Charlton-based manufacturer MTD Micro Molding has named Chad Nikel as its new CEO, the company announced Tuesday.
Nikel joins the company after serving as president and CEO of Wilmington-based manufacturer Elevaris Medical Devices.
“What drew me to MTD is specific,” Nikel said in a statement. “I looked at the capabilities – the tooling, the metrology, the cleanroom production – and they are impressive. But what immediately stood out was the culture: The team’s genuine passion for working together to solve today’s most complex manufacturing challenges.”
He replaces Gary Hulecki, who left the company in November and now serves as CEO of Leominster-based manufacturer RPM Micro Solutions, according to his LinkedIn profile.
MTD Micro Molding has undergone significant growth and change, completing an 11,700-square-foot expansion in 2022 to its manufacturing facility, which effectively doubled its cleanroom manufacturing space. The expansion came on the heels of the unexpected death of its owner-president, Dennis Tully.
The company is now owned by Tully’s widow, Darlene Tully, a former longtime Charlton town clerk.
“Chad understands that the culture my late husband built – the expectation that we solve the hard problem, not the easy one – is the asset worth protecting most,” Tully said in a statement.
Nikel seems uniquely poised to lead MTD Micro Molding, having worked from both the customer side of manufacturing and the specialized manufacturer side. Approximately one-third of MTD’s programs involve finishing a project that stalled at another molder, or unique projects other molders won’t take on.
“My job is to continue building the capabilities and expertise that let us take on the programs others can’t,” Nikel said.
Monica Benevides is a correspondent for Worcester Business Journal.
