Richard Lacks, who just celebrated his 70th birthday, said that although he won't be running the "day-in and day-out" operations, he will have "more of an advisory role than one of executing."
"I will still be talking to [Hrnyak], probably once a week to discuss issues," Lacks said, such as, "where we're going to spend money, how we're going to do it, strategically planning where we're going to be five to 10 years from now.
"Culture is everything in this company," he said. "Without the right fit at the top, the organization could fail."
Hrnyak, who joined the company in 2002, was named Lacks president in 2015. He was the first non-family member to fill the position at the time. Before becoming president, he served as director of sales in the company's Plastic Plate division and was promoted to general manager and vice president.
"He's an extension of the Lacks family, he just has a different last name," Richard Lacks said. "I have all the confidence in the world that [Hrnyak] would run it the way I would run it."
"We've got a very strong team of executives and mid-managers that we've put in place to run the next mile," Hrnyak said.
As he takes on his new responsibilities, Hrnyak said he's "oversensitive" to challenges presented from the COVID-19 pandemic like "keeping our people safe and employed, keeping the opportunities that we have historically put in the top priority."
"2020 was a stressful year but this company, for the last 40-plus years, has built a foundation to withstand these types of things," he added.
"The management of the Lacks organization is in good hands with Nick, Mike and Scott," Lacks Jr. said in a Feb. 8 news release. "Our employees are our greatest asset and come first. Nick, Mike and Scott understand that, and will maintain the culture of a family-owned business."
With an estimated $510 million in sales in North America, Lacks is No. 14 in the most recent ranking of injection molders in the region by Plastics News.
Originally named Metlac Corp. when it was founded in 1961 to create die-cast products, Lacks Industries was renamed in 1972 by the Lacks family. Richard Lacks Jr. became the third-generation Lacks family CEO.
Lacks has more than 3,000 employees at facilities in Grand Rapids and Novi, Mich.; Germany; the United Kingdom; Japan; and South Korea. Its business units include Lacks Trim Systems, Lacks Wheel Trim Systems and Plastic Plate LLC.
