Executive Team

James L. Janik currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Interim CEO of Douglas Dynamics. He has served as Chairman since 2014 and became Interim CEO in July 2024. Mr. Janik has been a director of the Company since 2000 and is also a member of the Board of Directors of Jason Industries LLC.

Mr. Janik’s extensive career at Douglas Dynamics began in 1992 when he joined as the Director of Sales of Western Products. He also served as General Manager of the Western Products division from 1994 to 2000 and was Vice President of Marketing and Sales from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2018, Mr. Janik served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

Before joining Douglas Dynamics, Mr. Janik was the Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Sunlite Plastics Inc. and spent eleven years at the John Deere Company in various key marketing, sales, and production management positions.

Sarah Lauber serves as Executive Vice President - Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Douglas Dynamics in 2017, Ms. Lauber held financial leadership positions at several public companies in Wisconsin. She was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Jason Industries, Inc., a diversified industrial company from 2015 to 2017. Ms. Lauber also served as Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis at Regal Beloit Corporation, a manufacturer of electric motors, generators and controls, and mechanical motion control products, from 2011 to 2015. She served as Chief Financial Officer of A.O. Smith Corporation’s Electrical Products Company (“EPC”), a manufacturer of electric motors for residential and commercial applications, from 2002 until EPC was acquired by Regal Beloit in 2011. Over the last 25 years, she has held a diverse range of financial leadership and strategic roles after starting her career as an accountant at KPMG.

Ms. Lauber is also a member on the Board of Directors of the Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) and serves on the Audit and Compensation committees. Ms. Lauber is proud to serve as the Treasurer and Board member of the Junior Achievement® of Wisconsin. She holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University-San Bernardino and an executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Linda Evans serves as Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to joining Douglas Dynamics in June 2008, Ms. Evans served as the Director of Human Resources for Pentair Filtration from November 1998 to June 2008. Ms. Evans is an active member of the Society of Human Resources Management and has her Senior Professional HR (SPHR) certification. She also leads the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University. Ms. Evans holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University.

Mark Van Genderen currently serves as Chief Operating Officer & President, Work Truck Attachments. Mr. Van Genderen previously served as President, Work Truck Attachments from 2023 to 2024. His additional roles at the company include President of Commercial Snow & Ice Control (CSI) from 2021 to 2023, and Vice President of Strategy and Business Development from 2020 to 2021. He joined Douglas Dynamics in 2020 after spending 21 years in multiple leadership roles at the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. These responsibilities included leadership of the company’s Latin America division, the company’s parts and accessories product development function, and Harley-Davidson’s riding gear and lifestyle apparel division which included the company’s eCommerce business.

Mr. Van Genderen is a member of the Lutheran Social Services Foundation Board of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, where he serves as the Chair of the Finance, Investment, and Audit Committee. Mark is a past Trustee at Hope College, his undergraduate alma mater, where he holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Mr. Van Genderen also holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

In her current capacity as Vice President, Business Transformation, Shannan leads strategic initiatives and Continuous Improvement efforts using the Douglas Dynamics Management System (DDMS), that she helped to develop and codify. Since 2018, Shannan has been at the forefront of steering the company's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. She joined the company in 2016 as Director of Operational Excellence, providing leadership in the development and implementation of DDMS enterprise wide.

Prior to joining Douglas Dynamics, Shannan spent 13 years at Harley-Davidson Motor Company in a variety of roles across the organization with an emphasis on people and process improvement. Her extensive experience includes continuous improvement, organizational development and change management as well as building and managing an HR Operations team responsible for leading strategic HR initiatives, HR Data & Analytics and HR Shared Services.

Shannan received her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and achieved a Master of Business Administration at Marquette University. She is currently completing the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.