Gaze over the shoulder of Gene Smith in his office, and you’ll see a picture of members of the Hunter team hanging in a corner over a sunlit plant.
The decoration is appropriate for an executive who has spent decades of his career building and contributing to an organizational culture focused on creating an atmosphere where he says its people and their well-being come first.
“The culture around here is, in my opinion, second-to-none,” Smith says.
After more than two decades with the company, Smith is retiring from his position as president of Hunter Industries’ residential, commercial and golf irrigation and lighting division.
“Gene exemplifies the Hunter core values of customer satisfaction, innovation, family and social responsibility. I have no doubt that several decades from now, people will continue to speak of him as a model leader at Hunter. Gene has true concern for our customers, the employees and Hunter Industries as a company, for which I will be forever grateful,” says CEO Greg Hunter.
Smith initially came to the organization in 2000 because he felt it was time to change things up after spending time in a different industry and the company offered great benefits.
“[Hunter] was in North County, San Diego,” Smith says. “It was not far from my job at the time and not far from the place I was living, so I decided after seven years of being a bridge designer that it was time to broaden my experience. I could always go back to structural engineering because I had a master’s degree in that. At Hunter, I got access to 3D solid modeling that I didn’t have before, and I wanted that potentially for a future career in the cell phone industry because that was really hot.”
What Smith thought might be a temporary stay at the irrigation manufacturer ended up turning into a deeply fulfilling and interesting career in irrigation, he says.
After two years as a mechanical engineer at the company, during which Smith received a master’s in business administration, he joined the marketing team at Hunter as a product manager. The rest was history.
“After two weeks of being at Hunter, I realized the complexity that goes on here,” Smith says. “I was blown away. As an engineer, I was able to be a part of a project like the spray product line development from concept and market study analysis all the way through to shovels in the ground and installs.”
As Smith’s time continued at Hunter he eventually became a member of the leadership team within the organization.
“From there I moved up and into leadership to vice president of marketing,” Smith says. “I worked directly with Greg Hunter as a product manager so every time Greg was promoted, he had enough trust in me that he brought me up on his team to vice president of marketing and then eventually to president of our residential and commercial irrigation and lighting division.”
During Smith’s time as RCGL president, revenue grew 75% with market expansion into 120 countries worldwide.
In terms of what’s next for Smith, he says he doesn’t like to use the word “retirement.” And in reality, the next step for him is more like the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.
Smith says he’ll be focusing his time and energy on contributing to two nonprofits, one of which he will be taking on an executive role.
For Smith, the biggest takeaway from his time at the company will be the relationships that he says are an intentional result of the culture that has been built at Hunter.
“I would just like to thank the Hunter family,” Smith says. “I’ve been with two generations of leaders, Dick [Hunter] at the first of my career and now Greg Hunter, I would just like to say thank you. A big, huge statement of gratitude for them and for the way that they treat their employees.”
Smith’s retirement will become effective March 31, 2023, when he will be replaced by Denise Mullikin, a 25-year Hunter veteran and former vice president, global sales.
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