Roush Enterprises names leaders for CleanTech project

Roush Enterprises announced Joe Thompson and Todd Mouw will be leading the company’s newest venture, Roush CleanTech, a product-based alternative fuel-powered engine company destined to change the way fleets do business.

“Joe Thompson and I are cut from the same cloth — we are both extremely tenacious, hardworking guys born in Ohio and with a mindset for success,” said Jack Roush, motorsports legend and chairman of Roush Enterprises. “And Todd is a powerhouse in the boardroom. He’s driven to guide the company toward innovation that will change the way the automotive industry does business.”

“The success we’ve had with all of our businesses starts with strong leadership. These guys understand my expectations and have been given the tools to get it done,” continued Roush. “With Joe and Todd, Roush CleanTech will set a new pace for alternative fuel deployment for our country. That’s good because we need a sense of urgency around this initiative.”

As president of Roush CleanTech, Thompson celebrates his second start-up company with Roush and expects this one to be the most significant in terms of his opportunity to change for our country.

Raised in southern and central Ohio and educated at Ohio University, Thompson started his automotive career at Campbell & Company, a Dearborn-based automotive marketing firm. While there he worked in a marketing capacity for Ford Racing and Ford Special Vehicle Team.

His product and racing experience led him to Roush Performance Products, a new venture in 1996. As a key member of that team, he worked to shape and deploy the Roush brand, led the launch of five generations of Roush Mustangs, and sold more than 30,000 vehicles. In 2004, he was named executive vice president, the youngest in Roush history, and general manager of RPP.

“Under Joe’s leadership, we have become one of the premier brands in the automotive aftermarket segment,” said Jack Roush. “His strategic approach to sales, distribution, and marketing, along with an aggressive product development offering, fueled a sales increase of more than 600 percent during his years at the helm of Roush Performance.”

“The culture and resources available to us at Roush are second to none,” said Thompson. “With world-class engineers, a targeted gap in the market in need of our talents, a proud brand and a legendary leader, we will change America’s perception of alternative transportation fuel.”

Joining Thompson is Todd Mouw, a veteran automotive sales and marketing executive.

“Todd brings a 15-year background in the automotive and high tech industries to Roush CleanTech,” said Roush. “He manages the national sales staff and currently leads the charge in helping Fortune 500 fleets find ways to reduce their carbon footprint and operating costs through utilizing alternative fuel technologies. He has considerable sales, marketing, and consumer communications experience with Ford, GM, and Chrysler dealer programs.”

In the past year, Mouw has been working with fleets to incorporate liquid-propane injection vehicles into their fleet programs and seen great interest in the lineup of ROUSH CleanTech propane autogas-fueled Ford trucks and vans. He assumes a similar position at ROUSH CleanTech with the title of vice president of sales and marketing.

Mouw received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, a mere 25 miles from Roush headquarters in Livonia.

After graduation, Mouw moved to California to work at Maxim Integrated Products, a semi-conductor company. He gained a wealth of experience traveling internationally and making product and manufacturing decisions for a billion dollar company. Says Mouw, “I was probably a little over my head since it was my first job out of college, but the leadership had confidence that I would use tools that existed to make the right decision for the company. Maxim definitely set the mold for my worth ethic and business philosophies.”

Marketing grabbed his attention, and Mouw moved on to the Phoenix Group in Farmington Hills, Mich., where he substantially grew the business by diversifying outside the auto industry.

In 2002, he directed his creative and business development energy into co-owning Innovative Customer Management Solutions (iCMS) until he found his home at ROUSH in January 2009. “Having been a car guy all my life, it was always a dream to work for Jack Roush. They were a client of mine at iCMS for 6 years so it was a natural transition for both sides,” said Mouw.