excellent educational opportunities and a welcoming community are critical to attracting diverse and talented employees, which the Columbus-based engine maker needs to remain competitive.
“It’s a really important issue for Cummins, because Cummins is the only remaining independent engine company of really any reasonable size in the world … and given emissions challenges, industry consolidation, integration, globalization and the fact that our markets are cyclical, in order for us to succeed long-term we have to be able to recruit the very best talent.
“And talent is not limited to white males.
“The communities in which we operate have to be attractive places for talent to come to, so it’s not only how the community looks, but it’s how it feels, the education it offers, the sense of, ‘I can be me here, it’s Ok,” is really important.
“And one of the things I worry a lot about … especially now because we’re doing so much better, is not enough of our employees or people in the community really understand that the challenges Cummins has out there … are pretty big, and they’re not going away just because we’re doing better.
“And in order to remain independent, we have to have better talent than the other guys. That talent has to work better together than the other guys and the talent has to be focused on, after whatever differences of opinion they may have, … going after shared goals and objectives.”
Going global
Loughrey also said that in the last 20 years Cummins has become much more global and diverse in terms of business and employees.
“I mean there’s no comparison,” he said.
The North American heavy-duty truck business used to generate about 75 percent of company sales. It now accounts for about 20 percent.
“That’s been a big shift,” he said.
In the last 20 years, the company has more aggressively tried to attract foreign nationals and Americans with experiences living overseas who could help the company understand and enter new markets.
“So you’ve seen a significant change in … the make-up of the company, management, even though we know we can do better and we need to do better, clearly (Cummins has a) much more diverse employee population.”