Please join our team in extending best wishes to CAT Squared Vice President of Sales Tom Huls as he embarks on his next great adventure in retirement. Tom has been a valuable leader of CAT Squared’s sales team for 13 years, capping a 47-year career.
“When I was hired, I asked the late Mike Sardina [CAT Squared’s CEO 1995-2014] what my territory would be and he said outside the front door,” said Huls. “The main objective was to get CAT Squared into the pork and beef industry and increase brand penetration into the poultry sector.”
Tom began his career in 1973 as a truck driver for Kapperman Trucking. In 1975, he was hired as a district sales manager for Feterl Manufacturing, an equipment manufacturer of grain augers and cattle feeders.
“I started out living in Nebraska and traveling the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and Colorado,” said Huls. “When South Dakota was added to my territory, I moved to Yankton where I met the love of my life, Dr. Diane Balich. In 1983, we moved to Arkansas where I was hired by Sellers Equipment to sell farm equipment locally.”
Tom transitioned into the poultry industry in 1984 when he was hired by AMKO Equipment, a Big Dutchman equipment distributor of poultry equipment. In 1985, Big Dutchman honored Tom with an award for for selling more chain feeding equipment in one year than any other distributor’s salesman had ever sold in that timeframe. Big Dutchman then hired Tom to be a regional manager in 1986, covering the western half of the USA.
In 1989, Tom was hired by LATCO and was given the opportunity to set up a poultry equipment division. LATCO became the first turnkey builder in the USA. During Tom’s tenure as sales manager, LATCO became Cumberland’s largest distributor of poultry equipment. In 1991, Cumberland hired Tom as a regional sales manager covering Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. Eventually, Tom became Cumberland’s president and remained in that position until 2004.
In 2005, Tom was hired as a regional sales manager Agile Manufacturing, a subsidiary of CTB, Inc. He then left to join the CAT Squared team in 2007 as VP of Sales.
“It has been a great experience. In retirement, I plan to continue traveling with Diane. We’re planning a sailboat cruise of the Adriatic and parts of the Mediterranean Sea. We also intend to do a lot of horse camping vacations around the USA.”
Tom’s retirement starts May 15,2020. We hope you join us in wishing Tom well as he starts a new chapter in his life.