A Strong Culture Across Chapters

Join us as we hear from former CEO and President of Vollrath Company, Paul Bartelt and present CEO and President of Vollrath Company, Erik Lampe during this executive series that will captivate and inspire you along the way.


  
Paul Bartelt
Retired CEO & President Vollrath Company

Paul Bartelt is the former CEO and President of the Vollrath Company LLC a 149 year-old global company supplying products to the commercial foodservice, retail foodservice, industrial component and industrial cleaning industries.   Over the past 14 years Vollrath has tripled in size through significantly expanding both its product lines and global reach.  Prior to Vollrath Paul held a variety of leadership positions at the Kohler Company and John Deere with the last being President of the Engines Business at Kohler.  Paul has a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.B.A.  from the University of Iowa.
Paul is passionate about giving back to the community and has been involved in a wide span of activities including leadership roles in the Family Resource Center, Boys and Girls Club, Big Brother Big Sisters, Lakeshore Technical College Foundation, Lakeland University, Youth Sailing, Nourish, Boy Scouts, FIRST Robotics and the Red Raider Manufacturing Project in cooperation with the Sheboygan Area School District.
Paul has been happily married for 33 years to his wife Beth and had two children, Katie (24) and Noah (22) and is exploring the new world of being an empty nester.  They currently reside on a 100-acre hobby farm in progress outside of Sheboygan Falls, WI and when not on the farm spend as much time possible sailing on Lake Michigan, ski instructing and ski patrolling.  Their new gig is pursuing their creative side by creating metal art through blacksmithing and welding.



Erik Lampe
CEO & President Vollrath Company

Erik Lampe joined the Vollrath Company in March 2023 and became President and CEO in July 2023. He comes to Vollrath with a background in general management, strategic growth, innovation, and operational performance for industrial companies. Erik's professional journey is largely characterized by significant tenures at Oshkosh Corporation and McKinsey & Company, where he assumed numerous pivotal leadership positions. In 2022 as principal for Comvest Partners’ Operating Advisory Group, he served as a leader for the firm’s privately held companies, guiding them through business challenges.
 
Erik is a committed advocate for people development, harboring an unwavering belief in a values-oriented approach. His alignment with Vollrath's culture and deep-seated commitment to its people and stakeholders made the company a natural fit for him. Based on Vollrath's long-standing, family-oriented history and future-centric vision, Erik feels privileged to contribute to next exciting chapter of Vollrath’s story as crosses the milestone of its 150th anniversary and beyond.
 
Erik received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School. Erik and his wife Kristen grew up in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and they are excited to immerse themselves in the vibrant Sheboygan area. Outside the corporate sphere, Erik is a devoted husband and father, balancing his love for the great outdoors, flying planes, and training for triathlons with parental duties.