Andy Janson’s career trajectory just took a nice spike upward, and frankly it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Janson has been elected by the Board of Directors of Hanson Logistics in St. Joseph to serve as only the fourth Chief Executive Officer in the company’s 60-year history.
I’m not sure who was responsible for Janson’s hiring in the first place, but if I had to guess, I would put my money on company Chairman and Founder Merlin Hanson who made the announcement this week saying, “On behalf of the Hanson Logistics Board of Directors, we are very pleased to appoint Andy as our next CEO.” Hanson went on to say, “Andy has a deep understanding of our business and has led our operations, delivering strong results at Hanson Logistics.”
Janson, who is 52 years old, had been serving in the role of President at Hanson Logistics until his immediate appointment, as he succeeds Gregory Hanson in that role. Greg had been CEO at Hanson for 14 years, taking the reins in 2003, and he will continue to serve on the Board of Directors.
Merlin Hanson continued with his statement, saying, “As a company, we have achieved significant milestones during this time through the great teamwork of our Hanson Logistics people throughout our organization. Looking to the future, I believe we have more opportunities than ever before in our history. I know Andy, and our Hanson Logistics leadership team, will continue to achieve success for our company.”
Janson’s career with Hanson Logistics began in 2004 when he came aboard and five years later he was tabbed as the President of the company. Prior to that he had served as Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Logistics.
Janson’s star is rising within the logistics industry as well, having served for several years on the national board of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses. He worked his way up to the Executive Committee of that trade association’s board and currently serves as Treasurer. He will advance next year to the role of Vice Chair of the group and in 2019 will take on the top leadership job as Chairman of the IARW Board of Directors, a highly influential position in his industry group.
Regarding his role on the national level, Janson has said, “I am very much humbled and at the same time quite honored to serve on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses with some incredible colleagues from around the world.” He also told worldwide colleagues, “Having worked in this industry for more than twenty years and learned so much from the Association, I am honored to serve and give back to the Association. I continue to learn from our Board comprised of Executives from around the world running some of the best and largest companies in our industry. Finally, I would like to thank all of my Teammates throughout our Hanson Logistics organization for their hard work and dedication, without them, this would not be possible.”
Hanson Logistics specializes in climate-controlled warehousing and transportation and is headquartered on South State Street in St. Joseph. They have significant investments in major warehousing not only here in Michigan, but also in Indiana. They handle logisitics in virtually every state in the union.
Janson is a 1987 graduate of Rockhurst University with a BSBA degree in Marketing & Management. He is also actively engaged in the local community, currently serving as Chairman of the Board at United Way of Southwest Michigan, among other roles.
