With his unusual role change, equipment executive Brad Allen is shifting his business focus from high above to ground level. Last month, he left as vice president of marketing, product management and engineering for manufacturer Terex Corp.’s Genie brand of aerial work platforms and lifting devices used in construction and other industries, to be director of engagement for Pontis Nicaragua, a non-profit that helps poor farmers there to boost crop yields, diversity and prices through development of model farm-training centers. It is part of the non-profit Pontis Inc., founded in 2001 to provide agricultural, business and life training to the poor in rural Latin America.
“Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and 60% of the rural population lives in extreme poverty, earning less than $2 per day,” says Allen, who was a 17-year Genie and Terex veteran in Redmond, Wash. Terex bought Genie Holdings Inc. for $75 million in 2002.