Electrifying Move: Schumacher Electric Corporation Relocates its HQ to Fort Worth to Expand its Vision

The global leader in automotive power conversion products—battery chargers, jump starters, and portable devices—is moving from Chicago to near DFW Airport. The team hopes its Foreign Trade Zone status will uniquely position it to meet the auto aftermarket industry’s rapidly evolving needs. Schumacher recently launched initiatives in the EV market with more introductions coming in 2021, reports Private Equity Wire.

Schumacher Electric Corporation, a global leader in automotive aftermarket power conversion products including battery chargers, jump starters, and portable power devices, is moving its headquarters to Fort Worth.

Established in 1947, Schumacher is moving from the Chicago area—excited to leave the snow behind, take on Texas, and hire from the large pool of professionals in DFW. Looking to expand in both company and client size, the new headquarters has been located near DFW Airport with foreign-trade zone status, which Schumacher hopes will uniquely position the company to meet the automotive aftermarket industry’s rapidly evolving needs. The move is expected to be completed by end of this summer.

Mickey Leech [Schumacher Electric]

Spearheading the Texan transition is Schumacher’s new CEO Mickey Leech, who previously spent 18 years at outdoor power equipment company MTD Products. Leech believes that solidifying Schumacher’s authority in the emerging EV charging arena while delivering innovation to traditional aftermarket power categories is critical to growing the company’s vision.

“We decided on a one-distribution center model a few years ago, and selected Texas for our facility,” Leech said in a statement. “Texas is corporate friendly, and a very desirable location for a one-distribution model. We were fortunate to be able to build our headquarters in the same geography. We’re excited to have our company headquartered in the Lone Star State and look forward to adding new talent from the flourishing DFW area”

The headquarters features a 30,000-square-foot open-concept office and a sprawling 300,000-square-foot warehouse. Schumacher plans to collaborate in one space across all areas including leadership, engineering, customer service, IT, HR, marketing, and finance teams. The new facility also features in-house research and development, an engineering lab, and a garage for real-life simulation testing.

Looking to attract talent

With its move expected to be completed soon, the company says it’s eager to hire skilled workers.

“We’re pleased our new facility offers a collaborative and productive work environment where team members are set up for success every day,” Shantel Bill, chief legal and human resources officer at Schumacher said in the statement. “The DFW area is ideal to attract great talent for both our distribution facility and our headquarters. The area has fantastic educational institutions that produce exceptional talent to feed into our growing teams.”